You are not who you think you are

Every cat has three names: the name that everybody knows, the name that only the cat’s intimate friends and family know, and the name that only the cat knows.

T. S. Elliot

Who am I?

This maybe the most important question you can ask yourself.

Am I my:

• Social media pictures or status
• Feelings, thoughts and ideas?
• Sex, age, body or physical appearance?
• Race, religion or belief system?
• Nationality?
• Work or the roles I play?
• Possessions?
• Who people say I am?

Moving to Canberra in 2014 has been an amazing journey that took me 6,500 km from Kuala Lumpur, where I was born to begin a new life in a new land.

The excitement of starting anew was quickly greeted with the reality of having to adjust to a new way of life and culture.

After spending more than 40 years establishing myself, I was forced to start all over again. The foundation that I had built was no longer there.

My identity seemed to have dissolved and the foundation I had built my life on washed away from under my feet. I was well and truly lost.

This journey came close to breaking me as I searched to find a new job and reestablish myself. It taught me some of life’s hard lessons in a deeply personal way.

Most of my adult life I had measured myself by my work. But now I was forced to confront my true self.

Who was I now that I did not have a job and was alone in a new country?

Did I simply stop existing?

Empty your self

In order to find your self you have to first leave your old self behind and go on a journey.

The Hero’s Journey (or Finding Yourself)