Who Am I Without the Titles

Daughter. Sister. Friend. Christian. Single. Woman. Photographer. Writer. Speaker. Blogger. Entrepreneur. Business Owner. Virgin. Yogi.

This tells you what I am, but it doesn’t really tell you who I am. There’s a big difference between a what and a who. When I think of ‘what’ it implies object, a thing. ‘A what’ is one dimensional. Apple: red. Square: shape. Katherine: blogger.

When we meet people it’s so easy to ask ‘what do you do’. It’s drilled into our culture. Society screams at us from all angles You matter because of what you are.

Each time we ask it we affirm that what we do is who we are. Which if that is that case, then we live in a flat and boring world.

Sunday afternoon I was with a group of women at Pepper Brunch and business coach Cyndie Spiegel, the guest speaker talked about living your dream career. She had a lot of things to offer us. But my mind narrowed on this one particular question, and I have not been able to shake it for the last few days. She asked:

Who are you without the titles?

Yesterday after yoga I curled up on a comfy couch in a quiet corner the studio to journal about this question. And it was a struggle. I sat there chewing on the end of my pen and drumming my fingers on a blank page in my journal. My mind felt blocked.

Instantaneously I could write down what I am. That was easy to answer, but when it came down to ‘Who is Katherine titles aside’ I was stumped. Not who is: Photographer Katherine | Yogi Katherine | Blogger Katherine | Christian Katherine | ‘Who I think others want me to be’ Katherine.

Stripped of all my titles, of all the things that I do, who am I? Naked and bare. Who is Soul Katherine? What is she about? How does she tick. What is she scared of? What are her deepest dreams and desires?

It feels so vulnerable to even allow myself to dig into who that person is. It feels nearly impossible then to share with you who I am.I feel confident in sharing my one-dimensional self with you. But to write who I am on the inside feels scary. What if you don’t like her? Do I love her? Do I accept her? Without my whats am I enough?

After staring at a blank page for what seemed like an hour I timidly started writing a list of who I am. I believe that I was created by God with purpose, intention, perfectly for a time such as this.

But a lot of times I don’t really live like I was created by the Creator of all things. I wonder how I would be living if I was living as though the above statement were true? What if I gave myself permission to BE me. To be the woman God created me to be unapologetically? What if I allowed myself to be great? Since I was created this way, why not start living this way? (As I speak about myself I speak about you too!)

What if we got to know each other as who we are on the inside, not what we do on the outside? What if we as women (and men) gave each other permission to be great? Permission to be. I think we would create a tidal wave of movement in our world.