^Are you, who you are, in relation to other people, or are you,
who you are, with respect to yourself? If you define yourself
based on your relationship with other people, what if the other
people are no longer around? Then who are you? That is the
question everyone must face in their lives at some point in time
or another. For no role you play lasts forever, and
relationships change. But who you are to yourself - that is
something you carry with you wherever you go, at whatever stage
in life you are in. Coming to an understanding of self is,
perhaps, one of the most difficult problems faced by each of the
seven billion individuals on this planet. A task that takes a
lifetime. But be aware: the first mirror you see will be a
carnival mirror - distorted, misshapen, based upon the images of
self brought to you by those around you and by false impressions
of self set in stone when you were very young. It takes many
iterations of clearing the dust off the mirror, of reshaping it,
before you reach a true picture of self. I do not know what
happens when you reach that point: I only hope to reach it
myself before I leave this place. But it is a lifetime of
exciting discovery - it is never boring, and always
illuminating. Be not afraid - everybody else has to look at you
- now i dare you to look at yourself. Are you ready? You can
wait for now, but on a dark and lonely night, about 4 am, it
will happen. Get a notepad and pen ready and start writing, for
you will learn more about yourself and all of humanity in the
darkness than many people learn in a lifetime of distraction.^
