How do you define yourself?
At The Well, January’s theme is Identity.
As always, I start digging into our theme’s at The Well early, so when asked to write about this on Monday, I was prepared. I am so grateful to have this work be a part of my CEO task list.
I think the best place to start is the definition.
Identity; simply put Identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, and the way you are viewed by the world.
Wow, what immediately comes to mind is overwhelming. How am I supposed to know all this?
Let me tell you something, your identity is not a one day revelation. Many people take years to understand their identity, and how they are perceived in this world. Often people avoid this due to past trauma or a misunderstanding of the word.
Perhaps they don’t like who they are, or haven’t achieved what they anticipated. The thing is, you cannot achieve identity. It’s a part of you, it’s your very essence, it’s not good nor bad, it just is.
Here’s how Well Woman Jodi Kozan put it;
‘Our ethnicity, culture, our family of origin, people we’ve encountered, places we’ve lived, and all the positive or negative experiences in our life don’t define us, but they can refine us if we let them.’
It takes a bit of the pressure off to know that we don’t have to be defined by our current situation, but we can be refined if we allow it to happen.
Your identity is influenced by the following:
Personhood or group affiliation
Lived Experiences
Cultural belonging
Race
Ethnocultural (eg. Jewish)
Understanding the what, how, and why of our experiences allows for greater knowing and acceptance of ourselves, resulting in a more confident approach to our lives and businesses.
One’s Identity cannot be taken away, it is who we are at our very core. Although our experiences shape us, and we may live guarded, walled, or fearful, our Identity is always unaltered at our core.
I’d love to share my identity with you;
Tammy Zdunich, Photographer and Inner Illume Co-Founder
Find an event to attend here!
I am a created woman, white, Canadian, predisposed to heart disease, raised cultural Christian, saved by Christ, Holy Spirit indwelling, daughter of God, Royal, creative, generous, loving, strong willed daughter, sister, friend.
For me, these are unchangeable and born into me. For this reason I did not include wife or mother. I chose these paths on my own, rather than them being a part of me at birth. While I understand we are shaped by our experiences and they do integrate into our identity, I prefer to look at the result of the experience and not the experience itself as being part of my identity.
This is my identity, bravely shared with you. It’s an incredibly vulnerable thing to do, I commend you if you do it too.
So now I ask you;
How do you identify?
What perceptions would you like others to have about you?
How do you not want them to perceive you?
These are the questions we’ll be digging into for the full month of January. We’d love for you to come alongside us and uncover your unique and beautiful identity.
We’d love to see you at one of our events, Working Well is a monthly business focused workshop. You will receive a worksheet and live invite when you register.
Working Well is on Wed Jan 20th at 7 pm CST.
