Nomenclature

Q: "Please describe yourself in 3-5 sentences."

A: "..."

Nothing drives me more up the wall than this question. Every time I happen across it, I go full on Britney Spears circa 2007. Sure, it seems like a pretty straightforward question, but how exactly am I supposed to cram almost twenty one years of my life into three to five sentences?

It's simple; I come up with some generic version of myself. You know what I'm talking about. The version of yourself that never waits to put on pants until three in the afternoon. Heaven forbid you go pants-less in your own home on a Wednesday! Why do we do that? Why do we create a doppleganger that just loves Vera Bradley and thinks Nickelback sucks?

My theory- labels. As a species, humans cannot go through a day without labeling something. The unknown just slams us full throttle into a Tokyo drift of fear. We can slap a name or description on something or someone in six seconds, but when it comes to describing ourselves, we freeze and press 'Generic Mode.' We preach that loving oneself and not being afraid of who you are is a beautiful accomplishment, yet we persecute those who do just that.

In the natural world, you don't see an animal, flower or beetle be anything but what they truly are. There is no loss of identity. However, when looking at the human spectrum, it's hard not to see the Kylie Jenner and Justin Bieber copycats. Instead of embracing our own identity, we're too busy standing in line, waiting for a guy marked Brad Pitt #45 to take a label maker form Office Depot and slap some sort of name across our forehead.

My solution? Skip the line and go with the label I was given, Kristen. Yeah, there are times when I'd prefer to be a Jessica Chastain, but those moments are fleeting. If I were a Jessica Chastain rather than a Kristen, I may have never gone to a Hilary Duff concert in fifth grade, or found my own version of Hogwarts in Kirksville, Missouri. I wouldn't have a freckle that falls directly in the middle of my Cupid's bow, which my sister has pleasantly dubbed The Great Divide. I couldn't have an odd obsession with Tom Hiddleston because we would have to work together and that would just be totally awkward.

Who we are isn't set by how society labels us. Rather, it is set by the experiences we have, the values we accept, the shoes we wear, and the path we choose to walk in those shoes.

Love,

Heldie