Landmark Forum Leader Insights

The ‘I,’ as we know it, is not an absolute

By Laurel Scheaf

The degree to which who we are today is filtered by our early decisions often goes unrecognized. As life moves on, we hold on to that with which we’ve identified, obscuring full access to ourselves. When we become aware of our default views and begin to see ourselves as authors of those interpretations, we recognize that the “I,” as we know it is not an absolute. It’s here with this recognition, where transformation occurs—where we can come into an immense freedom—the domain of possibility.

Being fully ourselves always wants to happen in us. Possibility, however, requires our active participation as we’re no longer referencing what we’re out to create against who we’ve been, but rather against what’s possible. Going beyond the sure footing of our identity, involves an element of risk—a vital component of which is courage. We have the freedom to choose our relationship to whatever it was back then. What we say to ourselves and about ourselves shapes our possibilities for being. We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves.*

* N.Scott Momaday