The Possibility and Impossibility of Definition

I envy words: there is a place for each of them in the dictionary where they are definitively defined and one can quickly discover what exactly any given word means. Imagine if there was such a book that held a definition for every single person in existence, then one could simply flip through its many pages to discover the personality of any new acquaintance. Mine might look like this:

Rachel Elizabeth Thompson (Born 10/22/91): A social, talkative, and often dramatic young women. Though she is often quite silly and nonsensical at times, one should not be fooled by her red herring and non-sequitur comments. Rachel prizes intellectual discussion above most other activities, eager to converse about philosophy, history, culture, or any other subject that involves determining significance or understanding mankind. Beyond all things, she is a poet and enthusiastically enjoys both writing and reading poetry: it is her own way of understanding the world and herself. A firm believer in Christ, her heart delights at the opportunity to either encourage or love another person because she appreciates and strives to see the beauty in all people that Christ sees. 

As one might imagine, it would be an impossibly long book. What if when everyone reached a certain age, it was their duty to add their own definition of themself? Making sure to include the aspects of their identity that they long to be recognized, but that people seldom see? There would be both good and bad things about this people dictionary, given that people and their desires change over time. Then again, sometimes man struggles to see himself correctly, and that would be another problem in this imaginary book.

For myself, I can say that there are parts of the above definition that the people around me seem to be aware of or more familiar with than others, and I admit, it frustrates me. Often I feel like the only way I'm perceived is as either the funny/entertaining girl or the loving/caring sweetheart. While it does not bother me at all that most of the people in my life know the latter facet of who I am, the intelligent thinker in me despises the fact that I, awkwardly and sometimes unintentionally, am better known for being thoroughly amusing. It makes me feel so...limited, so boxed in.

I think what I am scared of most is not being recognized for who I am in all my entirety: the various adjectives and important facts that, combined, form the person I am today and aspire to be. I'm not dying to make someone laugh, I'm dying to make someone think about life, the world, and themself through my poetry or even another author's poems (for truthfully, I am only beginning to show signs of maturity as a writer). While I love seeing how a small, humorous observation can brighten an individual's day, I wish people would realize that being funny is really just another way in which I aim to be a positive influence in a person's day.

I am a lover of words, of truth, of pursuing the truth, of justice, of beauty, of love, of hope, of possibility, of art, of Christ, and of people. Though the nature of who I am is not as lofty as a form (i.e. truth), the soul itself is a form that many a philosopher has spent pages and pages trying to grasp, and if who I am composes the nature of my soul, what could make one think that I, or any other person, can be accurately and easily defined?

For truly, even I, in the above definition, have written something that one day may no longer be true, and can only answer the question of who I am with a statement about who I believe I am. The rest is yet to come.