If you’ve ever read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas then you know just how confusing the book is with all the different characters-or should I say the all the same characters? Many characters in the story have multiple identities, much like how humans in our society today have multiple identities. However, I’m under the impression that we do not have multiple identities, rather we are simply just trying to figure out and find our true identity.
As I have previously stated, us (as people) search all our lives trying to figure our identity. Your identity is who you are as a person; your character, your personality, what you like, what you do not like, and even your smile help to create your identity. But the question is, why is this so important to us as humans? The thrive to find our identity may just be because “We know what we are, but not what we may be.” as the great poet William Shakespeare said while trying to find out that his true identity was a poet at heart.
Finding our identity is who we are as an individual, not a whole. For example, we are all Americans, but we aren’t all the same Americans. As Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.” Everyone wants to fit in and belong to something, but no one wants to be lost in the crowd. Perhaps, like the woman pictured above, you are a businesswoman or businessman. You may love your job or you may hate it, but it’s apart of who you are and what will make you who you are in the future. Just like Chuck Palahnuik would say, “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.” Your job helps to create who you are, who you want to be, and who you will become.
Identity isn’t just for adults, though. Many young kids, especially teenagers, struggle each day trying to figure out who there are and what there identity truly is. Students spend countless hours thinking about who they are, what there identity is, and how they can become that “perfect” identity just like how the high school student pictured above is searching for herself. If you are a high school student, or even a college student reading this I highly recommend taking a moment out of your day to think about what your identity is so far. However, I don’t think students realize their identity is not a permanent feature. Every day, every hour, even every minute our identity is changing because of ourselves and outside influences. Not only do we impact ourselves, but others impact us, too. Friends, the people you see everyday or every other day, help to shape you into the person you are today.
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” was one of the many great things Coco Chanel has said, but I feel she was only half correct in her statement. I believe men and women should be who and what he/she wants. In the book Count of Monte Cristo, all Edmond Dantes wanted to be was the captain of a ship and the husband to Mercedes Herrerra. Now, you may be thinking what does this have to do with your identity; well, identity is who you are and what you are. For example, the only thing the girl pictured above wants is to be happy and part of who she is is a happy person, and her being happy will help influence what she will become.
“The best mirror is an old friend.” -George Herbert
Your identity is who and what you are, but I highly recommend that no one, no matter if you’re a businessman, high school student, or just someone simply wanting to be happy, that you do not search for your identity. Your identity develops over years of people shaping you and you molding yourself into the person you strive to be. When you find what you love, who you love, and why you love, that’s when you will truly find yourself. As Harvey Fierstein would say, “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.”
You are who you are, and that itself is truly a blessing.
~ Kitty
No One's Like Us 
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