Upside-Down Wisdom #13: Identity

“I need to figure out who I really am.”

“I need to figure out who I really am.”

It sounds deep, doesn’t it?
Like a noble quest.
The path to clarity.
The way home.

But here’s the thing:

That’s upside-down.

Because the moment you believe your self is something to figure out,
you turn your attention away from what’s always been here—
and start chasing what never was.

The “self” you’re trying to find?
It’s made of thought.
It changes with your mood, your memory, your moment.

Try to pin it down, and it shifts.
Try to define it, and it moves.
It’s not a destination. It’s a mirage.

And here’s the thing:

You’re not just chasing it—you’re the one creating it.

Moment by moment. Thought by thought.
The image of self is your own mental artwork.
No wonder it keeps changing—it was never fixed to begin with.

You don’t need to become your true self.
You need to realize you were never the story in the first place.

You are not a puzzle to solve.
You’re the awareness of all of it.

Not the thinker. Not the thoughts.
Just the quiet space they pass through.

Here’s today’s Upside-Down Wisdom:
You don’t need to figure out who you really are.
You only need to step back from the canvas—and see who’s been holding the brush the whole time.

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This is Upside-Down Wisdom—a series where we flip the script on the conventional "wisdom" we've been taught. If you would like to read other posts in this series, please visit the Upside-Down Wisdom page.