Identity crisis (in a nutshell)

Hey,

Today (yes, today) my precious Lenny is going overseas to go frolic in the fields with the cows - yes, I will miss her tremendously.

Last night I managed to do something I haven't done in a very long time. Read.
I miss reading, and now I have realised my attention span is lost after a few pages which is tragic so I am working on building it up to it's peak last year. It's peak being reading Frankenstein the night before the SAC. That's something I will forever be proud of.

I did some research the other night on an identity crisis. I'm not personally at one now, but it is defiantly knocking on the door. It's very common amongst teenagers aspiring for adult hood. It's a fascinating concept that has beyond stricken me of words.
But who is to blame for identity being lost, really?
Do we blame ourselves, celebrities, parents, friends?
I think it's a combination of all the above.
Here is why I think so.

Friends - Our friends are meant to love us for who we are. But, I have realised within my friendship groups I am continually changing to meet the demands of the social cliques. I have stressed this many times to Sam, that my friends are friends in different zones that need to be separated. Work stays with work, school with school and alike. I am a different Shel amongst different cliques. If we weren't chopping and changing so many times within our friendship groups our personalities wouldn't have to undergo such a demanding stress and therefore lead to confusion.
I think it is beyond idiotic to think you don't change for certain friends, is it that you avoid topics entirely, or avoid certain activities? - regardless that's a personality change we have to undergo.

Celebrities - Those who know me, know I am not easily swayed by things like the latest fads. But, I'm not saying I'm not at all affected by some of the things in the media related to the celebrities. The covers on magazines and unrealistic images that are forced into society are the loose stitching of aspiration holding a crumbing society together. You always want to be thinner, prettier etc. So trying to become something you're not is another reason why I think that celebrities are part reason for identity crisis.

Parents - I always try and do right by my parents. If they ask me not to do something, I won't etc. I trust their judgment and experience with situations. But, then again all this pressure on doing things we are not meant to do, restricts the ability to be free. Freedom, and the ability to be free is something that is often taken for granted. Being able to learn from mistakes develops our personalities more, and encourages us to discover who we are.

Ourselves - are the major reason we have identity crisis'. We can blame the solely on the prior, but deep down these problems are only brought together by one catalyst; ourselves. It's a shame that this is so, because in society blame is easily placed on others and pushed onto things out of our control - when deep down we control it. We are hiding from ourselves, and therefore hiding from the world. We try to supress the things we aren't proud of, the things that make us who we are.

The three prior premises can all be cancelled out through ourselves. You can be yourself around all your friends, disobey your parents and ignore the celebrities influx within civilisation; but who is really like that.
The world is essentially an identity crisis because nobody knows who the real you, or me, or grocer around the corner is.

Think about that.

These are just my thoughts on the topic and the inevitable identity crisis will undergo soon enough (in a nutshell)

Love Shel xx

(thanks Yagana for the text just then. I don't follow soccer :P)