What Shapes our Identity?- The Past.
The past shapes our personality. Take an example from Jesus Colon, a Puerto Rican journalist. One day, many years ago, he made a mistake. He did not help a person in need of help. It wasn't completely his fault, I doubt many would have helped, but he didn't. Ever since then, this memory has been haunting him. Every time he turns around, something is there reminding him of what he should have done. How does this shape his personality? Only he really knows. But we can take a guess at if and why he has changed. After all, we aren't going to meet him anytime soon.
My view is that this event diminished his confidence. He walked into that subway probably feeling relatively good, or maybe just average, and left drained almost completely of his confidence. What did he do that was so bad?
One night, Jesus Colon was taking the subway home from work. It was early Memorial Day morning, and he had just finished working on the news paper for the special day. On his way home, he spotted a white lady with a baby and two small children. He pondered all the way to his stop whether or not to help, and after awhile, decided not to, only because he thought the lady might be prejudiced and get the wrong idea.
That's what he did. Was it that bad? That's for you to decide. But for him, it was enough to practically hate himself. Confidence diminished.
The Art: This man in this painting is sitting all on his own in a hole, without a way to get back out. This is the way I think Jesus Colon must have felt and maybe still feels towards this event.
Artwork From: http://www.nufcblog.org/2010/08/newcastle-must-make-sure-they-dont-get-stick-in-a-rut/
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