I was recently asked what I thought it means to be called a musician. When I was younger and practicing hours everyday, I looked at being a musician as someone who played an instrument professionally with a high degree of proficiency. A musician was like a highly revered samurai, someone who had achieved mastery over their instrument and could “wield” it effortlessly. Of course many other people I knew thought of a musician as another name for someone who was unemployed or at the very most delivered pizzas.

My perspective has matured over the years. The viewpoint I gave as a reply to the question reflected a change in attitude that basically described a musician as anyone who plays an instrument and creates music. Yet, the more I think about the question, the more ambivalent I become towards the title of “musician,” or any title for that matter.

I feel that we allow ourselves to be described or defined by our titles or roles in society to the point where we can’t present ourselves as simply ourselves. Instead of introducing myself as Chris whose interests include playing music, I present myself as being a musician. This doesn’t really capture my personality, it only puts me into a general category. Rather than allowing the activity of playing an instrument to emerge as a facet to who I am, I let it become what I am. We are so much more than this. We are brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, citizens, and so on. We each can come up with a list of dozens of titles we can label ourselves.

So the point I am trying to make is to not let yourself get hung up on the idea that you are this or you are that. Instead, think of yourself as an individual who happens to do this or works as that. Let whatever you participate in be a facet of who you are, rather than letting it define you. Don’t be a musician, be (your name) who enjoys playing in a band among many other things.