The Many "Me"s That Make Up My Life - Part 2

As seen below, there are many different "me"s that make up who I am. When combined you get a full picture, but otherwise you only understand a part. Lately I've been learning that we like things too separate.

Think about it for a minute. If you're like my brother, you like different types of food to be on separate plates so that they don't have to touch each other before making their way to your mouth. If you're like my sister, you'd rather not have different groups of friends over to your house for the same party, because that could get awkward. And if you're like me, you want separate sticky notes for different categories of your scribbles, even if there's room for everything on one. 

See? We like things separate. 

It's easier that way. Not too messy. Simple. 

But somehow I think that's dangerous. Don't get me wrong, being organized is a good thing! However, keeping things too separate, especially when it comes to pieces of your actual life, can be lonely. It's like making someone read a random section of your favorite book without giving them any context. That's frustrating, and to be honest, there are already too many people who will only understand one part of you anyway. 

Allow me to invite you into my room right now. I'm sitting here alone in my empty house. I'm clearly the home me on the surface. To someone looking in at the moment, I know I give a very different impression than the me inside my own head. However, take a step into my mind for a minute and you'll see that besides thinking about this blog post, I'm thinking of the many job applications I've filled out this week and the many more left to be finished (work me), I'm thinking about my visit to Taylor coming up soon and all of my friends there without me (academic me), and I'm definitely thinking about the many Slovenes I met this summer who are still moving forward towards Christ (travel me). And even though I can hide those "me"s to the outside world and look like merely home me, I can never truly separate things inside my head or heart. There, I'm always just me.   

But God didn't create us to be ourselves alone, inside our souls only to be understood by Him or ourselves. Instead, He gives us opportunities to be open with those around us and make friends who are able to see more than one of the pieces that make up who we are. True, some friends will only ever really see or understand one part of us, and that's okay. However, those who see, understand, and relate to more than one "me" are the ones you really want to keep around.

Because some things need to be separate (like doodles versus lists on sticky notes). But others are better understood when all together.