Boxes, labels and belonging. Part 2.
One of the common ways that we label ourselves, is by the job we do, our professional status.
It amuses me that in many TV game shows, people introduce themselves with 3 key facts: name, location and profession: ‘ I am James, a builder from Gloucester’ or I’m Julie a Human Resource manager from Stoke’.
Even when we are not working ‘I’m Joyce, a retired teacher from Sheffield’. What we do is a key part of our identity.
So:
When someone has no profession other than being ‘cared for’, we are denying them an import part of their self-identity.
Jobs with meaningless titles are pointless (sorry to offend but I include: Change Manager, Fun Co-ordinator, and Neurodiversity Specialist).
We should never accept that someone has nothing to contribute, call it employment, work, occupation, vocation or whatever.
Sometimes this will need a creative approach to helping someone find their label, but that’s the challenge.
‘Who I am’ includes ‘What I do’.
What do you think? Let me know here.