From the Inspirational Thought Unit
A friend of mine pointed me to this incredible (and best of all short) NC State commencement speech by recent graduate Kelsey O'Connor.
You can watch it here: LINK
The central message is that external identities aren't the most accurate way to see other people, or yourself. After her life was shattered by a traumatic head injury she couldn't be the things she always thought she was, and instead had to rebuild her identity. Instead of focusing on what she was alway doing, she instead focused on what she was being. Once she did that for herself, she started looking at others the same way. It completely changed her life. In her words:
I would start describing people not by their labels but by three things:
their attitude,
the way that they treat others,
and what makes them uniquely beautiful.
Instead of describing my roommate as an engineer I would first tell you that she is a kind intelligent adventurous girl who loves her family deeply.
and also:
...who we are internally is the root of what we do and what we produce. To the world your roles in life are going to change whether it's a relationship role, a role in a job, but you are so much more than your role.
So you might be going to do work in engineering but that means you're going to be an intelligent problem solver. You might be going to do social work, but that means you're going to be a compassionate community member.
This was summed up nicely by another friend of mine:
"I’ve come to believe that labels can be empowering in the short run, they are liabilities in the long." -Kohl Glass
This tracks with my life experience. When I stopped focusing on what I did (drawings and illustrations) and started focusing on what I am (a problem solver, a knowledge sharer, and a storyteller) my whole world opened up and I realized I was much more capable to take on things that I never thought an "artist" could do...like start a business, self publish, or do youtube videos.
Take a minute and think about your labels and if they're actually serving you or are just a liability you can't let go of.
-Jake