Random Reflection Post
I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “knowing oneself.”
Don’t you find it interesting that we have to figure ourselves out? Like, in each person there are really two people (at least) and those multiple people in one body are constantly trying to figure each other out. Something I “learned about myself” recently is that I don’t appreciate (or enjoy) sunshine. Give me cave-like conditions, candle light and cold (and a hand knit blanket) and I will be happy. But force me outside, into the sun, and I make that face (you know the face, it’s the face your kids make when you tell them to do something that’s good for them– like take a bath. At first, they suffer through the thought of what’s to come and, BEHOLD, the face).
Over my life, I find I am constantly “learning about myself.” What works for this person who I technically am, what doesn’t work. Everything from how clothes fit me, to what colors look best on me, to how to stop this hair from frizzing, to what types of movies and books I like, to how able I am (or unable) to cook, learn, understand, listen, speak.
I guess, I find it interesting that we don’t just know ourselves. We can’t look within and immediately identify our weaknesses and strengths, our wants and desires. We have to figure it out, just like we have to figure it out with other people. How do we figure these things out? I suppose, first, we must ask the question, spend the time, and have the conversation.
How many of you do that?
How many of you take the time to know yourself?
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
This process of “knowing” oneself is continuous. I surprise myself often and then have to recalibrate what I thought that I knew about me. That’s the fun part, where you surprise yourself with you!
It can be fun! It can also be frustrating as well, when we think we know our strengths and discover we aren’t as “strong” as we thought.
I do. It is a must for mental health even if one has to ask for help.
So true. <3
I feel that I do this a lot but never seem to find an answer. Maybe I’m just not asking myself the right questions. But when I do happen to realize something new about myself, I can’t wait to test it out again to be sure. Does that make any sense?
Yes! That makes perfect sense, and I do the same.
For example, one can never be too sure if one likes cookies unless one tries cookies all the time…
I still haven’t figured myself out. Sometimes I want a break from myself but I’m the only person I cannot have a break from. It’s frustrating!
HAHA! Yes, sometimes I super annoy myself. <3
It’s hard never-ending process because we’re constantly evolving and changing too based on what we learn about ourselves and others.
The shine has dulled on things I thought I loved and become more brilliant with things I thought I didn’t as the years have gone on and I’ve just accepted that as part of the human experience.
This is so true. In all parts of my life, my passions come and go, but love remains.
What has fascinated me over the years is discovering how other people see me. Sometimes I think, “but that’s not me at all!” And yet, isn’t it? I am that person, too. The one I never thought I was.
I feel this way, too!!
Living in an apartment, I have to walk my dog multiple times every day, and this gives me a solid chunk of time for self-reflection. Lots of attempting to figure out my moods and motivations. I considered listening to audio books or music while I walk, but I realized I would be missing out on that valuable self-discovery.
(Also I’m the complete opposite: I crave sunshine and heat. While the building I work in blasts AC all summer, I close my office door, open the window, and revel in my little tropical oasis.)
You know what you made me realize? I need to get a dog.
They have so many hidden benefits, and they love every version of you.
I’m glad I’m not alone in this. Sometimes you meet people who seem to have it all figured out all the time. I know that is a fallacy but it is still the impression I get. Even as I approach mid-life I am constantly learning new things about myself. Sometimes I learn stuff about myself with my therapist. Sometimes it is at work or with friends. My kids teach me a ton about myself. Sometimes, miraculously, I figure it on my own.
I feel like there isn’t really a concrete “I know exactly who I am.” Our character is constantly being refined, because life is never the same! Even style. I went to boarding school, so starting from there I went through this huge chunk of time in figuring out if pink cable-knit sweaters and yellow day dresses were actually clothes I wanted to wear as “me.” Nope! Writing this out, I’m sitting in my holy grail jeans and a grey v-neck sweater. My language and writing may be colorful, but my capsule wardrobe’s only “actual” color includes navy. haha Of course I still adore the edgy street style you see at every fashion week, but being comfortable and confident in what you have now, I think that’s a big part of helping you know yourself (for that point in life at least).
Sometimes I get so caught up in who “know” I am that I have a hard time seeing strengths and weaknesses and characteristics that are new or have developed gradually. I’m extremely grateful for the people in my life who know me well enough to make observations and give living and constructive feedback.
And as a born and raised Seattlite (Bothell) I completely feel you with regards to the sunshine. It’s nice, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
I sort of look at human bodies as little planets. We evolve constantly, but perhaps on a more accelerated timeline than the big celestial bodies that we call worlds. All of life as we know it boils down to evolution, after all. Side note: I’m not sure I’m totally on board with the Gaia theory, but it ties in to this somehow.
I’ve also been stuck on this idea of people as individual worlds: every single one of us sees the world we live in in a very individual way, and when that worldview is gone, so is that world. Sorta depressing, I know, but I find the idea fascinating.
Also, heat, yuck. I like cold sunlight, but I’m a trees/moss/lichen/dark woods kinda creature at heart.