Work gives us a title, a role, a sense of stability and a paycheck. It can easily become part of our identity, and it can be hard to separate ourselves from it. But things happen. The company might face unexpected trouble, or you might have to leave a position. If you cling too tightly to the material aspects of a job, or invest your entire identity in it, the sense of purpose and joy comes to depend on something which is always uncertain. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t become invested in our work. Moreover, as we go on with our daily life, we forget that we are not our job title or the activity which occupies most of our time, and in forgetfulness, we begin to identify our own existence with that activity.

What happens if you identify so closely with your work that hating your job means also hating yourself? Psychologists use the term “enmeshment” to describe a situation where the boundaries between people become blurred, and individual identities lose importance. Enmeshment prevents the development of a stable, independent sense of self. While identifying closely with your career isn’t necessarily bad, it makes you vulnerable to a painful identity crisis if you burn out, get laid off, or retire. Individuals in these situations frequently suffer anxiety, depression, and despair. By claiming back some time for yourself and diversifying your activities and relationships, you can build a more balanced and robust identity in line with your values. Perhaps, you could find a path which can lead you to reconnect with your true self.

This artwork portrays people with a visible identification of who they think they are (identifying with their activity, job etc). We can say that we are this and that, but we are also a friend, a parent or a son, a husband or wife, a volunteer or our hobby, and then we realize that we are so many things and yet these are just labels and layers. If we just stop for a moment and look inside, we might be able to remember what we truly are.