Thistle, originally uploaded by bobsee.
How do we get a sense of self?
I think “self” is created by the narratives we tell ourselves and others. We make our own sense of self from our experiences, mixing them constantly with our memories with our imaginations.
One of our key capabilities as humans is language and our ability to handle metaphors is at the root of this.
So, what I suggest you do is to see if you can become aware of the stories you tell yourself every day. The ones you create the sense of “Who am I?” from. There are many. Really many. But one that came to my mind was provoked by the sight of this thistle.
I took this photo of a thistle on my morning walk to work the other day. This is SUCH a powerful symbol for me. The thistle is Scotland. And I am Scottish. This place, this physical place, where I live, towered over by Stirling Castle high on its rock, surrounded by green fields stretching to the brown and grey and green hills, this is where I come from. This is where I belong. My family goes back in this town for a couple of centuries and more. I can feel my roots here. I feel sustained here. The energy, the colour, the smell of the air, the sunshine and the rain, the rocks, the trees and the plants, they all imbue me with a strong sense of who I am.
What’s your geography of self?
How does the place where you live, the physical environment in which you live, create your sense of who you are?
Heroes Not Zombies 
I really wonder if a person can find the feeling of home anywhere, or if it is a place that you have to put your energy into for a long time before it starts feeling that way. My ancestors are Scottish, but I was born in America to 2nd generation Scott-American parents. I always wonder if I went to Scotland to see, smell, visit the place, if I would feel connection to it because of the fact that it’s in my blood. (Or is it easily lost through just a single generation of new lifestyle?) I don’t really know, but one thing is for sure for me, that I haven’t found a sense of home anywhere yet.
Ah Ester, let me tell you two things.
Firstly, there was recently a programme on Radio Scotland reporting about a group of Canadians coming to the Orkney Islands (off the north coast of Scotland). These were all people who had discovered their ancestors had come from that part of the world and this was their first visit there. Ester, one by one you heard them speak of being overwhelmed with emotion, of feelings of belonging they didn’t expect and you heard their weeping. It was incredibly moving. Remember these were people who had never visited here before.
Secondly, I’ve had a couple of overwhelming feelings of belonging totally unexpectedly in different countries. Once in India and once in Morocco. I know of absolutely no ancestral connections for me in either of these countries and the intense feelings moved me to tears and quite astonished me.
So, yes, I think we find ourselves filled with intense belongings in different countries. Some times we’d expect it. Some times its a complete surprise.
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