I have often thought about how my work in this field has made me look at the world differently – I almost always have “identity” glasses on. I notice how people use the word. I notice when people talk about authentication and authorization, validation, verification and enrollment (often mixing all those all together or calling one something else).

Today I am watching a random Netflix movie that came (I have not been shepherding my que very well) It is called Notebook on Cities and Cloths – it is about a Japanese fashion designer. To my surprise it is opening with a poem by the film maker Wim Vinders – part way through well it turned to identity ….

“Identity”…
of a person,
a thing,
a place.

“Identity”.
The word itself gives me shivers.
It rings of calm, comfort, contentedness.
What is it, identity?
To know where you belong?
To know your self worth?
To know who you are?
How do you recognize identity?
We are creating an image of ourselves,
we are attempting to resemble this image…
Is that what we call identity?
The accord
between the image we have created
of ourselves
and … ourselves?
Just who is that, “ourselves”?

We live in the cities.
The cities live in us…
time passes.
We move from one city to another,
from one country to another.
We change languages,
we change habits,
we change opinions,
we change clothes,
we change everything.
Everything changes. And fast.
Images above all.

the recitation shifts into prose continues over the film as it begins….

Related posts:

1. The Identity Film Club: First installment
2. Who Killed the Electric Car?
3. Kids and Identity – National Registry
4. Snapping around the web – Why we like groups….
5. Identity ironies…