COREY STRONG

The other day I was listening to In Bed with Bevy, hosted by the always hilarious and endlessly insightful Bevy Smith. If you’re looking for a podcast that’s equal parts wisdom and laughter, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.

During one of the conversations, a guest asked a simple question that completely stopped me in my tracks:

Who are you at your core?

Not, “What do you do?”

Not, “How would your friends describe you?”

Not, “What’s your personality?”

But who are you, really?

At first, I thought the answer would be easy. Like most people, I immediately reached for surface level descriptions. Kind. Funny. Creative. Curious. Those are all true, but none of them felt like the answer. They felt more like branches than roots.

So I sat with the question.

For a few hours.

And somewhere near the bottom of a quart of Baskin-Robbins strawberry ice cream, it finally clicked.

At my core, I’m a creator.

Everything else is just the way that creation shows up.

I write.

I podcast.

I photograph.

I paint.

I sing.

I build businesses.

I tell stories.

I create conversations.

Even when I’m simply sitting with someone over coffee, I’m usually creating connection.

For years I struggled to explain what I do because there never seemed to be one job title that fit. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized that’s because the title was never the point.

Creation is.

Every project, every idea, every risk I’ve taken has been driven by the same thing: the desire to make something that didn’t exist before.

That realization felt strangely freeing.

Maybe that’s why this question is so powerful. It asks us to look beneath the labels we’ve collected over the years. Beneath our careers. Beneath our hobbies. Beneath the words people use to describe us.

What’s the thread that has quietly connected your entire life?

Maybe you’re a teacher at your core.

Maybe you’re a nurturer.

Maybe you’re a builder.

Maybe you’re a problem solver.

Maybe you’re an explorer.

Or maybe, like me, you’re still figuring it out.

The answer doesn’t have to be impressive. It just has to be honest.

So here’s my challenge to you.

Ask yourself the same question.

Who are you at your core?

Don’t rush the answer.

Sit with it.

Take a walk.

Journal.

Talk it through.

Eat a questionable amount of strawberry ice cream if necessary.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

I’d genuinely love to know your answer.

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The delicious photo by Svitlana on Unsplash.