UCWG 011: How Do You Choose Your Identity?

“As soon as I use words to describe myself, I limit myself.”

Today’s guest, a young man named Josh Plotkin, enters the conversation with a prepared script of the identity (or his case non-identity) that he wants the public to associate him with. The longer he talks, the more clear it becomes that he uses generic descriptions of himself to cover the fact that he doesn’t want to limit himself through specific values and actions. He meanders from thought to thought without any consistent meaning or theme. When he talks about himself, his words are ambiguous and light hearted.

Most people are so afraid to define themselves to any meaningful degree that they are forced to fall back on a generic definition they inherited. They prefer to think of themselves as being “one with the universe”, a manifestation of “God energy”, or expressing their “highest level of consciousness”. What these generic terms do is function as a safety net from real analysis of values and actions. They safeguard us from having to take real risk and put our chips in one place, for better or for worse. They nullify heroism in all its forms.

What mental gymnastics do you perform to avoid making definitive statements about yourself?

Are you afraid of moving beyond the all-encompassing blanket statements that apply to everyone?