A Binary Soul is a really evocative piece at Racialious.com but then most of the posts there often are. In the piece, an Asian American talks about feeling like his two identities are tearing him in part. He doesn’t feel Asian American, he’s either wholly Asian or wholly American and the dominant identity depends on the situation and sometimes the country. Overall, the feeling is that he is unsettled, never comfortable in his own skin. But I would argue, this is the human condition. That some of us will never feel comfortable in this bag of bones G-d gave us and will always be striving to achieve it.

Here’s my response to the writer:

I like to think that I am finally becoming comfortable with the feeling of being an outsider and an insider at the same time. And I didn’t reach that point until, on top of my Dominican identity and my American identity, I had added on my Jewish identity. Most of the writing I do is about negotiating these three different cultures that often have conflicting messages. Perhaps, I am not supposed to find a home in Israel, America or even the Dominican Republic. Perhaps, the home I have to find is within myself and that’s the home I have to embrace.