Stop Categorizing, Start Being

We often use specific words to describe ourselves and others, and those words tend to reflect some sort of category. A friend recently told me she doesn’t know who she is: sometimes she’s more of a hippie, other times she’s more mainstream. She said she never fully feels as though she fits in because she’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I told her that’s a wonderful thing – imagine: you don’t have to “fit in” to a category to know who you are. Let me show you what that means for me.

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: A Painter
But with focus on process, not product

Word I Use To Describe Myself: A Drummer, singer, cellist, pianist, clarinetist 
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: A Musician

Word I Use To Describe Myself: A Reader
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: A Nerd

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Creative
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: Mischievous

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Funny
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: Comedian

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Colorful & Adventurous 
But: A scaredy-cat

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Bold
But: Quiet

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Outspoken
But: Soft-Spoken

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Feminine & Delicate
But: Assertive

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Proper
But: Silly

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Goofy
But: Passionate

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Patriotic
But: American and Israeli – and proud of both

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Independent & Modern
But: Old School & Traditional

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Fit
But Not: Sporty

Word I Use To Describe Myself: A Gym Rat
But Not: Athletic

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Healthy
But: Lenient

Something About Myself: I Don’t Eat Meat
But Not: A Vegetarian

 

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Spiritual
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: New-Age Hippie

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Religious
Category I Do NOT Use To Define Myself: Orthodox

Word I Use To Describe Myself: Jewish
But I Am: Ashkenazi and Sephardi, observant and non-observant, traditional and modern

I hope this long (self-centered) list makes sense and resonates with you. I hope you understand you can be a little piece of a lot of items, without having to be categorized in one way or another.