thoughts

A week ago today I saw the movie Inception. While it blew my mind, it was a bit over my head, and I doubt seeing it again will help me catch all the film's underlying nuances. I felt that there were subtle, "read-between-the-lines" type ties to what it means to be human. I'm doing an observation project on the Emerging Church (specifically, Mark Driscoll), and stumbled upon this video in his blog. If you're unsure about seeing it, I would first encourage you to watch the video and then second, GO SEE IT! It's really good. Besides, Ellen Page is adorable and has great style.

source

I'm going to switch to a topic on which I could type out a whole book, but for the sake of time and in order to not bore you, I'll be brief.
Throughout this summer I've been going back and forth, to and fro, upside down and inside out on the idea of identity. I know who I am - I'm God's child, and I am loved and accepted no matter what I do, say, or think. But I lose sight of this so easily!
I get a bad grade on a homework assignment, and in my mind, my true identity is thrown out the window. It goes from being loved and accepted to being dumb and not belonging in the world of linguistics (I'm currently attending the Summer Institute of Linguistics), let alone the world of academics. Even when I get a decent grade, I feel somewhat proud, but then I look at my classmates' grades and see that they did better than me. And the vicious cycle continues.
When I hit a streak of success, I base my identity on that. I'm going to be an intelligent, successful woman in the near future! Hooray! The next week I hit rock bottom.
So, who am I?
I guess it all has to go back to that initial truth - I am God's child, and I am loved and accepted no matter what I do, say, or think. My own accomplishments and failures make for a very shaky, unstable foundation to base my identity on. Even if I am a serial killer (which I'm not), even if I fail all my classes this summer, even if I succeed and become queen of the world, I am still God's child, loved and accepted, no matter what.
Confession time: what do you base your identity on? I'm curious to know - even the good, bad, and ugly.

p.s. I made my first Etsy sale last week. It was really exciting! However, I failed to research international shipping costs and ended up making a profit of -$9. Haha, you live, you learn.
Also, I like these chairs. I think I took this from decor8 a few months ago.