Answers? Anyone?

I guess I'm putting this online--instead of locking it up in my journal--with the hopes that someone will have ideas to help me out. I'm sure a lot of other people have given thought to the same issues that preoccupy me. Please, please, e-mail me.

I'm interested in identifying the forces--exterior and internal--that make me who I am. I guess no one can help me out with that internal part, but we've ALL been shaped by external forces. The question here is first what those forces are and second, if those forces influence us for the better. Does culture bring out the best or worst in a person?

The second question is how much control do we have over the forces that impact us? Are our actions driven from the outside or inside?

The third question is: what makes a person happy? The western assumption is that independence and agency bring happiness. But considering the realities of modern life--the multiple groups we belong to by necessity--does happiness come from articulating an individual, distinct philosophy, or from reconciling oneself with society?