The Paper Bag of Me
"And what do you do?" is a question that has bothered me for as long as I can remember. It bothered me most often during the last three years - after leaving a lifetime (truly - about 25 years) working in healthcare and taking time off to be at home; raising my daughters, taking my mom to doctor visits here or there, doing laundry, making art and keeping our house afloat. But long before that, it bothered. Because "what do you do?" it is often the question used to define someone. And the answers bother me as much as the question. I am not a person who likes to be defined by what I do. Because for me . . . I am so much more than my job. So lately, I have been thinking about what defines me. What is the true, authentic definition of me? Am I the "insurance lady" in a doctors office? The wanna-be artist? Healthcare worker? A mother? Daughter? Wife? Am I the brownie leader who makes the little ones laugh? Or the woman who has s