"I am..."

What are the first words you think of as you start that sentence?

I am.

Powerful words because whatever comes after defines you, right? At least that is what we tell ourselves. Whether you realize it or not you will label yourself 1,000 times a day.

I am.

I do it. You do it. Your best friend does it. That really cool Mom who volunteers in your son's first grade class even though she has 93 billion kids and a full time job and oh my gosh how is her hair always perfect and she always seems to have her shit together does it.

I am a mother, a wife, a daughter. I am a sister, a best friend, an employer. I am a writer, an organizer, a fast food aficionado.

I am the keeper of the bandages, the life partner, the champion of causes.

I am so many things, but the words that come after "I am" cannot define me because I am not any one of those things independent of any other.

All of the pieces of me come together to make me whole and it is not a complete definition.

It is an ever changing experiment.

Who I am today is not who I was yesterday or last month or 10 years ago because with every experience I encounter and process, I change.

I grow.

I learn.

I am not my pronoun. I am not the tasks I complete in a day. I am not my job description.

So who am I?

What labels do I really want to give myself?

I am loving.

I am sensitive, strong, and self aware. I am quick to anger in defense of another and slow to back down.

I am frequently wrong.

I am whatever and whomever I choose to be.