Who am I? It’s not the easiest question, although there are things that come quickly to mind. There’s a difference between my identity, what defines me, and what makes me who I am.I am a child of God. I am valuable, I am heard, and I have a purpose. I am unique, but for some reason I was made to relate to others, and for others to relate to me. I am saved by grace, and through it is my role that through my works others can know to choose to be saved by grace as well. I was planned out; I am not a random assemblage of chemicals and elements, for God knew me even before I was conceived in the womb. I am found to be in desperate need of grace, compassion, and care; although undeserving, I am now worthy in the eyes of God through Jesus Christ.

A lot of who I am can also be described or determined by the things I do with my time and money. By what I do up to the late hours of the night without a thought of anything else. By what I would be willing to sacrifice sleep, energy, and my health to complete.

I am… A biker. A mechanic. A photographer. A student. A soundman. A musician. An engineer. A designer. A programmer. A writer. A director. An environmentalist. A dreamer. A scientist. An outdoorsman. An artist. An athlete. A cook. A leader. A learner. An observer.

You’ll find me frequently on my bike or fixing it or tinkering with things, taking things apart or putting them together. I’ve been known to spontaneously leave the house to take photos at weird hours of the day in order to capture something outside just amazing. Or asking people to stop when we’re driving around in the wilderness so that I can take a picture of a flower by the road. I’ll spend hours picking the same chord progression, or trying to learn a new instrument just to say that I did it. Too many times I’ve stayed up through half the night working on a webpage look, programming the code to make it look just perfect, or touching up an advertisement. The only time I’ve ever really taken a taxi home was because I was working on a video with a friend until it was way too late. When I’m concentrated and enjoying something, it’s almost impossible to pull me from it.

And although I don’t like to admit it, I’m proud of what I do. I frequently take pictures of food I’ve cooked. I never delete any of the my computer artwork, even if it is never used — it’s all backed up on CD’s meticulously labelled according to date and era. And my music, even thought it is extremely personal, I would definitely record and make a CD even if it never sold a copy. Still more, I try to share my photos with people, and see how they react. It’s a joy when someone comments on a great picture, dish, website, song, or video.

Most of all, I always have it in my mind to do what I do to the best of my ability. Perhaps aside from the monotony of schoolwork, it really isn’t my style to just do something for the sake of doing it. If it is not satisfactory, I will not let it go until it is. Excellence. In some ways, that’s the way I go about life. For if it’s not excellent, it needs to be made excellent. In time.