Marty, Matt, beautiful and eloquent answers. I don't think I could write a list of particular loves or character traits that define me as that's just too narrow. I am more than "I love ____." I could use single words, like "Faith." A huge part of my character is my bone-deep faith that the world is a place worth being, that people are essentially good, that things will balance out in the end. Faith that if you hang on long enough things will get better, that if you ask for help it will come from unusual places, and that if you step outside the box the answers are usually much more clear. I could mention relationships like "I am Robert's daughter" and that would be a reflection of part of who I am, but it does not define me. I would be different without that relationship but still me, still the same soul, just with a little different perspective. So how do I say who that person is?
I am Myself. I make mistakes, I hurt people, I put my foot in my mouth. I am Human. I make snap judgments in some situations and can be impatient. I hate stupidity. I procrastinate. But I am also honest about my faults and am trying to learn to swallow my pride and apologize when I know I'm out of line even if the person I hurt is letting me get away with it without saying anything. I'm trying every day (okay, most days) to be a better person. I know the wise older woman I want to be someday and it's time to realize that I'm grown up NOW and there's no time like the present to start acting like it in all the ways that count. Like Grace. Like Love. Like Forgiveness. I still stumble, but I'm trying.
Who I am shows in the choices I make, the people I choose to associate with, and the people who choose to associate with ME. Character shows in how you address (or don't) the things you don't like about yourself. I see a lot of room for improvement in this person who is me and I'm quietly coming to realize it's more than time I made the conscious choice to work on those things. I hope that says something good about me, about the person under the flaws. I honestly like that person most of the time. She's vibrant, smart, kind-hearted, compassionate, empathetic, intuitive, out-spoken, sometimes shy in ways you wouldn't expect, and animals all love her. It brings me to tears when my four-legged soul-partners give me their trust, especially the ones who have been so damaged by life that to do so is a major leap of faith. I would kill myself before I broke that covenant. I would die for them, for the children I hope to have someday. When I do give my heart I give it utterly and because of that I give it rarely and mostly to the four-legged. I have trust issues with humans at that level so while I make day-friends easily true friends are few and far between. I hope the ones I have know how much I value them. The ones to whom I whine and show my deepest insecurities are the ones I trust the most!
So how do I define myself? By my efforts and my fears, my failures and my battles, my hope and my dreams and my talents and my outlook. I am not the boundaries around me, the things that make me different from others. I am that small spark of consciousness which casts the light by which I see the world. I am Me.
Leia