This Morning 3/20/12

Identity (part 2)

The trouble with identity is its tendency to quantify.   One is measured by identity.  Profession, age, relationship status, and even where one is from colors the inward and outward identity.  This formula is actually helpful when trying to define someone or refer to them by something other than name.   However, identity can also become an invisible barrier because we are expected (and expect ourselves) to act a particular way and perform certain tasks simply because  we have a specific identity.

I'm struck with the idea of a "class clown" who underneath all that goofiness is actually a very depressed individual who never has the room to be authentically sad in front of people.  This problem of identity is a sociological issue, a community issue, a family issue, and a personal issue.

If one day I woke up and said I want to work for the defense department, my entire network of friends and family would go crazy with worry and annoyance because I would be acting completely outside of my perceived identity as a peace worker and musician.  We are afraid of change.

We are afraid to lose ourselves if we change.  We are afraid to lose others if they change.  Why do we react like this when we are here, on average, 75 years or so?

When we really become adults, in the 25-35 year old range, we are expected to have developed enough to be stable emotionally and mentally.  Within this culture, we are expected to have a sense of how we will survive and provide for ourselves and family, we are expected to contribute positively to society.  This "expectation" is rooted in history - every community needs a doctor, a healer, an artist, a judge, a protector, a religious, an elder, a planner, a technician, a visionary, a cook, a farmer, a hunter, and so on and so on.  We are programmed from thousands of years of evolution to be what we are so that the community can count on us for that function to help balance and provide the needs of the society.

The year 2012 has a different sociological framework however and we are not limited to this perceived balancing task anymore.  The population is bulging and there are more people than there are roles to fill.

(to be continued)