Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. ~ Oscar Wilde

An opportunity is at hand. The global pandemic has become a facilitator to slow us down and allow us to reassess our lives. Many have felt an acceleration of purpose while others are struggling for the purpose at all.

Rumblings of dissatisfaction are a sign that change is upon us. Cracks may appear in our lives, and conflicts within may arise. There may be blocks and delays at every turn; nothing is going as planned. We feel out of sorts, agitated. Something may happen to tell us we have had enough; we have reached our breaking point.

These are signs of an awakening.

It is at this point we have a choice: we can ignore them as we always have, or we can explore new possibilities and realities.

Our lives are lived in Identity roles. These identities have been thrust upon us by family, society, religion, gender, and more. Mr. Mrs, Dr, Ph.D., Lawyer, CEO, Bad boy, Beautiful woman, Renaissance man, Housewife, Hippie, the list goes on and on. Thinking this is who we are, we wear these roles, unaware they are merely costumes that define us to the world.

We learn these roles well, and as we age, they morph as our lives change, taking on new roles as empty nesters, retirees, pensioners, all making us feel like we belong to a greater whole.

These identities represent us; until they don’t.

I like to think of Humpty Dumpty when he fell off the wall. All the king’s horses and all of the king’s men could not put him back together again. He had out-grown the shell of who he was.

This unique period of forced sequestering has stripped many of us of the comfort afforded by these roles.

Rumi, the Sufi philosopher, says the cracks allow the light to come through.

This time is providing us with an opportunity to look at the cracks in our own identities. The light that is shining through is the light of our true nature. Allowing it to be front and center is the manifestation of our souls’ journey.

When the time comes to shed our identity roles, we will feel a shift as many are now feeling. Once our true nature awakens, it alleviates the need to wear the costumes we have assumed; they no longer represent us.

The quest to discover our true selves is profoundly private. It might be the most challenging journey of our lives. The dynamics of our relationship with ourselves and others will change.

Take the journey inside and confront those shadows that taunt you to hide. Explore your fears. Shedding light onto them is the first step towards transformation.

To find ourselves doesn’t mean being in our identity roles more, but actually in them, less. It means to shed who we once were to become who we indeed are.

Open the door to our raison d’ etre, our reason to be, and watch your life become brighter, lighter, and more joyful. Enjoy the journey!