Ian @ledieudusoleil:
Alanis, I’ve got a question for you. I know that you are a seeker of wisdom and into philosophy so I ask you, what is one philosophical inquiry that you find yourself wondering the most about?
Alanis:
hi there,
there are so many inquiries that wake me in the middle of the night, or hover about me when i go about my days.
depending on how sleepless i’ve been….i consider these either sacred awakenings, or, torturous insomnia. 
the main inquiry that feels worth its’ salt in self-knowledge gold is the ultimate spiritual inquiry: “who am i”
i remember going to india for the first time and feeling something that i now see as quite beautiful, but at the time felt like my being completely broken down to the core. one reason for that being that i had grabbed the brass ring that had been dangled in front of me within the western culture, and found that it did not afford me the eternal peace and well-being that it had promised to. initially, all it seemed to afford me was an amplification of many of my personal challenges. (later i turned that frown upside down and realized that fame allowed me to serve in an even more pointed way. more on that some other time…)
when i was in india, i remember sitting in front of a mirror on the floor in a hotel room, just saying over and over again “who am i, who am i”
and i was saying it at first comedically….my friends who were with me were laughing.
but within the joke of this dramatized mirror moment i had a glimpse of the profundity of this question.
i came to see that “who i was” could be seen through a couple of different lenses:
that there is the “me” that is borne of the ego.
that there were these egoic versions of me…these identities: friend, sister, boss, traveling artist, daughter, activist etc
but this “who am i” question drove me to seek what lay underneath even those initial answers…to question what remained once these roles and identities shifted and updated or dissolved, as they are wont to do.
this “who am i” question really brought into awareness for me the eternal stream of life that was this undercurrent to all my highs and lows and hats that i wore.
so many words to attempt to define this undefinable. but it’s so fun to try to nail it:
consciousness
truth itself
the “i am”
that which is not subject to birth and death
non-dualism.
it took many years after the first askings of this sacred question.
alas my awakenings were not abiding at first.
but i now see how even the attempt to answer it beyond the initial “i-am-from-canada-and-i-am-a-writer” answers was born from a desire to really understand the truth of who i really am….the truth of who we all really are. less “why are we here” and more “why ARE we” and then finally; “who are we”.
knowing there is no one word that can really define it, i am left with these…
love.
goodness itself.
the one true permanent.
piece-of-god
offspring of truth.
a good that knows no opposite.
i like how my rubber hits the road when i contemplate this “who am i” question.
the moment i get past the more obvious answers to the ones that i find hard to put into words…that’s when it gets really fun.
connect soon,
love,
a
Tags: Q&A with AM, questions, quotes
Wow, I love that you answered THAT question! Its a beautiful question, and you wrote a whole book as an answer – beautiful too!! Its “sliver of god” and “you mean we actually are all one?” and also challenging: I cant quite believe in the “good with no opposites” yet…
I think that’s a question most people do want to avoid thinking about so the can just keep floating along in this world, refusing to take responsibility for what they do and why they do. I believe more people need to stop and really take time to self-reflect. I enjoyed your take on the “who we are” question!
Looking forward to hearing more about your self-awakening experience in India!
I think I’ll defer to Emily Dickinson on this matter:
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us -don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
Alanis – would love to hear an answer about your music, the new album, the new book, and if you will release the unreleased songs from the Flavors of Entanglement sessions – “I Am,” “Asylum” and “Separate”
Who am i?
Meeting people/music/art/nature/etc., that touch us in our heart. Getting to know yourself through that. Feel complete.
To fall in love-> feel complete-> lose someone-> be broken-> feel empty-> and then heal whats broken so you have integrated this complete feeling in yourself.
Maybe the ultimate goal of living is: being ourselves, knowing our complete selves, taking responsibility for every aspect , living in that truth, be aware and feel integrated and complete.
Great answer!
Maybe life is really a test, and we’ll only pass it when we learn enough about the world and ourselves… but the “who am i” is relly a bitch rsrsrs, we always think we know a lot about the others, but we’re always sure to know nothing about ourselves…
I remember the first time i asked the who what why am I question. It’s been a guiding force in my life ever since. My grandfather passed before i was born but apparently one of his views on that was spiritually we were all pieces of a shattered mirror. A mirror that only has the appearance of being broken to facilitate our unfoldment in this world. Our imagined ‘separateness’ sets up a vulnerability that allows tendencies to surface that our physiical and spiritual selves need to deal with . We look at another person and see reflected those things that need to be dealt with in ourselves, one mirror helping another through the human experience. We also see all the love that has grown within us as we allow the process to heal us. It’s so exciting to be alive, to experience all aspects of life from every angle and to share it with all these wonderful souls running around in our flesh and bloods. Thanks for taking on that question so honestly and lovingly and providing a forum for us to share our thoughts with you and others.
Alanis walks up to, and looks in the mirror and says “who the fuck are you?”……I always loved that Feast on Scraps clip!
She seems to have more of a idea now that we are inate goodness…
PS Feast on Scraps is awesome!
Thank you very much, Alanis, for your enlightening response. I myself would love to travel to India and study all that I can about Eastern Spirituality in hopes of getting closer to a Spiritual realization. Then, maybe, I can figure out who the hell I am. Haha.. This is why I love philosophy.
Well thanks again Alanis, for your art, brilliance and allowing all of us to feel a strong Spiritual connection with you.
May only the best of things come to you and yours.
Thanks Alaniks for answering so important question, your answer is a very big influence for me.
A bit deep for me.
Alanis, it may be personal but i think Ryan left you because you you turned him down when he spoke of marraige and kids with you,
you obviously wasn`t ready for that with him.
but id imagine he was hurt by the thoughts
of `not being good enough for you`
started the cracks eventually destroyed that relationship? i guess he didnt have the maturity level to wait that long?
Everything happens in the right time with the right person… but i’m here to tell you how i like people who treat their idols just like common people, cause that’s what they are! (or are we stars too?) good night!
well for everyone here … the awareness of being who we really are to sleep reveals deeper, because you need to live here and now. However it is not easy, but to live well is necessary to respond
Who am I?
Where I come from?
and
What am I doing here?
because our soul back to this world to learn if necessary. All you have to learn will help us in our spiritual development, in this journey that is “Life.”
Being aware of oneself is important to know what is our mission here: to love? Help the neighbor?
Remember the basic rule of love: “Do to others as you would do to you.” Want love? gives affection. Want Happiness? gives happiness. If you hate, you will be hated
is necessary to respond
Who am I?
Where I come from?
and
What am I doing here?
because our soul back to this world to learn if necessary. All you have to learn will help us in our spiritual development, in this journey that is “Life.”
Being aware of oneself is important to know what is our mission here: to love? Help the neighbor?
Remember the basic rule of love: “Do to others as you would do to you.” Want love? gives affection. Want Happiness? gives happiness. If you hate, you will be hated
Alanis, I am taken by what you do with your left hand on one Thank You vid. i watched tonight (this Thurs. 4.12 earlmorn)
The body knows all
every bit to the core of
the
“who i am”
Your Thank You
tells me you