You – are a fluid concept

WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2015

Last night I thought how it usually doesn’t take much to reignite my interest in the concept of identity. One of the things that makes it so interesting is that many people believe their identity is absolute – that who and what they are have been identified, so to speak, and that is simply how it is.

One example is a 22-year-old woman who works at an electronics store. She might think of herself in a certain way, but change her surroundings, the people around her, the economic needs of the community, and within a few years she may be mother to a few children and married to a poor farmer who tries to eke a living out of a patch of dry land.

Of course it is your own business to contemplate what other roles or identities slumber within you that may not currently have an opportunity to come out. You may currently be a single man or woman in your thirties, but inside you lurks a very competent mother or father. You may currently be struggling in your career, but within ten years you’ll be giving talks about career choices and how to improve your chances of success. Or, you may currently be struggling with health problems or even addiction, but hiding inside you is a health consultant and a fitness instructor.

Identity is a fluid concept – don’t lock away your best identity before it has had a chance to develop.

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