"For most of my life, I thought of myself as a fixed entity: This is me. These are my traits. This is who I am. I assumed I was essentially that same person who loved sugary cereal at age 8, fried chicken at 12, and tequila at 21, and who still loves those things now, even if my stomach disagrees. But this is an illusion. Neuroscience, physics, and Buddhism all agree: There is nothing fixed about us-not even close."
"Instead, we are processes. We are an ever-shifting swirl of molecules, emotions, passing thoughts, and the lingering echo of every person we've ever loved, disliked, or wanted to impress. The self is a process. More specifically, your self is all the ways the energies that animate you as a living being negotiate with reality. Unfortunately, like most negotiations in my life, I accepted the contract without reading the fine print."
People commonly treat identity as a fixed set of traits, but neuroscience, physics, and Buddhist insights indicate the self is not fixed. Identity functions as an ongoing process composed of molecules, emotions, passing thoughts, and the lingering echoes of relationships. The self emerges from how the energies that animate a living being negotiate with external reality. Misconstruing the self as a static entity fosters painful, unproductive emotional states and a sense of being stuck. Recognizing the self as a verb creates opportunities for redirection and growth, allowing people to realign and balance the forces that shape experience and flourishing.
Read at Fast Company
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