A quote from the text that really struck me was in Erikson's piece but he was quoting William James.
"A man's character is discernible in the mental or moral attitude in which, when it came upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: "This is the real me!" - William James p. 245
I really felt that this describes identity and how you feel when you realize your identity. I immediately thought of the "Aha moment" commercials. Mutual of Omaha is the "Official sponsor of the Aha moment". They are commercials where people explain their Aha moment when they realized who they were going to marry, what they wanted to be when they grew up, etc. Essentially James is describing this moment when you realize who you are and exactly what you are supposed to be doing.
Of course Mutual of Omaha is a bank who wants to appeal to the public and use this as an advertising campaign to make more money, but I think it is a very good lesson on identity.
To listen to some of these "Aha moments" heres the website:
http://www.ahamoment.com/?gclid=CPioypqXqJkCFQquGgodbBoJqQ
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really loved this quote too. For me, it tied in interestingly with Brown's "Freedom for Some" article. I kept thinking of how much of identity-discovery is done in school, as this is where students spend a great deal of their time as adolescents. When they are privileged enough to attend a wealthy school, the opportunities for identity-discover must be vast and wonderful. How difficult it must be, though, to try to find yourself and a version of yourself that you will value in a militaristic place like the lower socio-economic schools described. We really do an injustice to kids for the rest of their lives by not providing the same resources for all.
ReplyDelete