I want to revisit something that I said in the previous post. I found myself making reference to the Wizard of Oz and how his life has deteriorated due to the facade that he had to maintain for the Land of Oz. As I read over it, something jumped out at me: The process.

I've gone from leisurely flying in on a hot air balloon, to passively embracing the fantasy title of wizard, to frantically pumping levers and turning knobs while screaming into a microphone behind a satin curtain that I hope no one notices.

This is the repeating cycle of life. We enter the world by a change in the wind, we don't protest as we let the occupants of this world tell us who we are, then we exhaust ourselves trying to perpetuate an illusion before labeling another unfortunate soul whose winds have changed.

Why does this happen? Why is it that we find ourselves in a pattern like this? Oddly enough, it literally comes down to a single word: responsibility. Of course we are not responsible for our birth, nor are we responsible for the label others attempt to place on us, but we are responsible for the embracing of that label. If we don't embrace that label, then we have no illusions to maintain.

I have been labeled everything from a rebel, to a racist, to a misogynist, to an idiot, to a fool, to simply “no damn good.” Then I have others who have attempted to label me a great man of God, a gift, “the wisest man I know”, among many others that I don't even remember. Why do these labels become a burden regardless of whether they are positive or negative? Because of the amount of work that comes with them. Over the next few posts (which I will try to regularly post on time), I would like to explore these labels, the work they demand, and the roll of fear in our Struggle for Identity. Stay tuned.