Identity

Identities are the sets of meanings people hold for themselves that define “what it means” to be who they are as persons, as role occupants, and as group members. Where we live, what we eat, the people we surround ourselves with and the experiences we have; shape our identity. But how do you define your identity if there has never been any consistency in your life?

In our lives with so many intermingling of elements in which we are all caught up, a new concept of identity is needed, and needed urgently. We cannot expect all human beings to choose between excessive assertion of their identity and the loss of their identity altogether but instead we all have to find a common ground for ourselves. The search for that common ground leads to you developing a diasporic identity, one that leaves you lost, confused, displaced, as if you are unidentifiable.

Although, that diaspora within helps you create an identity that is a mosaic of all the experiences and memories you have had during this journey of displacement; that journey itself becomes a right of passage that eventually helps you define yourself. Thus, ultimately, I realized that my answer lied within that journey and the pit stops I made along the way, how those PLACES helped me collect a variety of experiences and memories that helped me shape who I am today.