On the laundry list of our personal identity, we rank at the top those attributes, traits, talents or qualities of which we are most proud, which if lost would cripple the very roots of our soul. And at the very top is what we are “first.†Some of us identify with national identity first, some with religious identity, some with avocation, career or passion, some with ethnic identity, some with gender, some with the sheer fact that we are human beings before we are anything else. There is of course no “best first†here – they’re all equal crowns on the infinite variety of heads of personality, but I believe how we regard ourselves “first†very much colors our view of the world – indeed puts us at entirely different windows not necessarily even on the same planet (!) as we gaze out and try to make sense of the universe – and of each other. I’ve tried to keep the list succinct, so consider the choices in the broad context intended – no one will find an exact match. (Jew is a special case: I made it an example in both ethnicity and religion because it goes in either - if you consider yourself a Jew first, pick either ethnic or religious identity according to which you feel fits you best). To save anyone looking in vain for “Procrastinating Old Fartâ€, I omitted it because honesty would compel me to pick that one for myself, and a list like this should allow us to indulge at least some fantasy about who we are. So I identify myself as a human being first, with intellectual just behind it by a nose in a photo finish. So, what are you “firstâ€? Mark Baird Alameda CA
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Apr 18 2007, 11:32 PM) [snapback]425885[/snapback]</div> You should have put the POF on the list cause nothing else is even close for me. B) On occasion I wander into the christian area but never manage to stay very long. Wildkow
I'm a mother first. Then a friend. Then a Virginian. Then an Appalachian-American. Then a Hokie. (Even before this event.) Then a professional. Then left-leaning centrist. I guess that's the way I scale it...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Apr 19 2007, 09:40 AM) [snapback]425966[/snapback]</div> You made me laugh so hard I squirt my morning coffee out my nose.. You're so far left.. "Left Leaning Centrist" doesn't even come close. --anyway I'm an American
To the right, everyone is "so far left"... For me, i'm a gentleman above all else. then a Phi Tau. Then an Eagle Scout.
I am not anything "first" because I don't consider that categories properly define us. I am just myself. I have many characteristics, but if I were to list them in this context, someone would insist that whatever I happened to put at the beginning of the list was what I consider myself "first" because I had put it first. Many people do indeed consider themselves to be "first" a nationality, or a religion, or a color, etc., and perhaps this is a natural product of the human mind. But I resist the impulse. I am not any category, though I have characteristics, and others will categorize me according to their own views of me. I am just who I am.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desynch @ Apr 19 2007, 09:50 AM) [snapback]425973[/snapback]</div> Yeah, you should be a political moderate, like, say, Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Apr 19 2007, 11:23 AM) [snapback]425993[/snapback]</div> Well said..... <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desynch @ Apr 19 2007, 10:50 AM) [snapback]425973[/snapback]</div> LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: Been there done that, even got the button...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Apr 19 2007, 10:30 AM) [snapback]425999[/snapback]</div> Yeah, you should be a political moderate, like, say, Michael Moore or Al Gore.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desynch @ Apr 19 2007, 10:35 AM) [snapback]426006[/snapback]</div> Tee-hee. You ultra-conservatives are funny. Equating hard left Michael Moore with slightly left of center Al Gore; with such lack of perspective, is it any wonder you got trounced the last election? But please, do keep it up, so the Good Guys will walk away with the 2008 election, too!
I am a 'mystery': to my kid, to my wife, to my self, to my dog, to the CA bar, to my students, to my family, to my neighbors, to my life, to my self, to the judges I serve, to the property associations I serve, to the bosses I serve, Only Christ knows what the hecks going on in here
I appreciate Daniel's perspective and his urge to resist at least openly classifying himself. Personally I resist that in an ideological way too, but in practice, I can't help but categorize myself based on my thinking and my behavior. I chose the "avocation/profession" first because any time I'm faced with a new situation, a challenge or problem, my first thought is always how I can integrate it into my art, or how I can solve a problem with art. Lots of life's problems sadly can't be solved through art though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Apr 19 2007, 11:21 AM) [snapback]426057[/snapback]</div> The Democrats are doing a great job in making sure a Democrat President won't be elected. With their lack of desire to support our troops and all.. That is funny though, "slightly left of center Al Gore"..
The passion part is what got my vote. I do identify with my passion. It is something that nobody gave me and now seems to define me.