Identity and Representation: Personal Identity - Essay Example

IDENTITY AND REPRESENTATION Personal Identity The first aspect of life that best describes me is culture. I am an individual brought up in the United States of America. My family settled at Washington D.C. since birth. Being brought up in such a luxurious and big city has been an adventure to me. Throughout my childhood experience, I have adopted diverse entities related to cultural events in life. It has been a fascinating encounter too. Various cultures and arts dominate the city. All these make life awesome and enjoyable. A day out in the theatre and performance arts centers was an excellent way to spend our weekends and holidays. During such performances, a lot of art and culture has been instilled in me. My childhood experiences remain still fresh with a nostalgic effect. There are several things that I learned while young. Such things have been part and parcel of me till date. The instances are unique. It, therefore, describes my identity. One great investment is sports. In my teenage, I loved sports so much. Being a male, my father’s company was something I cherished. My dad has been a great fan of football. Whenever he went out to watch live games, I was part of his budget. This hence therefore created a deep love for soccer. My father encouraged me to join football teams in school. During my years in high school my football likeness blossomed. I played on the schools team B. The love for football has led me to support my favorite team in English Premier League. I support Arsenal Football Club. I have been a member of this club since my high school days. I, therefore, consider myself as a diehard fan for the club. Religion is another imperative aspect of life that describes my identity well. I was born in a Christian family. Every Sunday we attend the church service in the city. While I attended church during my teenage, I developed a positive attitude towards singing. The approach developed gradually with time. It reached a point that my mother got the attention of my attraction towards singing. She talked to me about it and promised to nurture my talent. My mom used to encourage me in various ways. Whenever I was free, I used to sing my favorite songs. In times of trouble and aloneness, I used to comfort myself with singing. Furthermore, I had intense interest in playing all musical instruments, the favorite being a guitar. One evening on a weekend my parents surprised me with a new album of my favorite gospel artist in Washington D.C. I have so compelled that my song took a different dimension. Through the experience of being a member of a Christian family, I learnt the Christian way of lift, having total reliance on God and persevering, as I evangelize to win the lost souls. Values such as patience, obedience, peace, and love were instilled in me. My father encouraged us to pray every time. There are several social groups that I have been a member, and all has shaped my identity. Way back in school I was a member of technology and innovation club. In this club, we interacted in various ways with members of the group. The interaction was not only limited to the members of the club but also members of other organizations and students from other schools. Group work and competitions mainly facilitated communication. Games were organized, and we used to develop innovative projects for presentation. The best project was rewarded. The experience of this club teaches me the importance of teamwork in life. I have come to clearly and precisely understand that collaboration is imperative in life. Two heads are better than one. Decisions made as a team are long lasting and better than decisions made by one. There are several aspects now in my life that cannot be easily changed. The first aspect is the religion. Being brought up in a deeply Christian family has been a remarkable adventure to me. We were encouraged day in day out. As a family, values such as obedience, patience and love in life were emphasized. Change some of this thing that were instilled in me is a hard nut to crack. Respect to the young and the old is what shall remain as part and parcel of my life forever. All the bible teachings are deeply rooted in my nerves. Those are the things that Christianity has totally transformed me to be. It has therefore developed and constructed in me an identity that is far different from others. Friendship is another aspect of life that describes my identity. Favorite authors who have done research have come up with a saying that goes “show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”. The majority of my friends are people that we share the same goals and objectives in life. People we share culture, religion, and beliefs. These are the guys in life that we share several interests in life. However, as I socialized with friends, I realized there are some aspects of life we cannot be the same. At this point what we call a conflict of interest arises. For I example, we share the interest of football with most of my friends. However, we all do not support the same teams or clubs. We typically share the best of our time comparing each other’s club. All these aspects of life make me different from others. It, therefore, identifies me as the unique individual. As Howarth (2002) insists, personality is detrimental in shaping behavior. People perceive my identity different. Beginning from religion, many have a different perception of it. My Christianity is seen different by people who believe in other faiths. For instance, Muslims do not believe in God. Their beliefs and customs are different from mine. The way they perceive my religion, therefore, is different to how I see them. People who belong to a different culture from me also view me differently. For example people raised in non-western countries see me differently from people from my community. The way I dress, talk and do my things is not perceived in the same way. My support or membership to an individual football club is viewed differently by many. Those who support other clubs have a varying version of their explanation while those who have no interest in sports have their version too. Transition into the new social group has been a difficult experience for me. I was once relocated to a different school when my father shifted to New York City in March 2005. My new home was entirely different. I had no friends in the neighborhood or school. For the first three months, I was very lonely. I had no one to share ideas with, spent time together and even talk together. However, as time went by, I became friendly to the new environment. I successfully adopted the new way of life and soon I began a member. I developed friends who we socialized. As a conclusion, identity is imperative in human life. Every individual should be aware of his status. By understanding aspects of life such; as social life, religion, culture and personal experience you can easily describe your character. Identity will explain one’s state of being the same even when conditions change. References Howarth, C. (2002) Identity in whose eyes? The role of representations in identity construction. Journal for the theory of social behavior, 32 (2). pp. 145-162 DOI: 10.1111/1468- 5914.00181 Read More