Who are you express yourself

I am a scientist and I am an artist. I am a musician, an athlete, a philosopher, and an activist. I am a waitress and a world traveler, both a suburbanite and a citizen of the world. I fill so many roles and I have such varied interests that sometimes I am not sure who I am. Jack Kerouac describes these feelings best in his novel On the Road with the line, “All I have to offer anybody is my own confusion. ” The confusion of which Kerouac writes is an active confusion. He was not complacent in his uncertainty; he was a searcher. He traveled thousands of miles, seeking to understand the world and his place in it. He wrote of “offering” confusion, indicating a hope for reciprocity. Kerouac viewed his search as a collaborative process, looking for answers in the many diverse and interesting people he met along his journeys. Like Kerouac, I am a searcher. This is a direct result of being raised in a Unitarian Universalist congregation. The Unitarian Universalist doctrine encourages uncertainty. Among other things, we affirm and promote the equality of all, persecution of none, and the free and independent search for truth. My upbringing instilled in me a sense of moral responsibility. It has taught me the meaning of service and the importance of respect. What has shaped me the most, though, is that idea of an “independent search for truth. ” Unitarian Universalism teaches that personal beliefs should be developed individually through consideration of diverse input, and that differences in beliefs should be not only respected but encouraged. In my search I turn to everything for input: literature, music, films, world religions and politics, modern art, and almost every other form of pop culture imaginable. I have traveled to eight foreign countries, each expanding my global perspective. My most meaningful learning experiences, though, have been in interactions with other people. I am a very social and outgoing person. I tend to make friends with people from many different groups. I enjoy having many different friends because I am given the opportunity to see from diverse perspectives. For this reason I love meeting and getting to know new people. This Kerouacian search for who I am and what I believe is something I hope to continue for the rest of my life. Already, it has made me a politically and socially aware person and instilled in me a passion for action. I hope to never stop learning, never lose my youthful curiosity, and never stop sharing in my confusion, because each new experience, new place, and new person I meet is a shared opportunity to learn. Perhaps by sharing in the confusion I will begin to find answers that work for me, or perhaps not. In the end, it is not the answers I’m interested in so much as enjoying the search.