One of the core tenets of both Buddhism and Vedanta is the rejection of categories and labels. From this perspective, the subjective experience of an objective reality - in other words, a duality - is considered a myth of mind.

There is no self-and-other, no this-and-that, no us-and-them - there is only an ‘Is'. In an era that puts so much emphasis on the desire to "be" something, this is an important line of thinking in terms of figuring out exactly who we are in relation to our world.

We have come to rely on roles and labels to define ourselves. The shortfall of this lies in its limitation. In thinking, "I am this" (a marketing executive), or "I am that" (a Mom), we have lost sight of the ability to dignify ourselves by the simple statement, "I am". Nowhere is this more apparent than in what has become the seeming cultural imperative of defining ourselves as our disorder.

We say disorder here, but this imperative is not simply confined to disorders; it runs the gamut from distraction to dissociation (see Shadow Syndromes and the Crazy Scale: A Cautionary Tale). We are hell-bent on defining ourselves via our labels, so that "I am Bi-polar" or "I am an alcoholic" or "I am a Borderline" has become a mantra of existence, rather than a condition of it -- and it is both wholly limiting and unimaginably destructive.

So many of our post-modern concerns - issues of esteem, social value, social and situational depression, social anxiety - are driven by this imperative to define ourselves through the reflection of our external world, rather than a perspective taken from our interior landscape. More, we allow our perception of our interior landscape to be influenced and colored by the relationship we establish with that external world (see Reframing Self Esteem as Self Worth).

We are not our disorders, our dysfunctions or our disturbances. We are the co-creators of this unfinished and ever-expanding universe that we inhabit. And, in being co-creators, we have the option to operate with an expanded awareness of ourselves and our world, so that we may find a deeper connection with both ourselves and our world that does not suffer the obstacle of being limited by labels.

"I am an alcoholic." - no, you are not -- you are a powerful human being who possesses both limitless potential and a vulnerability to compulsion that manifests itself as an abuse of alcohol. You are charged with managing your compulsion, while not losing sight of your potential.

"I am Bi-polar" - no, you are not -- you are a powerful human being who possesses both limitless potential and a vulnerability to erratic moods and behavior driven by an organic imbalance that is no better or worse than, say, diabetes. You are charged with managing those moods and behaviors with medication and a support system, while not losing sight of your potential.

"I am depressed" - yes, you are - but, if that depression is not organic, and is driven by some situational circumstance like financial pressures, or grief, or just being generally overwhelmed, then is it depression? or is it a feeling of depression driven by something else - fear, loss, feeling, or actually being, out of control? No matter, you are still a powerful human being who possesses limitless potential who is being consumed by what you are choosing to see as an obstacle, rather than an opportunity. Agreed, sometimes the opportunity is not so obvious, but it is always there.

By letting go of our labels as self-definition, and recognizing those labels as a condition of existence within a larger perspective, then we are able to connect with an expanded awareness of ourselves. We are no longer prisoners of self-definition, and, by association victims of it, but we are the keepers of the keys to the universe and all the magic, mystery and potential it holds forth -- the same magic, mystery and potential that lives inside each of us and, most importantly, lives inside of you.