Identity Issues Raise my Awareness

Hand colored etching- "Forming"

When a younger woman and I were talking on Sunday she mentioned that she was having some  identity issues around quitting her job. She is about to leave her career woman status that she loved and declare herself a stay at  home full time Mom, at least for the present time being.  She wants to find or create other work after her baby son is a bit older. We talked about how this choice, of not going back,is the more challenging route since going back would be more of the familiar. Going down this other road might open to new things that are more satisfying and perhaps a way to learn a lot more about herself.

For a long time, I have thought a lot and felt a lot around the concept of identity.  I opened up to say that I want to help people with identity concerns using the metaphor and example of the spirit boat. For me, the spirit boat holds you as you go between the states of who you think you are and who you are at your core. It is a safe place and represents the true, authentic self. She got this and it helped her see my work in another light.
But  I also want to add that the boat is egoless. It is simply and beautifully a vessel and does not carry the label of CEO, or a plumber, or an artist. This universal vehicle or sometimes I see it as a space ship, is also genderless. I believe we are conceived with our boats around us as shelters from the storms that we face once we emerge. This happens way before we choose our careers paths. The beauty of the spirit boat is that it is limitless and can go anywhere.