O mang?
The complexities of identity and the profound beauty of simply being in the midst of self-actualisation
Who are you?
The age-old question many of us struggle to answer more than we would like to admit. This question speaks to the nature of our very being. When someone utters the words ‘‘o mang’’, they are asking you to identify yourself—so, who are you?
O mang comes from Setswana, a language spoken by us, the Tswana people. The literal translation is “who are you” and when we break down the translation of the phrase even further: ‘o’ = you (singular, subject pronoun), ‘mang’ = who, and the question mark stays universal—the question remains a universal unraveling of identity.
“who we were”
It’s easy to get lost when you don’t exactly know who you are yet. It’s easy to feel that you don’t belong without the “correct” identification on hand. We regrettably spend so much time trying to build ourselves and our supposed “acceptable identities” that we forget the journey through life is what forms us. The journey through life is often so unpredictable that trying to navigate it with a false sense of certainty about who we are supposed to be, may cause us to stray from our path toward self-actualisation.
“who we are”
It is impossible to reach self-actualisation without working through the mess that is self-acceptance. It is even more impossible to transform through life without an anchor that is reliable and sturdy enough to keep us a bay if we might stray. Growth, transition and self-improvement in the process of identifying yourself, does not equate to the abandonment and rejection of your current self . This means you do not you stop being in the process of becoming.
It’s a good thing Love is an active practice with the potential to anchor us.
Along the journey of life we ought to look deep within to find what we so desperately seek in the “correct & perfect identity ”. For life is an uncharted journey with oneself through the various parts of you—who you were, who you are and who you are still becoming.
Who we are is an evolving realisation rooted in love and existence.
oh you’re south african? i am sat. ✨