i am who i think you think i am

I still had this voice in my head, “I’m not really like them. I’m a degenerate.” And with my degenerate friends maybe I told myself, “Well, I don’t quite fit in here either, do I? I’m supposed to be reading.” Now looking back, clearly I was a part of all of it. I’m not this or I’m not that, that was the lie. But you don’t feel that at the time.

Without realizing it, you—like everyone else—are very likely operating under two very flawed assumptions: first, that other people see you objectively as you are, and, second, that other people see you as you see yourself.

Oh, I’ve got to work more, because my self depends on my status and my achievement. You internalize that. It’s a kind of form of internalized oppression.”

Who am I if you take away my work? That’s a question to which we’d better have a solid answer. And yet many of us don’t. Fortunately, once we realize this we can do something about it.