I’ve been struggling a lot over the past few years to reckon with how big of a role my work life plays in my self confidence and identity. I don’t think I realized until just a year or two ago that I judge and define myself based almost entirely on my professional output. How good […]

I’ve been struggling a lot over the past few years to reckon with how big of a role my work life plays in my self confidence and identity. I don’t think I realized until just a year or two ago that I judge and define myself based almost entirely on my professional output. How good I feel about myself and my future seems to be so wrapped up in how much I work and how much I can churn out.
That’s right ? churn out. Because not every creative project has been easy, smooth, or exactly what I was hoping. Sometimes things were a slog and the end result felt that way. But still, it was something to put out there. And that something meant I was being a productive member of society. And since so much of our society praises business, I felt like I was being a “good,” productive person. It wasn’t until I went through some really tough times personally that I realized that if I define myself by the “good” professional items on my list, then I have to define myself by the “bad” items on my personal list, too. And then I started to feel dizzy. Therapy has been a powerful support system in my life for a long time now (one that I wi...