The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Not yet 101 things...

When I go visiting other blogs for the first time, I’ll read a couple of the latest entries, then I often flick back to their first couple of postings to try and get an idea of who they are and where they are coming from. Of course, most of the time I’m still none the wiser.

What I do love though, is when I come across one of these “101 things about me” type entries, because in one posting you often get a real sense of the person who’s writing that blog, in a way that their blogger profile can’t match.

So I started toying with the notion of creating my own 101 things, and without too much difficulty got up to about 24. But by the time I’d reached 37 items I was really faltering: the idea of finding a further 64 seemed an almost impossible task, because there’s a limit to defining yourself by your height and your favourite colour. There comes a point where you have to think about other aspects of your life, experiences and dreams to find a combination that really defines you in a way that you can say “yup, that’s me!” And this is where the very act of trying to put together such a list became a fascinating activity in itself.

How do we define ourselves? Very often it is relation to other people – I am my father’s son, my son’s father, my wife’s husband, my boss’s employee etc. But we are also a unique combination of our experiences, hopes, dreams, fears and desires. What started out as a light hearted, almost flippant, endeavour has now become quite a personal insight into what aspects I believe contribute to defining who I am. I would recommend doing it even if you never publish it on your blog.

It has actually taken me several weeks to get this far, and I’m now up to 99. When I’ve discovered another two I think I will post it.

7 comments

Unknown said...

I've been working on mine too......lol!!! I can't wait to read yours.

Siddharth said...

very true kim but the question 'who am i?'is something man has tried answering for eternity.and i am syre this 101 things is a very interesting process..

Kim Ayres said...

I enjoyed reading yours on your Rambling Mommy Thoughts blog, Tara Marie. Mine won't be long now!

Siddharth - as someone who has a degree in philosophy, the question "Who am I?" is one that has fascinated me all my life. However, I don't expect the 101 things to answer that in full.

But the very act of trying to put together a list like this has been a good exercise in self discovery, as I have tried to think about what I think goes into painting a picture that does reflect something of how I would define myself.

I have not been trying to discover whether I have an eternal soul, rather it is about defining me in terms of my experiences and desires.

Dr Maroon said...

A degree in philosophy and yet that question still fascinates you.
Surely, it’s that question of consciousness again or have I got that illness so well illustrated by the books of Philip K Dick and the Matrix films. Either way by definition, knowledge of an eternal anything is impossible shurely, and I admit I’m slavering a bit. Popularists they may be, but it’s AC Grayling and Jonathon Miller by MY bed, for the long dark teatimes of the soul.

Dr Maroon said...

It's me again,
I RE-READ your profile again, I thought it said you changed your CAT, and I was wondering why.

Kim Ayres said...

Dr Maroon - thank you for stopping by my ramblings. I can see how that mistaken reading of my profile would indeed cause confusion.

Maybe my midlife crisis isn't as far advanced as I'd supposed. Perhaps when I change my cat it will be complete.

Of course I'll need to get a cat first in order to change it...

Kim Ayres said...

bstrong - I recommend giving it a go. However, I'm still not sure about the hat...

Amanda - I look forward to seeing yours!

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