The answer, from another colleague: "Who are you? Start with knowing who you are."
The table fell quiet.
This quickly turned into an assignment for the person who raised the question.
And for me.
What, I suddenly wondered, is my own answer to: "Who am I?"
Here is my answer. It's been brewing for a long time.
**********************
If my father had been more daring, embracing freedom to apply his considerable talents…
…if my dog could have talked…
…and I can…
This is my vision
for who I can become.
People — family, friends, and clients — report their own awakening and growth, enjoying our collaboration, in which I play with them as:
- a co-creator — sharing ownership of the process so we can, together and separately, own the outcomes.
- a trusted resource — a sharer of vulnerabilities and confidences, often asked, "May I tell you something I've never told anyone, even myself?"
- a mirror — a tool others use for their self-discovery.
- eyeglasses cleaner — helping others see more clearly.
- a writer — leading with words.
- an unlicensed rabbi serving non-Jews — working to apply an ethical tradition.
- a role model — not in the other's particular domain, but as a learner and health-oriented, emotionally engaged human.
- a cheerleader — offering old-fashioned encouragement.
and
- a lucky charm — a key (one of many) to others' good fortune.
The experience — this life, as it continues to unfold — will help me evolve into a more complete person, blending the natural and the intellectual within me.
Enough About Me
Who are you? What is your vision for who you can become?