Words, labels, profiles, inventories, diagnoses, inclinations, proclivities, test scores etc…. all tell us something about ourselves. But one label by itself tells us nothing. My saying I’m a mother does not tell anyone about the quality of my mothering. My saying I’m a trauma survivor tells you nothing about the trauma, my telling you that I struggle with depression, says nothing about my recovery journey. It might tell you that I am at a point in time where I am comfortable using those descriptive words to describe myself — out loud.
I recently added another label to my long list of labels. I added the word “author” as one of my descriptives. Still deciding if I like how that word fits me as I never actually had that as a life goal. Yet here I sit with a book filled with words that I penned (typed?) from thoughts that I had on certain subjects. It helped that the focal point of these words, these thoughts, was directed toward a loved one. It also helped that the subject matter was one that I had a fairly good grasp of – me.
I did a workshop last week on finding passion and purpose. One of my slides was titled “Gifts Known, Gifts Undiscovered”. The point of that section was simply that it helps enormously to know who you are, know your gifts, know what your preferences are and why. But so what?? Labels can be both freeing and caging. The freedom comes from having good information, solid insight about yourself. The caging comes when you limit yourself based on that information. I ended that presentation with a long list of labels that described me. The final label was “Author”. It was a good exercise for me to see how maybe I might have been limiting myself in what I was capable of. My hope is that it was also a good object lesson for those who attended my workshop that just because you have certain labels doesn’t mean that new ones can’t always be added.
So, note to self, – on this road called life, as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I will continually be on a path of discovery. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will illuminate my steps forward and the retrospective view, so that I will know and understand that everything that has come before has served as preparation and empowerment for whatever rises to meet me on the path. May it also be with you!
Shalom!
