More Offside Musings

According to Erik Erikson (yes, that is his real name), there are 8 stages of psychosocial development, where each stage represents a unique psychosocial conflict. The 5th stage is adolescence (ages 12-20), and the central conflict is identity v. role confusion.

While I can’t speak for the validity of any psychological theories—they seem to pop up and get discredited every few decades—I do think that Erikson is right about adolescence. There are no people I respect more than those who have a clear sense of identity—a direction to guide them into the future. I used to snicker with disdain at people with such tunnel vision, but I think I have come to a point in life, in adolescence, where self-understanding becomes expected.

I’ve recently been fixated on this search for identity because the emptiness of summer vacation lends itself to such contemplation. Due to the lack of chores, I’ve been wasting a lot of time on the Internet, where I was prompted today to “get a profile.” I’ve always felt that profiles are a cheap and lazy way to define yourself. Some cutesy phrases and emoticons plus a list of favorites hardly touch on your true character. Perhaps I’ve being overly lofty, but if you can distill yourself into such a description, then you are a shallow person indeed. I don’t think it’s possible, which is why I have always been reluctant to do it to myself.

Since Erikson says my most important responsibility is to find an identity, I’m off to do that now. But where to start? I don’t expect a sudden epiphany one day. I’m off to live life then. Carpe diem.