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The ultimate pain—seeds of an identity crisis






 

People who act inconsistently with who they believe they are set the stage for the societal cliche of an " identity crisis." When the crisis hits, they are immediately disoriented, questioning their previous convictions. Their whole world is turned upside down, and they experience an intense fear of pain. This is what happens to so many people having a " midlife crisis."

Often these people identify themselves as being young, and some environmental stimulant—turning a certain age, comments from friends, graying hair—causes them to dread[184] their approaching years and the new, less desirable identity that they expect to experience with it. Thus, in a desperate effort to maintain their identity, they do things to prove they're still young: buy fast cars, change their hairstyles, divorce their spouses, change jobs.

If these people had a solid grasp of their true identities, would they experience this crisis at all? I suspect not. Having an identity that is specifically linked to your age or how you look would definitely set you up for pain because these things will change. If we have a broader sense of who we are, our identity never becomes threatened.

Even businesses can have identity crises. Years ago, photocopying giant Xerox Corporation underwent an interesting shift in its image. When personal computing emerged as " the wave of the future, " Xerox

wanted to use their technological power to enter this exciting new market. They put their research and development staff on it and, after spending approximately $2 billion, they came up with a number of innovative advances, including the precursor to what we now call a " mouse."

Why, then, isn't Xerox in the competitive computer race, running neck and neck with Apple and IBM? One reason surely is that in the beginning, its identity didn't really allow for the company to head in this direction. Even its " graphic" identity, which used a roly-poly monk, confined its capacity to be identified as the epitome of cutting-edge computing technology. While the monk symbolized the exacting nature of manuscript copying, he was hardly appropriate for this new venture into high technology, where speed was one of the most highly valued criteria. On the consumer side, the identity Xerox had established as the world's leading copier company did not instill a high confidence in the company's efforts to market computers. Compound this with a graphic identity that had little to do with how to process information rapidly, and you begin to see where some of Xerox's problems originated.

Marketing and graphic-design experts alike will tell you that corporate image is a huge filter through which consumers process buying information—they must know who you are, what you stand for, and

when they're investing large sums of money, they usually want to buy from a company that exemplifies[185] their product. As Xerox grappled with incorporating this facet of computerization into its existing identity, other companies zoomed to the forefront, overtaking the marketplace. At this point, Xerox decided that, rather than try to change its identity, it would utilize it. It would computerize its photocopiers and concentrate its R & D dollars on improving what it already knew how to do best.

Today, Xerox is beginning the process of transformation by producing new " Xerox images" —airing commercials featuring fast-paced imagery of plotters, hardware, software, communication networks—and completing the visual message with the words, " Xerox... the Document Company." This expanded identity must be conditioned within the culture for Xerox to expand its market, and it is using every opportunity to do so.

 

" When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters—one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity."

JOHN F. KENNEDY

 

It doesn't take a crisis for most of us to understand that we can change our behavior, but the prospect of changing our identity seems threatening or impossible to most. Breaking away from our core beliefs about who we are gives us the most intense pain, and some people would even go so far as to kill themselves to preserve those beliefs. This was dramatically illustrated in Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Miserables. When the hero Jean Valjean is released from his prison work crew, he is frustrated and alone. Although in the many years he's spent in the custody of the French police he has never accepted his label of " criminal" (he'd merely stolen a loaf of bread to feed his starving family and was sentenced to many years of hard labor), once released, he discovers that he can't get an honest day's work. He is scorned and rebuffed because of his status as an ex-convict.

Finally, in a state of helplessness, he begins to accept the identity that his societal label has imposed. He now is a criminal and begins to act as such. In fact, when a kind priest takes him in, feeds him, and gives him shelter for the night, he fulfills his criminal identity by stealing his benefactor's humble[186] silver setting. When the police stop Valjean on a routine check, they discover not only that he is an ex-convict, but also that he is carrying the priest's most valuable possessions—a crime punishable by a

life of hard labor.

Valjean is brought back to face the priest, and upon presentation of the facts, the priest insists that the silver was a gift and reminds Valjean that he's forgotten the two remaining silver candlesticks. To Valjean's further surprise, the priest subsequently makes his generous falsehood[187] a truth and sends him away with the silver to start a new life.

Valjean has to deal with the priest's actions. Why would he believe in him? Why didn't he send him away in chains? The priest told him that he was his brother, that Valjean no longer belonged to evil, that he was an honest man and a child of God. This massive pattern interrupt changes Valjean's identity. He tears up his prison papers, moves to another city, and assumes a new identity. As he does, all of his behaviors change. He becomes a leader and helps those in his community.

However, a policemen, Monsieur Javert, makes it his life's crusade[188] to find Valjean and bring him to justice. He " knows" Valjean is evil and defines himself as one who brings evil to justice. When Javert finally catches up with him, Valjean has the opportunity to eliminate his nemesis—but he magnanimously[189] spares his life. After a lifetime of pursuit, Javert discovers that Valjean is a good man—perhaps a better man than he—and he cannot deal with the potential of realizing that maybe he was the one who was cruel and evil. As a result, he throws himself into the rapids of the river Seine.

 

" His supreme agony[190] was the disappearance of certainty, and he felt himself uprooted[191]... Oh! what a frightful thing! The man projectile, no longer knowing his road, and recoiling[192]! "

VICTOR HUGO, LES MISERABLES

 

 


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