4 Writers On What Makes Them Feel Most Like Themselves

Four writers who helped us explore how to find your purpose talk about what makes them feel most like themselves.

Photo: Courtesy of Uwem Akpan

Uwem Akpan

Jesuit priest and author of the Oprah's latest book club pick Say You're One of Them (Little, Brown).

I act most like myself... when I'm with my friends.

I feel most like myself... when I'm in Ikot Akpan Eda, Nigeria, the village where I was born. See an interactive map of Africa

I feel least like myself... when I'm angry.

Keep Reading: Akpan reveals how inspiration works in mysterious ways

Next: Where Anne Lamott feels most like herself

Photo: Mark Richard

Anne Lamott

Author of Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, and Imperfect Birds (Riverhead), out in April.

I look most like myself...in worn jeans and a tight-ish white T-shirt.

I act most like myself...at church, overeating after worship.

I feel most like myself... lying in bed on Sunday mornings with the dogs and the cat, reading The New York Times.

I feel least like myself...when I have to socialize with people I do not know.

Keep Reading: Just how do you find your own calling? Lamott talks about where to start

Next: When Mary Karr acts most like herself

Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins

Mary Karr

Poet, memoirist, and Guggenheim Fellow, whose latest memoir, Lit (Harper), comes out this month.

I look most like myself...in a piece of couture garb that I got at a sample sale.

I act most like myself...all the time. I'm doomed to act like myself, even when it's inconvenient!

I feel most like myself...walking in New York.

I felt least like myself...when I drank and did drugs.

Next: When author Junot Díaz acts most like himself

Photo: Nancy Crampton

Junot Díaz

2008 Pulitzer Prize winner for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead).

I look most like myself...when I'm wearing my black, nerdy engineering glasses.

I act most like myself...when I'm in my hometown, Santo Domingo. I try to get there about five times a year.

I feel most like myself...after I run—I go out for five miles every morning.

Keep Reading: How pigheaded determination propelled Díaz to write

Next: 11 ways to find your calling

From the November 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine