Who am I?

Another symptom of the QLC is that you are faced with the question, "Who am I?" You have to figure out what makes you "you" and what is important to you and your life. I believe one of the best ways to do this is to move to a new city where you barely know anyone and see what you're made of. It allows you to meet new people with completely different backgrounds, get away from those you've always known and start new.

This picture is of a street I frequently walked down near my old apartment in New York. I may be a little biased, but I think New York is the best place to go to figure yourself out. There are so many different kinds of people there that you are forced to figure out who you are. If you don't, you just won't make it. 

I learned a lot about myself being away from the influences of my friends and family. I realized how independent, self-sufficient and tough I could be. Growing up as the youngest child, it has always been my nature to be more passive and let people tell me what to do, but in New York I couldn't be that way. Whether it was by someone at work or a stranger on the street, I would have been walked all over. I found that on some occasions it was even necessary to just be a bitch, and that it came quite natural to be one when those occasions presented themselves. 

I also became more of a day dreamer. I always have been, but those daily strolls down the streets (the one in the picture was one of my faves) with my ipod headphones in took it to a whole other level. Having that time to just be in your head every day is extremely therapeutic. It's one of the things I miss most about living there. 

Aside from becoming an independent, bitchy daydreamer, I also learned the importance of humility, empathy and acceptance of myself and others. Meeting so many people from all different backgrounds showed me that the little bubble I had always lived in wasn't necessarily the only way of life. Now, that absolutely does not mean that my core values and principles were changed in any way. In fact, I think they became even more important to me because they played such a key role in determining who I am. 

I definitely have a lot more to figure out, but here is what I have so far for the question "Who am I?" I am a Southern Christian girl who is confident, short-tempered, independent, stubborn, hard-working, tough, high-maintenance, optimistic, romantic, full of joy, extremely adaptable, and wishes she could dance like Beyonce.