Easy! I'm from... True. All of us are from somewhere. But what if we think about the question another way. What if the word you identifies the very you-ness that makes you exactly who you are, individual and unique from all others? Now the question becomes a lot more interesting.  

Even though we can't see it, we are all travelling through time - what is known as the fourth dimension. It is intriguing to think that maybe our you-ness is a way to measure our passage through that dimension. Like a photograph records our age at a precise moment, we can think of a memory that shaped us and stick a pin in the time map of our self where we felt a major shift from one you to another you. Getting married, giving birth, surviving loss, these things all move us from one place to another, and usually once you cross that bridge it is impossible to go back. Your you changes for better or worse.

So we are constantly changing, physically, mentally, and emotionally as we pass through time. But most importantly our you never stops adapting to all of these aspects. It is an incredible thing to realise that we are not static at all, and that if we were able to slow time down enough, instead of seeing a person we could suddenly see our true selves, a fluid collage made up of a shifting myriad of memories, perceptions, experiences, triumphs and tragedies.

We can't always control what happens to us which of course will influence how our you moves forward, however there are small things we can control, perceptions we hold of ourselves, so the next time you pass a mirror, or reflect on an experience you had remember whatever you think of yourself at that moment, because it will become a part of you forever, and ultimately...where you come from.

Originally published on Paradigms Bend Nov 22 2010