In Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert embarks on a spiritual journey and searches for one word to describe herself.
"Then he went on to explain, in a mixture of English, Italian and hand gestures, that every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. If you could read people’s thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you would discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. Whatever that majority though might be—that is the word of the city. And if your personal word does not match the word of the city, then you don’t really belong there." (pg 103)
New York was defined as “ambition”, The Vatican was “power, and Rome was “sex”. My literature professor challenged each one of us in the class to find one word to describe us - right now. Albeit, it sounds like an easy task (much more so than the piles of law cases stacking up on my desk that need briefing!). However, when I sat down to accomplish this task, I was at a loss of words. Is there really one word to describe me? I do however, agree with Gilbert that every city has one word to describe it. I realized this while visiting my friend from high school at a university in the Midwest this past weekend. After being separated from my friend at the football stadium and ended up wandering the surrounding streets, I realized my word and the word to describe the town did not align. While I had a fantastic weekend, I could not fight the feeling of not belonging, I felt irrelevant. Although, I suppose that comes with the territory of not actually attending the university, you are not supposed to feel "at home". But let's just say I was happy once I was back to the familiar (aka my bed) in Baltimore. The following is a brainstorm trying to decipher what word I would use to describe me.
- free; yet the limitations and responsibilities of attending a university restrain me
- independent; yet I would not be here without the financial and emotional support from my family and friends
- creative; I’d like to think that I’m a creative person, especially considering the field I’m interesting in pursuing. But I don’t believe I am an inherently creative person
- motivated; while this it true that I’m motivated to achieve and succeed, I know far many more people to which this word applies more to
- dreamer; yet I feel like most dreamers have more of that creative aspect. I do dream, and I dream a lot however, my dreams are far too basic for me to qualify myself as a dreamer
- believer
I believe at my current state, my one word would be “believer”. I believe in the future of tomorrow. I believe that everything will work itself out. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that people are inherently good.
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”
I am a “believer”. I believe that I can make a difference in the world, ya’ll just stay tuned to when its my turn to dazzle the world.
"Keep Calm and Carry On? No Thanks. I’d Rather Raise Hell and Change the World"
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