Hi guys! Okay, I cursed myself. I said I'd be back tomorrow. I knew the next few days would be free and easy. But life intervened a bit and now I'm working on catching up! I so want to thank all the well wishes on my third blog anniversary -- my blog is now out of the terrible twos! And as I work on my revision of my book, I have some questions to pose to all who wish to answer concerning identity. Do you consider your identity set or fluid and have you ever tried to change it to good or bad effect? Is there an event or events that you feel have defined you? How long did it take you to become yourself? Please go anywhere you want to with these questions -- I'm casting about on this topic and any and all insight will be helpful!
7 comments:
Michelle,
I feel that my identity is fluid to some extent...I think I'm essentially the same person I was years ago, but there have been changes...maybe not all for the better, but what the Hell. I don't know that there has been any one event or events that have made any changes to my identity, but more of a cumulative effect over the years. I know lately with the bad things that have happened to me (losing a cat , a friend, and my Grandmother)over the past several months, my outlook has become even darker than it usually is. My other cat's sickness and recovery has brightened things up a bit for me, but I just seem to be more inclined to lean towards the darkness, if you will, moreso than usual. I've always been a pessimistic optomist...I expect the worst, but deep down still hope for the best.
I don't know if that helps you any, but here it is.
Hope you're having a good week. take care!
Back when I was desperately trying to fit in at school, not realizing that nothing I ever did was going to help, I used to change everything about myself at least once a year, from my clothes to my attitude even down to my handwriting!
Now I'm just genuinely me, period, & if someone doesn't like me, they can go to hell. :)
Michelle,
Easy one. I'm an Aspie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergers
In other words, my identity is pretty much cemented in.
However, my Restricted and Repetitive Interests and Behaviors have shifted over the years:
*Marvel Comic Books (1960s-1970s)
*Marx Brothers biographies (1970s-1980s)
*Old Science Fiction (1990s-Today)
*Personality Disorders (Today)
*Sociology of Catholicism (Today--which is how I happened upon your site, BTW)
"HE'S GOT A ROTTEN BRAIN! IT'S ROTTEN, I TELL YA! ROTTEN!"
--Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
If and I doubt this, you mean the identity found on my drivers license then it is set in stone, except for maybe a little age, weight fluctuation or hair length.
But I doubt you're looking for the easy answer.
Many, and I mean many, decades ago I was identified by fact. I was a short fat kid, an easy target, too afraid to fight back. Yes I have eaten shit stained snow and spit and any other thing that could be forced down my throat. Then I had that miraculous change wrought by drugs (psychedelics) and a growth spurt that brought my height into proportion with my weight and my identity changed.
I became known as someone mean as a snake, with a worse temper, who would fight just for fun and not take shit from anyone nor allow it to be given to them smaller than the one dealing. My first identity taught me how easy it was to take a punch and my second how much pussy bullies really are.
Not too long after that The Walking Man identity emerged in a road dog camp in Big Sur. I didn't really latch on to that one for a couple of decades though...I had to go through married, father, divorced, married, drunk, mechanics helper, mechanic, Master Mechanic, surgical experiment, forced retiree, student, first. Pretty much in that order.
The I latched onto the The Walking Man, which is as an apt description of what my identity has always been, the one identity that I have always secretly known myself by since at least my early teens...poet.
Nothing more, nothing less, no quantifiers such as good or bad, intellectual or common, simply poet.
My answer is this: Life is fluid but my identity has not changed. Grown maybe, evolved maybe, but I still identify myself as what I started out as...a 14 year old writing verse who at 54 is still doing it.
I've found that my identity is set. I've tried in the past, although not for a long time, to change it. But I've never been able to succeed. It may change very gradually over time but is mostly set.
i've changed, in ways similar to mark, but life as well forced other changes... like fatherhood, divorce, pet ownership, schooling, etc
basically, i'm still the same... methinks
myCajunQ
FoxlyLadyD
DetroitMercyB
OMightyIsis
R2C2Shazammmm!!!!!
Post a Comment