"If anything, these details of my life have given me more of an existential, searching viewpoint. Our identities- who we think we are and who others think we are- seem somehow more malleable, more changeable and more improvable."

Thanks Ed. That is exactly the liberating sentiment I was trying to express. My whole life I have never had a problem fitting in, and a true curiosity to, at least temporarily, align myself with people I feel curious about, if only to stretch myself and see if it may be a place that fits me. But its that sort of Etch-a-sketch clean slate that I can invoke that allows my mind to entertain the possibilities.

 I remember in college there was a girl I liked, but she was Jewish and our relationship was not condoned by her parents. While commiserating with a friend about the futility of it, he reminded me "hey you might be Jewish". Damn if he wasn't right. I might be.

Thanks for your take on it Ed.