{1.3} rethinking identity as integration

• Erikson’s idea of {1.2} identity as a state of continuity suggests that maintaining one’s sense of identity is an ongoing process.
• We continue to source elements of our identity over time.
  • We gain new experiences, perspectives, feedback, and more as we age.
• I wonder if we see can see identity as the successful integration of those elements into our active “sense of self”.
  • By, in some ways, expanding our “sense of self” to include more than who we are at this moment.
  • {1.3a} identity formation as facilitating dialogue
    • Communing with your past self allows you to acknowledge, process, and accept the role that your past has played in your present circumstances.
      • Shows you where you’ve been.
    • Communing with your future self helps you find, plan, and move toward the goals, desires, and visions you have for the future.
      • Shows you where you’re going.
    • Communing with your present self helps you see, understand, and address what you and your world currently look like.
      • Shows you where you’re at.
    • Supported by Erikson’s idea of needing continuity between what you’ve become and aspire to be.
      • I think we need equal continuity with our past for a strong sense-of-self.
        • I think about this like unpacking our baggage.
    • To commune with your future self, you have to trust your present self to follow-through on creating safety, comfort, and pleasure.
      • To commune with your past self, you have to accept and embrace who she became — which requires accepting and embracing who she was all along.
        • the wave does not have to die to become water; she is already water
      • Satisfaction can only be found in the present identity.
        • She shows forgiveness + trust.
• We can also think about how we integrate our internal experience of the self (“true self”) with external experiences.
  • This potentially bridges the gap between the creation and discovery metaphors.