As I moved into my meditation today, fully mindful and ready for any experience that would come, I surprised myself by asking the very basic question, “Who am I?” Hmm, what an extremely simple yet complex thing to ponder. I am a collection of my experiences, thoughts, and emotions. I am who I am at this moment, and I’m someone else in the next, as the person just a few moments later has experienced more, and therefore becomes someone new. Have you ever asked yourself who you are? It’s a strange thing to try and label yourself as something other than your name. What defines us as beings? This was my train of thought as I meditated today.

I began to see and think about who I am in this life. The person I’ve become is based on all the experiences I’ve had. I began to think about my favorite colors, animals, and foods. I began to think about the philosophies and ideologies I hold dear. I began to replay pivotal moments in my life, ones that I believe define me. I began to see myself as a collection of parts and less like a fully intact single being. It was messy and complicated and beautiful.

I am a collection of my experiences, thoughts, and emotions. I am who I am at this moment, and I’m someone else in the next, as the person just a few moments later has experienced more, and therefore becomes someone new.

Complexity grew as I began meditating on my lives outside of this timeline. All of these pieces, all of these lives I believe that I’ve lived, I’m a collection of those, too, though who I am today under these circumstances makes me different from other lives that I’ve experienced. I began to see all these pieces of myself, these shards, so similar yet all slightly different.

Then I began to analyze how I experience each Focus level. How I perceive each of them tells me so much about myself, who I am, and what I value. The fact that I see Focus 12 as a gateway of possibilities with many futures and options presented to me tells me that I am ambitious, curious, and excited to continually collect experiences. Seeing an ancient temple-like structure shows my love and value of anthropology and ancient cultures. Seeing Focus 21 as a beautiful old stone garden being reclaimed by nature shows my love and value of nature. This defines me, as well. Seeing Focus 15 as distinct timelines provides perspective of the bigger picture and I love to play with perspective. I am who I am in each Focus level, and this, too, adds color to the canvas that is me.

I’d experienced spending time with my iThere several times before, specifically in Starlines, but this was the first time it’s come up in my daily meditations, and I’m still trying to figure out what my higher self wants to show me since it was such a strong message. This brought me back to the idea of a collection of all these pieces—my iThere. I saw myself sitting, surrounded by the shards of my iThere, the pieces that make me, me. They consisted of experiences and values, thoughts and colors, pieces of me from this life, and pieces representing lives beyond this. I saw just how complex I am which reminded me, yet again, that we are so much more than our physical bodies. We exist as millions of pieces that define who we are. We are uniquely us.

I am who I am in each Focus level, and this, too, adds color to the canvas that is me.

It’s clear to see why the idea of consciousness is so hard to study and define. It’s so subjective. We are so vastly different; no real control could suffice in any study. Through an analysis of myself, I was able to see a vast collection of what makes me, me … and this collection of pieces only skimmed the surface of more that was there. We are so much more than our physical bodies! I encourage you to reach deep within yourself and expand your focus to analyze what makes you who you are. The journey may very well surprise you.