We Need to Rethink What Our “Identity” Means

Today I want to speak about ‘identity.’ So often we categorize ourselves based on some aspect of who we feel we are, some group that we are a member of or, the culture from which we come.

Many people are very clear about their identities, some relying on those aspects of themselves that create all sorts of misery for them, mostly due to poor memories from past events most likely having little to do with what really happened given the very inaccurate manner in which our memories work.

Other people are very clear about their nationalism believing that their country is superior to another mostly based on the false narratives taught in the classrooms of the schools within the country.

Other people are very identified with their race.

Other people are very identified with their gender.

Well, I was listening to a Youtube video with Sadguru who was being interviewed by a professor at the Berkeley Haas School of Management on the concept of what makes for a great leader. He spent a lot of time pointing out that it is because of the way that we self-identify regardless of the category that most destruction has occurred by the leaders in this world. Greed has had much to do with it via nationalist interests and corporate greed.

Those who state that they are doing ‘good’ in the world are those who are doing the worst damage to the world with their great intentions. We are watching this unfold to a larger extent today than most would like to see as people’s individual rights have been taken away, jobs lost, and businesses closed wrecking the economies of the world in the process.

We need to get over the identities that separate us,

and instead become more aware of that which we don’t know, that which we need to learn with the understanding that our so-called knowledge of the world is based on our individual perceptions of it. To get beyond these limitations we need to become conscious of that which is the world in which we live beyond our personalized perceptions with an understanding that we all live in this one world together.

NOTE: If you are a person who is loves running group programs and is interested in running an in-person retreat, Bill Dennis of the Villa Serena Hotel in the Dominican Republic is going to be running a Zoom meeting today (Weds, June 30th) at 4 PM Eastern. Here is the invitation (scroll down to reply): http://www.metrocollaborative.com/events/dinnerrwl-06/30/2021