Along our way to and from the mountains, Kathleen and I had a lot of time to talk. We chatted business, plans, worries, issues...but eventually we got to some of the good stuff. And one of the most interesting items was this question of how we define ourselves on a day to day basis: figuring out who we are when those jobs, titles, roles and responsibilities are stripped away.

Consider these questions: How much do you define yourself by your job/career/profession? Your role as parent or spouse- or your relationships in general? Your possessions, your hobbies? What would you find if you didn't have those titles and people and things?

Don't get me wrong; the roles that we play in this life are part of who we are. They are expressions of our priorities, our choices, our karma and our dharma. But it is interesting to take a look at how and when those things get out of balance, either usurping the lion's share of the "I am" or falling away though we might define them as high priorities. Even more fascinating is the truth that from this paradigm, we are only capable of going so far along this line of questioning, as the mind is limited in its capacity for self-reflection. Do you see where we are going here?

It's good to consider these questions as a mode of svadhyaya (self-study) but ultimately to find the answers we seek, no amount of thinking will get us there. The answer? Meditation. Exploring the reality that exists beyond the veil of thought. Have you spent any time in the silence today?

Peace,
Jill