Sartre has a quote that I believe is fundamental to understanding our existence: “Each man is what he makes of what they made of him.” From the moment we are born, we are shaped by everything around us. The language, the cultural and social context, the expectations of our family and society define us. From a young age, we absorb what we’re told, what we’re taught, and that language becomes ours. We think we speak autonomously, but in reality, we speak what we’ve been told. What we believe is ours has been given to us.

But there comes a point in life when we must create something of our own. That’s when true freedom arises: in the moment we decide to say something not imposed on us, but something we’ve created ourselves. The influence of language, culture, and the unconscious is undeniable, but we cannot continue to simply be products of those conditioning forces. It is our responsibility, as human beings, to take control of who we are and what we become. It doesn’t matter what was done to us; what matters is what we choose to do with it.