Have you ever given any thought to who you are as a person? The identity or persona that you use to present yourself to the world? Is it intentional or is it the product of life, experience and just general randomness? Have you ever felt that maybe your inner personality is different from how everyone else sees you, and you would like them both to match? Or maybe you have outgrown things and moved on, but other people’s view of you still hasn’t caught up.
In the fictional world (movies or books) when a character reinvents themselves it is almost always because they’re up to no good. But in real life, people reinvent themselves after a big life change. You might have gotten a brand-new haircut and started listening to different music right before you started university. Or started dressing differently when you entered the work-force or switched careers. Relationship changes like marriage or divorce sometimes trigger a reinvention too.
A weekend might seem like too little time for any big change, but it is enough for you to think about it and get started. A lot of people talk about being authentic and part of that is being honest about your truth visually for other people. It is a great way to change the way you feel about yourself and to show people around you that you have grown a little. We usually get caught up in life and only make these changes to our appearance or behavior when we get an external reminder, but I think it should be something we do more thoughtfully. If you care about a cause or stand for a certain value, you should feel comfortable sharing that. It helps the people around you see the change too and respond to it without having to explain yourself too much. But it is also an invitation for discourse about different topics.
And it doesn’t even have to be a huge change. Maybe you are trying to be more frugal and slow down ordering lunch at work. You can become the “pack a lunch to work” person in the office. Or maybe you are now interested in art by supporting local artists and hanging their art on your walls at home. Share that with people, even if they might be weirded out by your new fervor. Celebrate the changes. Share your reasons with others. Every time we normalize a change in identity, even a simple one, we give ourselves and others the permission to embrace their own interests and share them with the world.
Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash.
