Labels, labels, everywhere

I got the idea for this blog from watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I'm not ashamed. Bravo is good, solid, dramatic television. You can keep your True Detectives and House of Cards.... I like my trashy reality television.

In any case, these ladies were throwing around labels like it was nobody's business. One woman was racist, another was a bigot. Ridiculous. It made me realize that labels are used too often. They are used to simplify a situation, to describe someone. But I would argue, it's not only dangerous to throw blanket descriptions onto people, they are also, most of the time, just part of the the truth.

I did a project my senior year of high school where we were asked to put together a book about us. The final page I listed words that describe me. Some of them were completely hypocritical of one another, but they were all true. I'm a tomboy, but I'm also a girly girl. I'm a writer, but I don't necessarily like to read. I am a registered republican, but I support gay marriage. It's when I think about labeling myself that I get confused. Why don't any of these words describe me?

Then I remember, I don't have to fit the mold. I think the problem most of the time is that we try so desperately to fit ourselves into a mold that we aren't meant to fit. It's why Washington DC is at a standstill. We label ourselves with words and try to make them fit. We cannot sway from the definition of the word we label ourselves as. But the truth is you can. You don't need to be stubborn about it. If one day you believe one thing, and something happens that changes your mind on the topic, it's okay to redefine yourself.

That's exactly what I have come to accept. If I read the words that I defined myself with as a senior in high school, I would probably agree with a handful of them. But I've learned so much since then. I've met new people, traveled to new places, been faced with new situations.

The more my life changes and I educate myself on things, I sometimes find myself wondering about how I would define me today. If I were walking down the street and a stranger came up to me and asked, "What are five words you would use to label yourself?" Strangely enough, I've come to the conclusion that the answer would change on a day to day basis. Some people would call this confusion or tell me I have no self-identity. But I guess those words are just labels someone else has to put on me in order to understand who I am.

So as I type this and a hypothetical stranger approaches me and asks, "What are five words you would use to label yourself?" Today, those words are:

What are your words today?