Sense of self

Anyone else struggle with the idea of sense of self? I mean I am who I am, but who am I? -- kind of a circular logic, but it makes a point. Are we the sum of the components that make us up or is there something more? You can define yourself based on your occupation, your interests, your family... in the south in a small town it's more common to say " I'm so and so's son/daughter" than it is to even use your own name. But who are you, really? there is a intimacy with that question I really love and hate at the same time...

you see -- I don't ever like the question of "who are you?" when asked in the sense of tell me about you. I don't know how to answer it. I don't know where to even begin. What is pertinent and what isn't. I know I am more than the pieces of my life (I'm a teacher, I'm a lover of language, I am a human male...) but I don't know how to bring those pieces together in a collective whole that ever sounds complete. I hope I'm making some sense here. I mean there are aspects of myself I'm finding I never thought I would. I'm doing, seeing, acting in ways I never thought possible... it's almost redefining me every moment , if I accept that idea of sense of self.


Anyone else ever really delved into the idea of who we are?