Who I am – Jake Kupiec

Last month, I shared my list of Who I’m Not. I don’t know why it was easier to start there. On the other hand, many a consulting project has started with the phase. “I know what I don’t want” so maybe it’s not a surprise.

There are so many conversations about values, being authentic, and knowing who you are here, here and here. (Plus, Moana.) And “know thyself,” is one of the maxims* inscribed at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. So we’ve been wrestling with this need for knowing for thousands of years. There are no hard and fast answers. It’s a struggle until it’s now. Often it’s a journey we make alone. It seems to be a recurring assignment on the syllabus of life.

Do we even know who we are?

There is so much noise in our lives. These are unprecedented times. It’s hard to be still and know. It’s hard to know who we are separate from what we have been trained/conditioned/socialized to be. Maybe that’s why it’s easier to drop into our bodies and know viscerally what we don’t like and what we don’t want to be.

Who am I?

Jeans-wearing tree lover, plant lover, dog and cat lover, quilter, painter, gardener, strong-willed, soft-hearted, fair, reliable, learner, reader, lover of the commons, fan of economics and economists, vegetarian, daily tofu eater, major coffee BBQ rub fan, reuser, recycler and upcycler, lover of beauty, and egalitarian. COFFEE DRINKER AF.

Who are you?

How do you know? How can you discover and uncover the answers?

P.S. *Good to keep in mind that the other two maxims are “Nothing in excess” and “Surety brings ruin.” We are all works in progress. We are all becoming.

P.P.S. Who I am? What I am? This is exactly the type of nerdy wordy conversations commonplace under my roof.