The Laughing Wolf

The Labels We Give Ourselves

The labels we are given by others can be damaging, or are often misleading since they tend to focus only on one aspect of that which is us, a unique individual. How often, though, do we do the same thing to ourselves?

I have met and know people who will tell you, cheerfully that they are Black, Scottish, Scottish-American, or some other similar designation. A reply of “That is a good descriptor of your genetic heritage, but what are you? Who are you?” tends to derail their train of thought.

The same is true for someone who describes themselves as a Democrat, a Republican, or a Libertarian. It is a fair descriptor of their political beliefs, but it is just that and no more. If you want to put a wedge on those tracks, try asking if they are a Jacksonian, Jeffersonian, Wilsonian, or Hamiltonian.

While there are one or two people I have met over the years that it might be generous to give to even one category, most people are more complex than that. Why deliberately sell yourself short, and make it easy for enemies and idiots to damage or dismiss you?

I like to think that I am more complex than just a single word or issue. Indeed, I get called all sorts of names. To some, I am a radical and to others I am a radical conservative. Because my beliefs differ from many, I am a pagan, a sinner (given), a heretic (rather like that one, reminds me of a character I once read about in Sunday school), a damned soul, and much more. Because I happen to be an admirer of the female form, I am a pervert, a pervert, a disgrace (would prefer they try me before saying that), evil, and more. I can go on, but you get the point.

How I describe myself is complex. I am a male, have Scot/Welsh/English/Native American/French(explains a bit, doesn’t it)/and either Dutch or German heritage, loves to cook, read, hike, walk in the woods, give and get massages, admires the female form, blathers on my own web log, am a writer and communicator, loves art in most forms, likes animals, both as friends and as dinner, believe in the magic of live, and much more. How do you compress all of that into a reasonable length?

You can’t. It just isn’t possible. The closest I can come is that I am an eclectic, thinking independent, the thing that scares politicians and power seekers the most. I am NOT a Republicrat, a Conservative, a Liberal, or any of the other dozen or so labels that people have tried to apply to me. I am a conservative on fiscal matters and defense, but that is not an absolute. I am a liberal on certain other areas, in large measure because I believe in social freedom and keeping government the heck out of our daily lives as much as possible, but that too is not an absolute.

For me, I tend to look at each problem as unique and requiring of unique thought. I have enough experience in life to be highly suspicious of the simple and easy answer to any problem. I also have enough self-respect to rarely call myself any one thing, unless that is, my Mom really was right and I simply am trouble.

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