By Laura Daromar
Raqeeb – There are many aspects that form my personal identity. Some of these aspects; actually most of these aspects, are beyond my control such as my name, my DNA, the way I look, my parents, the place where I grew up, the education my parents’ chose for me, my nationality, my family, my name, my beliefs, and many more aspects.
Learning to live with these aspects can give a person some peace of mind; otherwise life can be hard.
We take our identity for granted. We don’t, as a rule of thumb, think too much about who we are because we think we know who we are. and what will other people think of us that the identity issue begins to surface.
I have dual nationality. I am both British and Palestinian. I have a Latin name. I can be both British and Palestinian. Life is amazing when we think of who we are and learn about the capacity we possess to adapt to who we are – or perhaps we do not have another choice but to live with who we are!
I believe that the identity aspects that are beyond our control are the elements that bring us – as people who share similar identities – together. I mean that we use our common or shared identities as keys to open the doors of the people who share our identity. We get to know each other and become friends, neighbors, colleagues, through deploying the identity aspects that we share such as language, education … etc.
I also have my own unique individual identity features such as the physical features that make me look physically different from other people. These features; however, do not stop me from living with other aspects of my identity.
Finally, I think that my identity as human and as part of this life on this planet is more significant than anything else. My identity is part of the identity of the rest of the world. I live in this world. It is part of me and I am part of it. My life is a learning process of knowing who I am and how to uncover and accept my identity. When we learn that the aspects of our identity that we share with the rest of the world are more important than our individual identity aspects, then we get to feel free, tolerant, and larger than being confined to the tiny place we call home. The whole world becomes home.