This ‘revelation’ seems significant to me (not that it is significant in it’s own right. It is just something rambled by one egotistical mind)
It is this: WHO you are and WHAT you are could not be more different. They are as different as the big bang and dropping a plate on the floor.
WHAT you are is boring - you are a human with two ears, one mouth, two arms, etcetera.
WHO you are is a being, a someone who is loved by other particular humans. WHO you are is someone who is probably loved and worshiped (or will one day be loved and worshiped) by at least one other person. WHO you are is a being that is good at things, some of the things you are good at might even be helping the collective known as ‘humanity’ to progress a little bit more.
A welcome people who reply to this thread to do a better job than me at distinguishing the WHO you are from the WHAT you are.
I see it as more of a contrast between your basic nature and the results of your choices in life.
Who you are has to do with your nature. Your name, race, origins, temperament, basic likes, dislikes, natural talents, genetic disabilities, etc. IMHO, you don’t have a lot of choice or control over who you are. I happen to believe that your basic nature is set at birth right along with your fingerprints. If someone’s a shy, bookish, introverted person by nature, and some omnipotent being comes along and plucks him out of the library and sets him down in the gym, teaches him kill-boxing or whatever, and makes sure he gets laid a lot, he’s not going to wind up an outgoing hard-partying loudmouth. He’s going to be a shy, bookish person who can take care of himself while having a lot of sex, and I will envy the hell out of him.
What you are is actually more interesting to me, because it’s something you have control over. It’s your occupation or how you spend your free time or your marital status and the like. There’s not just one answer, either. If you type letters for a job during the day and develop algorithms at night in your spare time, then you’re both a secretary and a mathematician. You can be a dog owner or an automobile collector. If you’re living in a free country, then it’s totally up to you, and the choices are so many that it’s actually pretty scary at the beginning, especially if you’re good at more than one thing.
Sure, there’s some overlap. I’ve heard more than one doctor and soldier say that the job chose them, and to an extent, I agree with that. Ultimately, however, I think they were just lucky enough to find a career that matched their natures and talents. They were able to merge what they were with who they were.
“If you love what you do, that’s what you are, right?” --Molly in Neuromancer