When describing yourself, do you list one major attribute or several (Read details)

Lordy, it depends entirely on context. I identify many different ways in order to appropriately accommodate the people I deal with. If asked to self-describe, I take into account who might be asking and why.

I say my passions, not job. I’m an artist, musician, and youth leader. How I earn my money isn’t who I am, just what I do a few hours a day.

Like @canidmajor, it depends a lot on whom I’m talking to. If I feel safe, I will immediately identify as gay either directly or by words or signs. I like to tell people what I do for a living, because I’m passionate about it.

To answer more directly, I think I often stick to one or two attributes.

Context is everything. I would only list certain things that seemed pertinent to what was needed at the time.

Like others, I’d say it depends. In a professional context, I’d say I’m an editor; in a social one, I’d avoid mentioning that. To a therapist, I’d say I’m a master class in stress and anxiety. To a potential new friend with whom I’m having coffee, I’d probably use verbs—I like, I do, I enjoy, I’m interested in—and avoid saying I “am” anything; but instead I’d mostly be trying to learn about them.

If I were filling out a form, though, I’d probably say something like “I’m a widow and mother, retired editor, long-ago California transplant from New England, interested in language, reading, art, music, philosophy, and just about anything else that catches my eye.”

I hate trying to describe myself. Really hate it.

My Fluther profile extols several aspects of me. I have not had a life where a single word would suffice, like “I am a doctor/author/physicist/lumberjack/pilot/whatever….”.

I am a truthful man from the land of the palm trees.

@filmfann, are your poems like a wounded fawn seeking refuge in the forest?

I do this for every class I take every semester as well as career environment meeting where they do meet and greets.
It all depends on the context around it what I am feeling that day.

“likes long walks on the beach”, “likes the smell of summer rain”, “fan of poetry readings”

I no longer like to describe myself. It just puts me in a box of my own making. I’d rather say what I am interested in and let people make up their own minds.

@Jeruba Thank you. Sometimes I worry my references are too obscure.