Many years ago we were introduced to someone at an event and they asked us who we were. We replied with our typical answer at the time, that we were Pete and Dona and told him what our roles were at our current companies. He looked us and said, “that is what you do, not who you are, let me know about you, not your jobs”. Those words have remained with us to this day and we’ve passed that same wisdom along to our children, don’t define yourself by your career, you are much more than that.
For this week’s Daily Post Discover Challenge – Identity, we tried to envision how we could describe identity using a photograph. We looked at pictures of ourselves at different times and locations, but that isn’t who we are, it is just someplace we’ve been. The more that we thought about it, the more that we came to the conclusion that we are an accumulation of the events of our lives. So, like a river that changes its course over time, we too have changed courses many times as our lives have flowed towards the future. With that in mind, we decided to use a photo of a river near Minturn, Colorado.
I love this. There are so much more interesting things about people than how they make money.
Very true 🙂
“You are not your job” is even more relevant into today’s gig economy. And it’s always been more important as you get older. Defining yourself by your job makes retirement – voluntary or not – more difficult.
We hadn’t thought about the retirement aspect of it, that is very good point. 🙂
I read something once how in France (probably other places too) it’s considered rude to ask someone where they work. It certainly can be a touchy topic. What if someone hates their job or is ashamed of what they do? Or what if a guy loves being a garbage collector, so winds up having to defend his career choice all the time?
We knew a funeral director who stopped accepting social invitations, because either people would be uncomfortable talking to him, pester him with questions, or make the same tired jokes. It was sad, because honestly, they were the most fascinating couple you could ever meet!
That is sad. Too many people identify themselves with their jobs, even feeling like we had to justify raising a family by giving it a title.