You Are Not Just One Thing: The Science & Spirit of Identity

I regularly say I am dyslexic, and some would say that that is incorrect. That I am more than my challenges, however, that is based upon their interpretation of my words rather than what they mean and represent to me. I am dyslexic because I process everything through my dyslexic brain. It is this which is my first filter for all my experiences and my reality. Within psychology, when we are discussing identity, it is important to understand that we have a BIG I or big identity, which has multiple small i's or small identities that make up and contribute to our larger or BIG I concept of self.

Let us bring a more spiritually based aspect into this discussion: we are all starbursts. Each one of us is a little star; we are little balls of light in the world. Some of us are brighter, and some are a little dimmer, and those who align with the dim light might need to do more shadow work within themselves to brighten their light. The way I base my identity through what I assess is the aspect of my small i's that filters my experiences the most. When discussing filters, another way to understand this is to think of all your identities as different pairs of glasses. Which set of glasses do you put on first to assess what you are experiencing, thinking, feeling or interpreting, as everything will be altered based upon that lens?  Some individuals have a trauma lens, some of us have gender lenses, and some have a sexual identity lens. To me, through my science educational background, my brain and its ability to process information filter everything. My brain is structured dyslexically; therefore, I am dyslexic, but that is not my only identity.

Where people get hung up is thinking they only have one identity. To shift this segregation, let us use the word AND with purpose. AND allows us to bring multiple identities or multiple aspects of ourselves into one. In spirituality and shamanic practices, the use of the word AND is part of soul collection, where we gather different aspects of ourselves that we have fragmented to allow us to experience wholeness. In psychology, it's seen more as the process of collecting or identifying all aspects of the self. 

When assessing our identity, we need to bring forth both positive and negative aspects of ourselves, as even something like dyslexia can represent both a positive and a negative to us and our identity. If we only focus on the negative aspects of this processing style, our well-being will decrease, so think about and bring forth the positive aspects this brain brings you. In positive psychology, there is the belief that for every negative experience or belief, we need four positive ones to counteract it. Bringing this into the idea of identity, we want to list four times as many small i's to counteract all our negative attributes and make sure we maintain, if not improve, our well-being. 

Dyslexia for me is my primary filter. I filter my relationships, my communication, my ability to notice patterns, solve puzzles, and understand the big picture, among others.  That is my dyslexic brain. However, I am also a female, Canadian, have multiple past traumas, an artist, a mother, these are all things that create the BIG I of my identity. However, when I am talking about dyslexia, I am dyslexic. I do not have dyslexia; I cannot put it down or choose not to use it. It is always there. 

How do you see or identify with yourself? What makes you up? Write this list down, create your starburst, and draw longer lines for the aspects of you that you know filter or create a lens for all your experiences, more than the others do. It is quite a beautiful experiment and exercise to go through as you start really identifying what contributes to your experiences, your mental well-being, your relationships, maybe your job, and how you approach life. 

You do not have to be just one thing.