Expanding Identities
From the Oneness Project
Who am I?
How you answer that question says a lot, not just about how you see yourself, but also about how you see others and how you relate to the world. And it’s an important question at this time in history when the challenges of our global community are drawing us out of limited identities based on “me” and “mine” into identities based on the “we” of the whole planet.
Identities help us find our way in the world, navigate challenges and make choices. They can be founded on anything from the color of our skin or religious orientation, to goals we have achieved or dreams we hold. Often during times of stress those boundaries can contract and tighten—we protect what is ours more rigorously and separate ourselves from the needs of others.
But times of struggle can also be motivation to expand our boundaries. Instead of contracting around our own needs, we can open to the needs of others, share resources, and choose to cooperate. As we do so, our identities shift and the separation between “me” and “you” or “us” and “them” seems less compelling and defining. But how can this happen? Where do we start?
To read the complete article, click here.
- Posted on February 18, 2010 in Catalysts, Community, compassion in action, Sageing |
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