Do you ever think about the labels that we give ourselves?

I often label myself as lazy when I haven’t achieved to my personal standard. I’ve even labelled myself as pathetic on some of my worse days. I started using the label ADHD in a plea to understand myself. The label trauma is currently of huge discussion in the psychology department as well as the self-development realm.

Labels held me back from accepting myself

These words are used to define us, to understand ourselves and others, though we usually stick to a small amount in our limited language to encapsulate our entire existence. As you can see above, I’ve been quite prone of this. I’ve labelled myself my entire life and still always considered and felt like there was something wrong with me. Now I consider that this has to do with a subconscious search for a label I felt fit, that would give me a place to belong but it’s also this search that held me back from accepting my complete self.

Consider;

So I just want you to consider today, how do you label yourself, your existence and what you do? What happens when we remove those labels? When we stop trying to define ourselves and let ourselves be? Roll with the punches as they say. Let ourselves change from time to time, or all the time.

All the things we touch, consume, see, the people around us. We are all made from the same bloody thing yet we are labeled differently. We can’t possibly define ourselves in a language which is so limiting while we are so complex. Think of all the neurons, the veins and senses coursing through our body every second. Yet it is all vibrating little particles that somehow manifest in this 3D realm and we try to make sense of it.

How!? How could we possibly when we are not of ourselves? You may have heard the quote “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” originally by French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I understood the idea but I’d never felt it, now I kinda do. We label ourselves as humans when we are made from the same particles as a table, the same particles as stars. It’s labels that can distance us from the world, that restricts us despite how interconnected we are.

Try to go a day without labeling yourself. Without even identifying as human, be nothing and everything all at once.

You already are something, so be it.

Don’t put any labels on yourself about how you’re meant to be, who you are, what you’re doing, any attributes you might have. Get rid of it all and notice how you feel, in your body and mind. Notice how you feel when you don’t use labels. Without feeling like you have to be something.

Don’t try to figure out what it is, you already are it.

I was listening to Alan Watts the other day and in his lecture Symbols & Meaning he said ‘But I ask you: is a tree made of wood? Obviously not. A tree is wood. It’s not made of it. Is a mountain made of rock? Obviously not, it is rock. See, our language contains innumerable ghosts. ’ (Text sourced from https://www.organism.earth/library/document/tao-of-philosophy-7)

You are not made of your body, you ARE your body. You are not made of your soul, you are your soul. It is all one.

Often times we separate the human existence into different areas, take the bio-psycho-social model for example. In this approach an individual is separated into three different areas; biological, psychological and the social. Maybe this system of understanding the human existence or psychopathology helps many, but I see it as squandering the potential for complete understanding for if we were to individualize every part of a human, would it not be significantly more than those three sections? Even if we were to add more, there would too many to remember.

You’re unique and that’s a good thing

If you have spent your time trying to fit in and be a certain way as everyone else. If you’ve tried study, or read or adapt in some way and you wonder why you can’t, or what’s wrong with you because you’re not seeming to be like everyone else. Just consider that maybe you’re not like everyone else. Maybe you think differently, maybe your brain is wired differently, you’ve definitely gone through various different circumstances that have shifted your personality in ways we couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend. The butterfly effect, a single flap of wings can shift the entire human perspective.

How removing labels shifts perspective

I had a whack day this week. By any other standard of mine, nothing had been going right. I lost the car key for a good hour (when my partner was running late), which made the house a complete mess, then the house’s power short circuits. Turns out the washing machine is somehow broken and most of my clothes are inside. Trying to drain it just caused a mess and I can’t fix it until I get a new part for it. Once I dealt with it all, I was going to go out only to realize the things I needed were completely flat and I hadn’t eaten yet.

Most other days, these series of events would have my spirits feeling tired and caught up in the idea of these events being “bad” & “unwanted”. This day I felt present in each moment and enjoyed the process of discovery both in the physical (with the washing machine) and the mental as I took time to contemplate what was different about this day.

Practice with curiosity

Allow yourself to be you. Allow yourself to be. Don’t even put a you or I onto it for as long as you can. Try not to define yourself through your emotional experience. Practice this. This process of removing labels can also be used as a practice in mindfulness and acceptance; highly regarded for personal growth in both the psychology realm and the spiritual community.