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The Things That Define You
By chance, by choice, or otherwise
We, as denizens of the waning first quarter of the twenty-first century, live in the “Great Age of Identity.”
Modern society has decided (or more accurately, a small cadre of postmodernist ivory tower academics have decided, and the Twittersphere took it and ran with it) that labels are paramount. Whereas people used to define themselves by their name, their hometown, their religion, or perhaps their profession, now it all comes down to socioeconomic, gender, sexual and political preference, or ethnic or race-based indicators.
Individuality is out. Group identity is in.
I’m not convinced this is particularly useful, and it certainly doesn’t seem like a productive path towards achieving societal harmony, yet nonetheless, that’s where we are.
So it got me thinking. How do I define myself? What factors are most essential to me being me, to being “Colby”?
Well, here are the first three that came to mind. Which, like guessing on a multiple choice test, means they’re probably the right ones. Then again, maybe they just happen to be what I’ve been writing about lately. Either way’s okay by me. Which is as it should be, being as they’re about me.
