Here. Now. A Catholic Guide to the Good Life - free today
Written by Amy Welborn
CHAPTER 1
Center, Found
"Just let me be myself. Please."
It's what so many of us want from the world. The simple free- dom to be ourselves. With one condition, of course:
"As long as no one thinks I'm lame."
That seems to be how it works, all the time, from all time. My oldest son, now in his early 20s, once observed that he and his friends, in their quest for radical individuality, ended up all dress- ing in the same style, playing the same music, and talking in iden- tical slang and code words. Funny how that happens.
We all want to be ourselves, but sometimes we operate under a curious misunderstanding of what that means. We think that the "myself" we're trying to be is some totally independent being, free from any outside influences. That's just not the way it is, though.
No one creates themselves from scratch. Well, no one creates themselves at all, of course, but even when it comes to style, val- ues, career direction, expectations, and even likes and dislikes, we are the product of an interaction with other forces and voices out- side ourselves.
