Our thoughts, words, and identities, are all as changeable as pieces of clothing.
They start from nothing but an idea, much like sewing together a shirt or a dress; you begin by choosing the pattern, purchase the material, lay it out and cut the pieces apart, stitching them together, you end up with a something to wear.
Thoughts and words come from the same place. They began with an idea, we cut them out based on expectations from other people or ourselves, desires to be liked, to be understood, to live a meaningful life; eventually we stitch them together with words, telling stories about ourselves, telling stories about others, reinforcing events and activities so they take form and become solid — we make them ‘real’.
Then come those moments when we catch flashes ourselves – – like standing in front of the mirror after we’ve taken off all of our clothes, we see ourselves unadorned, stripped down, without any distractions, and in those moments we catch a glimpse of who it is that we truly are. Many, many times these moments slip past, and we barely recognize that we had an instant of knowing that we weren’t who we thought we were.
But if we are truly lucky (and we look for them), these moments will come round and round, again and again, chances to discard the thoughts and words we use to cover ourselves.