If someone asks you the question, ‘Who are you?’, how would you answer? Perhaps you will say your name, followed by your country of origin, then your occupation.
I suppose when we were young, we’d talk more about our hobbies, our interests, our dreams. You know dreams like travelling the world, finding a loved one, tasting the best foods.
Not so much a ‘dream job’. It’s an oxymoron. How can you dream of working? How can you dream of having any job, at all?
It’s funny because society puts a person’s job title on a pedestal. We worship human beings, who, through a combination of genetics, effort, happenstance and connections, are able to hold highly coveted professions such as bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs and doctors.
I often feel that’s what most grown-ups care about. You know I get it. Being able to make good money is important. That’s because that’s the system. It’s the status quo in which we survive.
But I think we should zoom out and really ponder about human existence. We need to look into the past and realize we have gone so off course from Nature’s immaculate principle.
Everything we are doing is sort of fake. It’s not real. It’s not tangible.
Every day, we type away at our laptops. We join these online meetings, regurgitating the same corporate jargons over and over again. We don’t produce our own food, nor do we hunt our own animals. We are so disconnected from life and death.
Instead we exchange our time for a monthly paycheck, which manifests itself as pixelated digits on our bank account. And then we go to the supermarket to buy our groceries so that we can feed ourselves.
That’s about it, really. That’s why we work. That’s why we have a job.
So if you cannot mention your occupation, how’d you answer the question, ‘Who are you?’
Sure my English name is Barry. Sure I did a mathematics degree. Sure I am the King of Math Games. Yadi yadi yada.
But I am so much more than any of these statements. I am a living being capable of living and feeling and creating. I love eating lots of meats. I like going on walks in Nature. I am pretty damn smart. I am very quick-witted and highly observant. I have an extremely high G-factor. I excel in the arts and the sciences. I like to have intellectual debates on philosophy and the big questions about life.
I also like to fall in love. I want to live a natural and exciting life. I want to be my authentic self. I want to love and be loved. I just want to be happy and fulfilled. I want to experience a life worth living. I want to grow old and look back at all that I have experienced, be it catastrophic or triumphant.
You see, life is a game. Nothing more, nothing less.
I despise LinkedIn because it takes out the authenticity of everyone. It’s reduced everyone to a person with an occupation.
Did you know that the word ‘person’ originally came from Latin persona “human being, person, personage; a part in a drama, assumed character,” originally “a mask, a false face,” such as those of wood or clay, covering the whole head, worn by the actors in later Roman theatre?
To be a person with an occupation means to wear a mask and be at the mercy of the system. To be a person means to bury our inner child and to smother the fire for fun, dreams and love.
We should be who we’ve always been as children, having fun and exploring all that’s around us.
We should be more than a person, more than our name, more than our occupation because we are so much more than any of these statements.
I hope this’s inspired you to add some whimsy into your life today. Try going somewhere you haven’t been to in your neighbourhood. Maybe walk into that shop you’ve never stepped foot into. Or play a new video game. Or pick up an instrument, cos why not?
So once again, who are you going to be today, my friend?
