Stop hiding behind labels, subsuming a whole person to a single characteristic, one label no matter how powerful its meaning, is to hold that person up to an impossible standard and lead to dismissal in the pursuit of purity. The struggle between the individualistic and collectivist pressures of our humanity, as seen through reading C.G. Jung’s “The Undiscovered Self“.
Labels are a form of shorthand. They allow us to breakdown complexities into smaller parts, but when applied to people this can have negative consequences. Every person carries many labels. Some labels are for roles, mother, father, son, daughter, employee, and others are characteristics, tall, short, smart, slow, etc. Each label carries a mental image that allows us to make assumptions based on incomplete information. It is easy to see how this can limit our perspective both of ourselves and others.
In order to grow we need to increase our viewpoint. In order to make this journey we must let got of the labels we hide behind and embrace the potential we have within. We need not seek a straight path to find a destination that supports our progressive evolution, as a person or a species, for in exploring the warp and weft of our interwoven lives is a far greater, if also far less certain, journey of discovering our potential.