Intro, Identity, and a Vow
If you’re like me, you’ve looked at Enneagram, astrology, human design, Meyer’s Briggs, and maybe even Buzzfeed quizzes (which kind of grilled cheese are YOU??) in the pursuit of some reliable sense of self.
These modalities can help us ponder the patterns and habits of this body & mind as we stumble around this world. But the question, “Who am I?” burns deeper, and most of us have only just scratched the surface exploring it.
Who are you beyond the chain of causes and effects that led up to this moment? Who are you beyond genes, beyond your upbringing? Who are you beyond the lingering impact of people you have interacted with? Who are you beyond culture? Beyond trauma? Beyond yearning? Beyond thoughts? Who’s asking these questions? Who is aware?
There are so many layers to explore. I’ll answer on a basic level, knowing none of us can ever capture who we are in a string of words. I’m a Zen Buddhist practitioner, artist and writer living in Portland, Oregon. Always seeking a deeper truth to discover and share. Always seeking a softer and more open heart.
While my Zen practice is inviting me to consider the possibility that I have no fixed, solid self, I do have a clear statement of purpose for this life—a vow I intend to consistently align my actions towards.
My life vow is to become the most open-hearted, spiritually grounded version of myself possible and help others to do the same.
This vow is the foundation for the new project I’m starting called Woven Deep. Woven Deep is here to help people connect with a deeper sense of purpose that’s grounded in ethics, community, and abundance. We’re all perpetual works in progress, and yet it’s possible to orient our lives in a deep, purposeful direction.
Finding heartfelt purpose requires unwinding. We’re invited to unwind the versions of ourselves we built to chase shiny but unfulfilling pursuits. To see clearly into the ways we’ve been conditioned so we can decide if our habits and patterns truly serve us and those around us. To question the places where we create narratives of disconnection, isolation and other.
In the process of unwinding our ideas about ourselves and our lives, we can catch the threads that truly matter and weave a new, transformative story for ourselves and our communities.
My story includes years spent wrestling with the question of how to improve the world. With different levels of success, I tried selling ethical physical goods, forcing change through direct action activism, battling people on social media, working in green urban planning, and engaging with global issues through art and design.
And yet, the most lasting transformations I’ve experienced in my own life have come as a result of facing my deepest emotional wounds and expanding my capacity for presence and compassion. If change happens at this depth on a personal level, why would global change not require the same process of plunging, healing, and uncovering who we might become as a collective? If self-help quick fixes can’t change ingrained habits on an individual level, why would we expect anything different from our complex global system?
As a seed sprouts in the darkness of soil, I believe global transformation must emerge from the deepest, most sacred places within each of us.
If you’d like to keep exploring with me, please consider subscribing to Woven Deep. I’ll be sharing a series soon on the concept of making an impact. I can’t wait to journey with you.
May stillness and joy fill your cup,
Olivia Krishnaswami