Self Discovery Via Pinterest
Img source ‘texts from your existentialist’. Do yourself a favour and follow them on IG.
Has your therapist ever asked you who you are?
“Who are you?”
“umm I am a woman wh-“
“no.. who ARE you?”
“I am kind an-”
“no no no no, WHO are you?”
At this point in my life I didn’t realise it was ok to say I didn’t know. Because I really didn’t know, either that or I didn’t understand the question. Um can you use it in a sentence please? Years pass, and people, places and things come and go. All changing my idea of who I was.
After a particularly earth, mind, body and soul destroying break up I was laying in the bed in my mums’ spare room. Actually, it’s an office space that we awkwardly squeezed a mattress into, in the middle of the house, with no windows and a slatted tri fold door. Looking around the room not believing this is where I was in my life. Not even back at square one. Square one would have been in my old bedroom, which was being occupied by my sister after everyone played musical rooms when I moved out. This was at least at square negative 3.
Negative 3 quickly became a negative 21 when I Pinterest searched “who am i?”.
Pinterest. Pinterest. Not even google. I wasn’t looking for Dr. Seuss quotes written in some over used brush font over pictures of mountains, so why did I choose Pinterest? What the fuck is wrong with me? Maybe I would find out… on Pinterest.
Scrolling through the usual junk and aforementioned “inspirational” quotes I found a picture with a diary and the words “44 self-discovery questions”. I followed the links, skimmed over the questions and immediately got out my diary to copy them all down. Some were easier than others, a then a few that I never answered. I knew the answers, but they were too painful to admit or make real by writing them down. The important part though – breakthroughs were had.
The questions come from a blog by Jenine Nicole, a life coach and counselling psychology grad student. “This blog is a passion project … I share life lessons, inspirational posts and practical tips on how to level up your success and infuse your life with happiness.” Have I ever read anything else she has posted? No. Should I? Probably. Is it a cop out just reposting her post? Maybe. Am I going to do it anyway? Yes, because these are great questions. I have gone back to them a couple of times since, and it’s interesting to see which answers change and which stay the same. Any time I have a friend who feels lost or depressed (who isn’t, amiright?), I send them this list of questions. Now I am sending them to you. Don’t pressure yourself but be honest. This is for you and only you. So here you have it.
1. What three words describe me best?
2. What are the important things in my life?
3. What values are important to me?
4. What does my ideal life look like?
5. What is my biggest regret?
6. What are my favorite memories?
7. What makes those memories so good?
8. What is holding me back in life right now?
9. What is my biggest strength?
10. What allowed me to reach this far in life?
11. What makes life good?
12. Am I happy with my life?
13. What do I admire about myself?
14. When am I most happy?
15. Do I like the person that I am today?
16. What is my best quality?
17. What is my biggest weakness? How do I make up for it?
18. What is my love language?
19. What is my communication style?
20. What is my passion in life?
21. How happy am I?
22. What is my purpose on this earth?
23. What am I most grateful for?
24. What do I want to improve about myself?
25. What are the most impactful events that have happened to me thus far?
26. What are the three most valuable life lessons that you’ve learned?
27. Where will I be in 10 years?
28. What am I most looking forward to in the next 5 years?
29. What could I give a presentation in with no preparation?
30. What do I lack confidence in?
31. What do I judge myself about?
32. What is my personal definition of success?
33. How successful am I in life?
34. What is on my bucket list?
35. When do I feel most comfortable?
36. What makes me uncomfortable?
37. What stresses me out the most?
38. How do I deal with stress?
39. What drains my energy?
40. What gives me life?
41. Where do I feel most at home?
42. What are the 4 fundamental beliefs that I have about life?
43. What are 3 limiting beliefs that I have about myself?
44. What are 5 empowering beliefs about myself?
I would also like to send my personal thanks out into the matrix to Jenine for this post. The self-reflection posed by it, made me cry, made me smile, gave me lightbulb moments, and truly laid some solid groundwork in the search for who I am.
