this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 21 hours ago

I have Borderline Personality Disorder. One of the symptoms that I suffer from is the inability to form a solidified sense of self identity. Defining myself to even myself is impossible.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Community, whatever that looks like for you. Each community has different values and ways of sharing.

For me, it's performance art. The people I perform with are like a family to me, and I find joy in all the people I've directly affected and/or inspired ❤️

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I let go of my notions of identity. I am what I am, whatever that is. I have my opinions on things and enjoy my own version of the human experience

Ultimately we are all the same observer conciousness being that split itself into countless variations all pretending to be something different in order o experience a novel slice of reality.

"I" "Myself" "Me" point to the illusionary mask of ego where the observer pretends it is not everything and instead a single being. Your self is an imaginary construct, it doesnt really exist. Its a useful psychological reference frame and a stage to serve in the function of generating a unique existance with mental emotional complexes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 19 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I root mine in morality. I do the best I can, in whatever position I am. I do what I can, and be content I did the most I could. I try to be honest, understanding and humble. It can be hard honestly, but my identity depends on it so I persist.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Granny Weatherwax looked out at the multi-layered, silvery world.

“Where am I?”

INSIDE THE MIRROR.

“Am I dead?”

THE ANSWER TO THAT, said Death, IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN NO AND YES.

Esme turned, and a billion figures turned with her.

“When can I get out?”

WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT’S REAL.

“Is this a trick question?”

NO.

Granny looked down at herself.

“This one,” she said.

— Sir Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

[–] [email protected] 3 points 20 hours ago

I've always appreciated how death talks in all caps in Discworld. Gives it this booming, powerful sense.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago

The identity doesn't come from a thing that you are doing but from a journey that shaped you.

The world is changing constantly, family and hobbies comes and goes.

The most stable thing to root into are emotions. What are your best and worst days of your life and what do they mean as to who you are.

I am tealling from experience as to my indentity had been destroyed throughout my childhood and I needed to build it back up.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

Stable: A stable equilibrium of many separate anchors so that the inevitable shakeups in facts or your understanding do not pose a problem you can't cope with by drawing on the other anchors.

Monocultures are prone to collapse.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I find I have little use defining myself to myself. I am. I am lots of things. I have no box, and that doesn't frighten me. If others need to fit me into a box so they can find my place in their personal classification system that helps them feel less or more at odds with the world, that's okay. Sometimes annoying, but okay.

Sure I have a nature that I've discovered over time, some of which I nurture and some of which I try to rectify. But I still don't feel that it's a solid identity, but rather maybe a concept.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I’m ME. That about covers it for me.

I think the writers on Ted Lasso got it pitch perfect with Jamie saying “Why would I want to be anything else, I’m me.”

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

So you never find yourself being someone you don't want to be? You never have regrets that lead you to want to make changes?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Do I wish I mined bitcoin when it was cheap and easy? Or bought Apple stock just before the first iPhone? Or just not stuck my dick in the crazy? Sure I wish I knew then what I know but that’s just the road not taken.

Have I fucked shit up and hurt people I wish I hadn’t? Of course I’m human, but each mistake that broke me also made me put myself back together and I like to think that like a piece of Kitsuni art the remade pieces of me are better then they were before.

But maybe I’m an optimist and like to think that everyone is a work in progress and most choose to be better as they go along, including myself.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

I've had times where I broke things an realized that I wasn't being a good me, so I should have changed. Not gonna promise that I succeeded?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Truth and reason. I think that would fall under the philosophy category. My view of the world is quite cold and analytical. I see it as a complex machine without any inherent meaning. I don’t believe in the self or free will, but rather see myself as an experiencer watching life unfold in front of me. Probably the biggest impact this has on my daily life is that I don’t look for people to blame for how things are. I don’t think most people realize how profoundly life changes when you stop pointing fingers.

When put like this, it probably sounds depressing or nihilistic, but it’s the only foundation I’ve found that aligns with every event in the world without causing internal conflict. I only care about how things are, not how I or others feel about them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

how profoundly life changes when you stop pointing fingers.

Ain’t that the truth. I can think of a couple of people in my life who would benefit from understanding this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I root my identity in myself.

The rest is ornate and tightly interlocked window dressing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Personally I think my most stable sense of identity comes from wanting to remain the caring person I was as a kid. I remember vividly the first time I heard a news clip about the genocide in Darfur and wondering how all of the adults around me seemed so at ease. Adults are supposed to be the doers in the world, why weren’t they doing anything? Why didn’t they seam upset? I think trying my best to avoid the complacency I saw in them has played a large role in my sense of self.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don’t love that this is a negative position (a struggle not to be something I don’t admire rather than to be something I admire)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I admire caring.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

As a man, it is by how much and what I could defy destiny.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Philosophy. Me, without my worldview and values, is just an empty shell. The smiling public mask without anything behind it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Stable? Go for biology, you and I are living creatures and that's not going to change any time soon. Appreciate the wonder of being alive, respect your needs and wants. Your mind and body are bafflingly complex but will be your lifelong home and companion. Consider that most/all nonhuman living things just live their life and never ponder things like this. Treat yourself and others around you well and enjoy the life you have.