My eldest daughter recently participated in an Intensive Awareness weekend retreat. She described to me how, for eighteen hours a day, the group paired off and for three hours at a stretch, got into their partners face and demanded “Who ARE you?”

It’s a good question. I’ve been thinking about this ever since. Last evening I made an artsy sign of the question and hung it on the closet door, so I would see it every morning.

Who AM I?

I am a mother. I am a grandmother.

No – those are roles you play. Hats you wear. Who are YOU?

I am a gardener. I am a musician. I am a writer.

No – those are things you DO. WHO are you?

Thinking, I picture Winnie The Pooh with his finger to his forehead. “Think. Think. Think”.

Demanding. WHO ARE YOU?

Who AM I? Who AM I?

Now I am concerned. Confusion is setting in.

Insistently - Who are you NOW? WHO ARE YOU? TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!

Who am I? Have I ever known? Have I ever been who I really am? I’ve worn so many hats, done so many things. Are they who I am or am I someone completely separate from all of that? I remember eons ago, looking into my own eyes in a mirror and asking this same question. Who am I? Just WHO, exactly, is this looking into my eyes?

Just for the briefest moment, through that mirror – I saw into my own soul.

Who are YOU?

Good question – who AM I?

I am wind, I am water. I am earth, I am fire. I am music, I am poetry. I am sorrow, I am joy. I am hope, I am strength. I am art, I am suspense. I am sunshine, I am rain. I am flowers in the summer, I am crispy orange leaves in the fall, I am snowflakes in the winter. I am stone, I am sand. I am an eagle in flight, I am a waterfall. I am star sparkle, I am moonglow, I am the dark of the night.

And that is just the first few layers.

Going deeper, who AM I, really?

I am your brother, mother, sister, father, daughter, son, friend, beloved.

Who am I?

I am Light.

I am Love.