Who are you?

What do you answer when someone you don’t know asks: Who are you? Is your answer the same as everybody else by basing your answer on what you do for a living? Is this how you define yourself? I always did. When I was a travelagent I wanted people to know I loved (and still love) to travel.

Friend

A friend asked me recently: ‘What is your answer now, when asked this same question since you’re not a travelagent anymore?’ Well, I told him I will always be a travelagent, even when I don’t work at an agency anymore, but now I will tell people I love to write.

Who I am

It is after all, not just what I do but very much who I am. Writing and me are connected. We cannot be apart. People tell me I show my love for writing when I talk about it. Somehow my face and my attitude changes. So yes, it’s who I am. But of course it’s not mandatory to tell people who you are.

Question

Neither is it a question you go around asking someone you’ve just met. ‘Hi, how are you, and more importantly WHO are you?’ Most people will tell you their name and that’s more than enough for a first meeting. Now I don’t know what rules they have in other countries but the Netherlands. We tend to be very open about everything.

Shy

I used to be very shy and insecure and dreaded any new study, course, or work related meeting, where they have the tendency to go around and introduce yourself. I could just stammer my name and my workplace before I had to hide my blushing face. Not anymore. On the contrary. Now I tend to overdo my introduction.

Platform

Give a writer a platform and he/she will use it. Besides, I want everybody to like me and never ever think of me as this little mousy girl anymore. So here I am! But all of this is really not that important. What is important however is to ask yourself the question.

Who am I?

Who am I? You don’t have to share with anybody. But be honest with yourself. Who are you, really. And do you want to be the person you are? Are you happy with WHO you are?