Identity

The Prompt

Explore a moment in your life where you grappled with your concept of identity.

The music is "Identity" y X-Ray Spex fronted by the sadly missed Poly Styrene.

Who Am I Today?

Someone different than yesterday. I think this Vocal story could probably apply to most people, with adjustments for gender and life situations.

The prompt asks for a moment in life when I have had issues with the concept of identity, I never have, in that I am lucky.

I believe that all humans can be multi-faceted and change over the course of their lives, shedding what is not right for them and keeping and developing things that are good for them.

I always quote the lines from Bob Dylan's "Joey" that definitely apply to me

Always on the outside of whatever side there was

When they asked him why it had to be that way,

“Well,” he answered, “just because”

Joey, Joey

What made them want to come and blow you away?

I started a child, a son, which I still am.

I went to school, got educated, and as a Roman Catholic was denigrated if I didn't attend mass. My parents stopped it when the church started demanding money and one of my aunties gave up when she saw some evil but rich attendees fawned on by her local priest. Religion dropped off my radar.

I attended grammar school run by Jesuits so I had to put up with compulsory mass and Religious Education, but actually, most of the priests were very reasonable about religion so I got on OK.

In my time at school as a schoolboy and teenager, I learned to enjoy books, hate classical music (that changed), love pop music and rick, including progressive rock that borrowed heavily from classical music and got myself a guitar (which I have never learned to play properly.

I left school and became an employee as well as getting into my first bands and singing, writing and playing live, so added to my identity was employee (clerk), musician, singer, songwriter, and adult.

These were added facets of my identity schoolboy and teenager discarded.

My jobs changed as I got older covering computer operator, programmer, analyst, team leader, project leader, deployment executive and a lot more, my current one is systems analyst, but that may change one day.

I became the proud father of two wonderful girls and that is another facet woven into my identity, and three years ago I became a grandfather so as you can see the tapestry of my identity grows more intricate by the day.

Fifteen years ago I started a blog firstly as a travel diary and then hoping it would inspire me to write a book. That never happened but I then joined Vocal, found an audience, and then thanks to a good friend accidentally published a book.

So that meant that I could add writer, poet and self-published author to my identity.

I am still a reader, and also a supporter of those who need it when I am able.

Although brought up as a conservative in a very racist and misogynist environment, I was never comfortable with that and I am very left-wing, inclusive and supportive of women and the LGBTQ+ spectrum, these are more features of my identity.

Some of the things that concerned me when I was young I now speak out about when I come across them.

Conclusion

I realise that I have told you a lot about what makes up my identity without mentioning anything specific that can be nailed down, and maybe that is just the way I am.

I hope that you have found this a little interesting and maybe you can see something of yourself in this.