Divorce, Dating & Identity

I've been thinking a lot about identity lately.

I am a daughter.

I am a student.

I am a woman.

I am 22, after all -- the age at which we are supposed to think about who we are and who we want to become.

I am passionate.

I am driven.

I am stubborn.

Some might say I am picky, but I like to call it "particular."

But there are things that "I am" that I also am not -- things that I have been through that aren't really who I am.

I am divorced, but I am not my divorce.

I have been married, but I am not my marriage.

I am a survivor of child abuse, but I am not a victim.

My identity is not divorced, previously married, or survivor. That is not who I am.

I am thoughtful.

I am nerdy.

I am curious.

I am not simply the sum of my experiences, because my independence prevents that. My experiences affect who I am, but they are not themselves who I am.