“It is only through facing our fear of nothingness that we can discover the truth; that we are something much more powerful and real than any of our self-created identities” John Welwood.
“Who are you?”
What’s the first thing that pops up in your head?
Apart from your name, how many of your answers are situational that can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye? Almost all of us use our worldly possessions to define who we are: that could be our jobs, the relationships we are in, our hobbies, the things we like, the amount of money in the bank, the area we live in, or even the number of followers and likes we get! But what happens when these things are taken away from us? Who are we then?
It is in our desires to want to achieve, to want to expand; but what do those achievements mean when they can easily break us at the same time? Are they actually doing us more harm than good? We seem to have lost our understanding behind wanting, or should I say, our reasons to exist. We are so afraid of what it would say about us if we don’t appear to be a certain way in life. We are so afraid to be different and for not being or having enough.
Covid-19 has taken away a lot of things from us on many levels: our freedom, physical intimacy, jobs, loved ones, financial security, and most importantly, the illusion that we are invincible. We may be the most evolved species on planet earth but we are also fragile and vulnerable. Many of the natural wonders can exist in harmony despite the harshness of the environment, whereas we as humans can be destroyed by a person’s words or an action.
In this uncertainty many of us are experiencing a deep sense of loss and sorrow because we are no longer who we thought we were, the world is no longer how it used to be. It feels like death, and very sadly, real death for many. What comes after death is grief, and perhaps it is through this grieving process that we can go deeper into ourselves to ask who we truly are; there have been losses and it has been painful, but we are still here. We are not the things we possess, the thing we do and the way we or others define us. We simply are beings in this worldly existence experiencing life: the beauty, the ugliness, the sadness and the joy of it all. And that is enough.
This death, I truly hope, will bring a change to the endless destruction we contribute to the world and to our souls.
Can you be comfortable in your own skin when you stand naked in front of the world?
Now let me ask you this question again…
“Who are you?”