Who Are You?

One of my favourite Disney classics has always been Alice In Wonderland. This story tells of a girl (Alice) who falls down a rabbit hold and into a world of peculiar creatures and unimaginable events. Alice’s ideas of reality are challenged at the least and she often finds herself in utter confusion. Her perception of this world is faced with adversity as the characters she encounters lead her to believe that down is up and up is down. She finds herself in uncomfortable situations with a bottle labeled “drink me” which causes her to drastically shrink and a cake titled “eat me” which causes her to grow to the size of a giant. 

Countless other adventures find her in the presence of talking flowers, the mad hatter and the Cheshire cat. However the scene that provokes the most thought on my part is when Alice encounters a blue caterpillar sitting on a mushroom, smoking a hookah. He prods her with the question “Whooooo Arrrrreeeeeeee yyoouuuu? Alice admits her identity crisis and is even more troubled after her conversation with this caterpillar.

Caterpillar: Who... are... you?

Alice: Why, I hardly know, sir. I've changed so much since this morning, you see...

Caterpillar: No, I do not C, explain yourself.

Alice: I'm afraid I can't explain myself, you see, because I'm not myself, you know.

Caterpillar: I do not know.

Alice: I can't put it any more clearly, sir, because it isn't clear to me.

His smoke formed questions and her inability to quote a poem leave a lingering question we all ask ourselves some times- who am I? Other queries commonly follow this one and leave us with an empty feeling and a sense of unsurety. So often I ask myself these same questions. I know my name and other defining basic facts but who am I when I look at the heart of my soul? 

I’ve come to know I am a daughter of God but some aspects of my character elude me at times. This stage of life is a time to find out what we are made of. Our habits speak volumes of our intentions and values. I can recognize traits in my character that I love and others I love less but occasionally I’ll have a hard time pinning down the type of person I really am. I have always disliked when people say “oh just be yourself” – what does that even signify? I think this life is a continual process to find out what “being yourself” means; I believe this involves growth and change each day. We don’t need to know all the answers today or this very moment. As I strive to better my life whether it’s by reading my scriptures daily or exercising I learn new traits about my character as a child of God. I’m grateful for my patriarchal blessing that specifies some of my positive characteristics. Overall I think we learn about ourselves on a daily basis. I can easily say that this life is a time to improve and prepare so when we reach a critical point we will be able to answer the question of “Whooooo Arrrrreeeeeeee yyoouuuu?” with full confidence and complete assurity.