Identity

Context mapping is a rather simple concept when your life is in a place that allows you to separate all of the different working parts.  When you are younger, it may be a bit more difficult to find yourself and to be able to label all of the parts in it.  One may be trying to decipher who they even are in their younger years, to be able to define everything in your life at that point would be a difficult task.  When I attended middle and high school, it was difficult for me to even figure out what I wanted to do in the future.  I could tell you what was immediately important to me but I could not list what was essential in my life.  Ironically, Mitch asks Julian what he thinks other people think, or see of him.  When I was in middle school and high school I had little to no clue about some parts of my identity.

There are four different identities and ways that a person may perceive themselves.  There are many different personalities and traits a person may hold, therefore, youth may have had different influences in their life that may have enforced these identities.  Foreclosed Identity is an identity that an individual has committed to a life direction or way of being without exploring it carefully and without experimenting with alternatives.  Diffuse Identity is a state in which there has been little exploration or active consideration of a particular identity and no psychological commitment to one.  Identity Moratorium one actively explores roles and beliefs, behaviors and relationships, but refrains from making a commitment.  Achieved Identity when the identity crisis is resolved and the commitment to the selected identity is high.

Here is an example and picture of my context map, in other words, my identity!

The Most Important Co-author

Every one of us has had different people that come into our lives who come and go.  Some are more permanent members of your life while others choose to be a temporary addition.  Although some people are only temporary in your life they can still play a huge part and influence certain things about you.  For me, there are a multitude of different people that have had affect on me, small or large, the affect is still there.  I notice that I act differently around different people but the most important ones leave something with me.  The most important co-author in my life is my Mother.

My Mother is not only a part of my biological side, she is also an expert at speaking to people and calming them.  I noticed that I have developed a knack for this my self and I try to copy her calm personality.  I feel like I really started to try to form a personality for myself in my adolescence, which seems to be the area that most teenagers try to find themselves according to Nakkula and Toshalis.  My Mother has certainly influenced my personality but also made me feel at peace with all of the choices that I have made and ones that I will make in the future.  She made me know that no matter what I chose, she would stand behind me.  So while I was allowed to write some parts in my own story she had a gentle touch in guiding me in the right direction.  She made me feel as if I was in control while making sure that I was making the right choice all at once.

Overall, she has had a very big impact on my life.  I have inherited many of her views on multiple different things, as well as many of her personality traits.  I have also continued on the same path that she set me on years ago.  There were many things that I thought were a waste of time when I was younger but she gently pushed me through it.  Now that I look back I realize that my Mother had a huge role in helping to form who I am today.