You Are More Than a Season: Finding Identity Beyond Your Job

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For most individuals, “going to school” is something you do as a child and young adult. You attend elementary, middle, junior high, and high school, and then follow that up with undergraduate or graduate education. Some individuals even go on to get a Doctoral or PhD degree. Once the schooling is over, however, you’re supposed to “begin your life.” As if we all know what that life will look like or entail. 

As a former teacher, I’ve never really known what it’s like not to go to school. I went to college (school) so I could go back into schools and teach the next generation. When God called me away from teaching and into full-time authorship, this traditional pattern of “school” began to shake my identity. Did I know who I was without my 7-3 routine? Did I know who I was without the label “teacher,” or students calling my name?

A little over a year after leaving my teaching job, I’ve realized some raw, yet difficult emotions. I didn’t realize how much of my identity was wrapped up in what I did until I didn’t do it anymore. And even as an author, I battle this self-awareness, this identity crisis, most days. Who am I without the pen and the page? Who am I without the dance shoes and granola? Who am I when it’s all stripped away? Who am I at the end of the day?

If you’re ever confused what you do with who you are, then this article is for you.