“Who are you?”

When was the last time someone genuinely asked you this—or better yet, when was the last time you asked yourself?

Most introductory encounters—whether at a gym, a conference, or during a spontaneous meeting with new acquaintances—end up revolving around our jobs, families, partners, hobbies, and music preferences.

Instantly, the person standing opposite you feels they have a clearer picture of ‘who’ you are.

Do they, though? Aren’t these things more of a ‘what’ than a ‘who’?

When I traveled for education and work, we often had these ice-breakers where everyone had to introduce themselves using three words that started with the same letters as their first name.

I didn’t like it. Not because I thought it was immature (I actually like nurturing my inner child through play and creativity, not conformity), but because it felt too limiting. It was like high school all over again—choose your major and stick to it.

To avoid over-explaining myself, I would put on my semi-mandatory professionalism and say:

“Hi, I’m Ana, and I’m ambitious, an animal lover, and blah blah.”

It always took me far too long to think of that third word—and I still can’t remember what it was.

The whole thing felt like being forced into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting after trying to convince everyone that you don’t even drink.

Fast forward about ten years, and I’m standing in front of my second group of journalism students.

The university had an introductions protocol. Guess what it was?

Make teenagers play ice-breakers.

“Good luck with that, Ana,” I thought, and proceeded into a duel with a group of rebellious students who, in that moment, I’m convinced wanted to declare the same thing I would have ten years ago:

“This is beyond stupid.”

Most of them did it anyway. I had to throw in a “I know this is not the most comfortable or interesting part of the class, but we have to do it,” here and there, encouraging them with a promise of more casual classes later.

It’s 2025. Most of those kids are now adults in their mid to late twenties. I have no idea how they introduced themselves, but I do know one thing:

They all grew into what I thought they would become: free-spirited, disciplined, successful in their own way, funny, emotionally intelligent, active, well-taught, and beautiful inside and out.

To say it better: they did not succumb to the pressure of a three-word answer to the very important three-word question:

“Who are you?”

Or better yet:

“Who am I?”

Speaking of three words (no, there’s no symbolic background in this number, nor is it a sign to play the lottery), I more and more often think of the I’s that speak of one’s inexistence just as much as they speak of one’s existence.

Identity. Insecurity. Idolatry.

Identity used to play a huge role in our lives until very recently. It still does, but people lost it somewhere along the way, giving in to the other two states of being. In (lack of) search of their identity, people bumped into their insecurities—and a worship-like state of existence. I’m writing from an observationist’s point of view, hence the ‘They’ perspective rather than ‘I’ or ‘We’.

Until a few years ago, my very personal I was idolatry—of perfectionism, music, and hyperactivity. Until I hit the road to the valley of death and called upon God, only to understand that I had been loving creators, creativity, and creation more than the Creator Himself.

Romans 1:25 states: “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Then, I got my second chance. A new life and a new identity—an everlasting one.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17

To go back to my point—I don’t just think, but I also see (as many others do) people turning against themselves.

If we take the simplest definition of identity from Wikipedia (with a reference to Peter Weinreich), “In psychology, the term identity is most commonly used to describe personal identity, or the distinctive qualities or traits that make an individual unique.”

How often do you see unique people on a daily basis?

Starting from clothing and shoes, to hairstyles, makeup, hobbies, music and cinematographic taste, social media posts, to how people sit, pose in photos, what they consume—food or content, relationships or communication—the majority maneuver with the same pattern of existence: namely, (l)imitation.

I’m not going in the Orwellian direction of 1984, although this topic is co-related. However, what I’m trying to put in focus here is not government oppression, but rather self-oppression.

To go with everyone is to go against oneself.

People forgot to explore identity, outside and within themselves. They exchanged observing for copying, turning themselves into a fade-out of the people they admire or envy. They obsess over someone’s lifestyle and decide that the best they can do is act like someone they’re not.

They’re not just doing the most repugnant crime of trying to “steal” one’s innermost self—but also depriving themselves of living freely as they are, or as who they could and were born to become.

Worse and scarier than copycats are those who don’t even bother to look within themselves.

To decide what they like or dislike. To dedicate time to their thoughts, their gifts, knowledge, skills, and abilities.

They blindly follow the next propaganda; the very best of each and every “trend” that dictates who they’ll be, what they’ll listen to, what their beliefs are, and how long they’ll need to stay invisible—yet loud—in order to be accepted.

Silenced, numbed, and convinced they’ve already reached the final form of their existence in this world—unaware that there is more, and better—people end up doing damage in society.

Not by being cruel on purpose, but by not being who they truly are. By never exploring their identity. By not just conforming, but also being blindly obedient to the world.

The same thing leads to inner frustration and a lack of self-confidence.

I see so many people walking around disconnected from who they are, thinking they don’t have gifts. Not because they never had an identity, but because they’ve never searched for it—or they’ve forgotten what it feels like to look deeply within.

This isn’t to condemn. This is a social commentary. A call to awareness—with compassion, with constructive criticism, and ultimately, with hope.

A question I leave for you to say out loud is the great one: “Who am I?”

If you don’t know, start with God. 

And if the only response you can hear is echo, or loud and confusing thoughts, know this: that is not your Creator speaking, but the world. Sadly, the world itself often serves the enemy. Sometimes unknowingly, sometimes willingly. 

The more you listen to it, the more you will get confused. But if you stay in silence, just for a bit longer, you will eventually hear a very intelligent opinion from the Creator Himself, telling you that with and through Him, you can become who you were meant to be, if you only have the selfless courage to ask Him for guidance.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Psalm 139:13–14

Song of they day: Hard Fought Hallelujah – Brandon Lake

Lyrics of the day: Wings of Freedom – Epica

Excerpt:
Put on your wings and take the sky
Fly into liberty
All of the anguish set aside
As we are fighting for freedom
Put on your wings and feel alive
Fly out of misery

Quote of the day:

“Everyone experiences the desire to make suitable sense of the particular world one engages in from moment to moment. A fundamental aspect of this process is the striving to make sense of oneself: to comprehend who one is, where one has come from, and the kind of person one aspires to be in the future. This issue of identity and one’s location within the complex world is central to everyone’s being.” — Peter Weinreich, Analysing Identity (2003)

Verse of the day:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11–13