Identity Birdcages

A thought about setting free from an identity and making room for growth.

Before you continue, I want you to think about this. What kind of person are you? What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? What makes you the person that you are?

If you’ve successfully answered those questions, you’ve probably got a set of identity for yourselves and to some extent has an understanding about who you are. If you haven’t figured out an answer, then in this writing I’m about to tell you not only why it could be useful but also — although rarely realized, how it could potentially be detrimental for your growth.

Understanding yourself, your weaknesses, your strengths are absolutely critical in shaping an identity for yourself. That’s why ever since we were a child, we were taught to identify these traits. What are you good at? What are you not good at? I thought of a good reason why this has always been applied and why it could be useful. I believe that in understanding ourselves, it gives us a way to be critical with ourselves.

But, have we been critical with ourselves? Or have we misused this concept?

When was the last time you tested the limits of your weaknesses? Why do we often make up parameters for ourselves instead? Tell me your star sign and I’ll read out your fortunes and emotional state for the month. My zodiac says that I’m supposed to act this way. No, it is not my fault. These examples are not to insult anyone who believes in star signs and zodiacs for casual fun and spiritual needs, but they can be examples of how the concept of identity could be misused to limit our personal growth — putting ourselves in “identity birdcages”.

The main takeaway here is that I’m not trying to make us lose our identities completely. There are also reasons why having a strong set identity within ourselves are beneficial, such as maintaining your strengths and not letting others influence you too much. but I want you to know that each of us has the potential to be better.

Without denying the science of identity — which states that traits and genetics are passed down, I still believe that we are able to take more responsibility in the way that we are. The main responsibility we have is to simply keep trying and keep forgiving yourself if you fail. The person you want to be could well be within your grasp and closer than you think.