On Being Oneself

JVS: try not to be someone else but emily.

I like this advice at a variety of levels. It reminds me of my grandmother saying, "Remember who you are." It also reminds me of the beauty of Christianity over and against pantheism--heaven isn't all of us becoming the same thing, but rather, more fully and purely ourselves.

This advice, due to the odd grammatical structure, says both don't be anyone but yourself, and try to be yourself.

It also brings to mind the New Testament difference from the Old Testament--we are now operating according to a law of love, a law that has been written on our hearts.

New contexts bring out things about me that I never knew and that take time to get used to. But there is grace and time.