"You have to be somebody before you can be nobody"

My whole life so far has been about becoming "somebody"- a good student, a doctor, a wife, a mother, a contributing member of society. Yet lately, I have come to realize that all I really am is "nobody" and that it is okay! In fact, it is perfect. It frees me up to give whatever meaning or no meaning at all to what life is bringing in the present moment. I do not have to limit myself to be defined by where I grew up, what happened to me or who I thought I was in the past. I am constantly changing yet unchanged. In fact, the "I am" may just be an illusion, and there may be a bigger dimension out there waiting to be experienced. This concept really scared the wits out of me when I first tried it on, because if I was not my identity, then who was I? That is the question I seek to answer. And instead of being scary, it offers the hope of peace and interconnectedness.
The quote in the title, btw, is by Jack Engler- psychotherapist, meditator, pioneer in combining eastern and western philosophies in psychology. He explains about how the two are complementary, interpretations of different parts of the human psyche development cycle. For me it feels like coming full circle. I grew up in India, land of sages and the birthplace of inward looking thought processes, while adopting the western goal oriented, materialistic and ego driven philosophy of external achievement. Now, living in the US, surrounded constantly by manifestations of this philosophy, I seek to connect to the soul, of what may be left when all that is tangible is stripped away. Life is a mysterious adventure!