But Do You Have to Be?
Remember Popeye? The 1920s sailor cartoon character that Robin Williams brought to life from the comic strips and cartoons for a new audience? With a can of spinach in hand, he often delivered his trademark phrase, “I Yam What I Yam.”
In the feature film, Popeye sang about his self-doubt, which eventually turns into self-realization and eventual personal success to the viewers’ delight.
Or maybe you know the phrase more formally as “I Am What I Am” from Gloria Gaynor’s song, reflecting self-empowerment and actualization.
Of course, they’re both human riffs on God’s response to Moses’ question about how he is to explain God to the Israelites. “I am who I am,” responds God (Exodus 3:14). As if that was clear.
What does God’s proclamation mean?
It depends on who you ask and how the phrase has been translated, given that the tenses in ancient Hebrew are less precise than in English. The Hebrew words could refer to the present or future tense. Or even a conditional situation. As to its meaning, there are also several translations. It could mean that God is ever-present or unparalleled. It could refer to God’s perfection. It could indicate a promise of God’s presence in the future, his eternalness.
Whatever it means, it suggests a constancy to me. God is there, always and ever. And that’s pretty reassuring for us humans who juggle emotions and intellect amidst conflicts, seeking a level place of peace and even serenity.
I am comforted by the constancy of God.
But is a life of constancy what we humans WANT for ourselves? Are you happy where you are? What if you could change your status quo, improve your life?
The news about epigenetics is blowing my mind. As if some of us with overachiever tendencies needed any encouragement, now scientists are telling us we CAN change, even if we thought we were doomed by our genetics. Our DNA does not limit who we are. Scientists say that we can be more than what our birthright DNA holds. That our DNA can change its programmed responses, based on influences and experiences from our lifetimes, not just what has been in us from our generational bloodlines. That’s the new field of epigenetics.
As one of my brightest students used to say, “Wait! What? Why didn’t someone tell us this before?”
I think it could be a long-term game-changer!
Here’s where my mind goes: if our DNA, the “molecule that carries genetic information for the functioning of an organism” and that “makes each of us who we are,” can change its behavior, then the leap to our setting ourselves up to change our DNA’s ’reactions and thereby our lives should be possible, right? Is it all about the choices we make about our life experiences?
Whoa!
Let’s back up.
We’ve been told for years that our food and our exercise habits are important to our overall health. “You are what you eat” was the slogan when I was a kid in the 1960s that helped us be more mindful about our food choices. And it turns out that the aphorism in similar words goes back farther than that, to a French politician/writer who popularized the concept in his book about “transcendental gastronomy.” It’s not a new concept. Today, the phrase is plastered all around, and even if it is overused, most of us will concede that when we incorporate more healthy foods, movement, and sunlight into our daily lives, we do feel better.
But those habits can be difficult to manage for various reasons. Some people may not have time or resources to make healthy changes. Others may say that it’s not in their DNA. “All my family is fat. All my family members have depression. I am what I am.” They may feel generationally stuck with whatever DNA they inherited that they believe dictates their illnesses, their behaviors, and, by extension, their lives.
Unfortunately, as James Bratone asserts, sometimes that attitude can be an easy excuse to defend one’s negative behavior, in effect, claiming that you’re not capable or worthy of anything different or more.
But what about changing our mindsets from negative to positive? Can we really take control of our DNA and how our body’s cells react to it? What if controlling our environment and experiences is the secret to a constancy of betterment?
As usual, I have a lot of questions.
What kind of experiences and how many does it take to change your DNA’s responses?
Are positive and negative changes equally possible from the same amount of stimuli?
Can overcoming ACEs change your hardwired, DNA-informed responses?
How should and could this new knowledge impact the educational world?
It’s a time of exciting possibilities! We have more power over ourselves than we thought we did!
There are negatives to this developing research, though. One is that some people may blame themselves even more for their shortcomings. “But you COULD change it if you wanted to,” they may hear others accuse.
That seems to put an unfair burden on people who are already suffering. I don’t know what it feels like to experience mental health issues or a serious illness that leaves me powerless or cripplingly unmotivated. Having more self-pain seems overwhelmingly paralytic, not bettering.
I’d like to see more research that addresses these issues.
Does ANYONE have the capacity to reprogram their body through epigenetic markers surrounding their DNA?
How can this information be used to empower EVERYONE who wants it?
Survival mode is a reality for some individuals and families. Not everyone comes from a place of security to be able to focus on integrating positive influences into their lives. What baseline in Maslow’s hierarchy helps ensure success?
Despite the infancy of this field, here’s the good news: we are capable of being more than our DNA suggests. We don’t have to say, “I am what I am.” Now we can say, “I am what I want to be.”
What’s in your blood and what’s in your power to change?
