Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself

It's strange to consider
how someone defines
themselves, because
that's what a lot of
our existence ends
up being about.

It can sometimes
seem as simple as
the labels "rich"
and "poor," but
on the everyday
average, most
people are really
thinking in more
subtle terms,
their likes and
dislikes, of which
there are so many
as to make it useless
to try and index here.

The point is, it
becomes still more
strange when you
begin to consider
that the way you
view yourself
really is far more
subjective than
you can begin
to consider yourself.

It's the problem
of existence,
the existential angst,
that bothers so many
people, why we ever
consider death at all,
why we fear it, why
we think of some
lives as wasted
or so significant,
what distinguishes
our perceptions
of happiness
from those of
sadness.

You know who
you are (or, at
least, really
ought to) but
for other people,
it's an entirely
different matter.

That's why it's such
a great game to
track celebrity,
because it seems
to be the sport
where we convince
ourselves that we
have an excellent
chance of really
knowing a complete
stranger.

How often are
we successful
in that pursuit?

I wonder if there's
a branch of study
about that?

Anyway, it's
a fun thing
to think about,
and maybe even
might help define
yourself, if you
were looking
for something.