Have you ever seen the Meryl Streep movie Heartburn? It has Jack Nicholson, too. My cup overflows.



Anyway, during one of the dinner party scenes, just before Meryl discovers an important plot point, one of their friends proposes a fun little exercise for all the party attendees: describe yourself with a list of five adjectives—nouns will work, too. The friends go around the table, reading their “Who You Are” lists aloud.

Here’s the list of Arthur, their friend:

Jewish.
Married.
Lawyer.
Father.
Hungry.

And here’s Arthur’s wife:

Unemployed.
Mother.
Good-natured.
Shiksa.
Sister.

Then comes Dimitri, another of their friends:

Yugoslav.
Capitalist.
Tan.
Tall.
197 pounds.

Then Dimitri’s girlfriend, the organizer of the game, chimes in and shrieks, “Dimitri, it’s not supposed to be like a DRIVER’S LICENSE! It’s WHO YOU ARE.”

Then she gives her list:

Television Interviewer.
Blond.
Living with Dimitri.
Friend.
Texan!

Next, it’s Meryl Streep’s turn:

Pregnant.
Wife.
Mother.
Writer.
Happy.
Here’s my question: What are your five adjectives? How would you answer, with a list of five items, the question “WHO ARE YOU?” Go ahead and scrape the depths of your psyche. You need to let it out.

I can’t wait to see what you all say.

Here are mine:
Wife
Mother
Christian
Writer
Actress

(And 'frivolous,' probably. Or 'whimsical.' It's a toss up.)

GO FORTH and tell me who you are. And put it on your journal. Or don't. I'm not much of a militant memist. :)