Colin Phillips
Mrs. Wilhelmus
AP Language
August 21, 2013
I used to think of a name as a direct link to who a person is. Today, things seem so different. Where I’ve been, the things I’ve gone through, the experiences I’ve had. Those things make me who I am. My name is extremely irrelevant. My name is what you put to my face. My name is a tool you use to get my attention. What you should put to my face are your thoughts about the things I’ve done and my experiences. Until you know my story, what good is my name?
My story begins on the same page as everyone else’s. Everyone has the same prologue, in a language nobody can read. The study of this language is called, “philosophy,” and it consists of everyone’s attempts at deciphering this unknown scripture. Only the prologue is ever-expanding, never-ending. Everyone will write everyone else’s prologue in their own mind, because like I said, we all begin on the same page. We all want the same beginning, the same shot. But we all go in our own direction, our own way, and we write our prologue in our own language. Hoping, in our efforts, to attain knowledge of where we came from, and where our story began.
In my mind, who I am is what I’ve done, and what I’ve experienced during my existence. Where I came from is only one part of who I am. It’s my responsibility to write the rest of the story, after the prologue is through. Mothers and Fathers are the first writers, and will compare one another’s ideas of the beginning and decide what their offspring will be told. This is the first chiseling of the marble block. My Mother and Father always left me to decide, never pushing any beliefs, other than occasionally attending church in my earlier years. It was always up to me to decide. They left the chiseling completely up to me. I believe that’s how it should be.
As I said before, where we come from, is only a part of who we are. The way I see it, no one will ever be sure where humans, as a species, come from. But it isn’t about what we know. It’s about what we choose to believe. There are many, many different opinions about how the Universe began. I tend to believe the Universe simply is, and always was. Others believe in a creator, a cycle, or maybe an extremely uncommon, abstract view of everyone “floating around on a breeze.” I choose to be open-minded, but at this point, I don’t believe in a God or a creator. I accept that “..at some point, something must have come from nothing,” and that it makes the most sense to me that the Universe always existed, and everything else is a product of it.
Who am I? Well I’m still figuring that out. I’m still writing the story, and wondering about the prologue. I’m still learning how to be, discovering new things, deciding what works best for me. Going in my own direction. A person’s life truly begins when he/she decides to start living, and my decision was just made not long ago. So there’s my exposition, and the rest is still in the making.
