Plural Identity

[Zoetrope]

My life journey has been predominantly a psychological experience. For better or worse, I have always been a thinker.

Transition has absolutely been the opportunity to liberate and explore my identity. Over the past year I have come to understand a lot more about it - what it is, and what it can be.

My thoughts over the past week were particularly catalyzed by a meeting with an older, wise male friend. We both have an interest in the topic, and discussed it for some while.
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Before I talk about plural identity, I'll first put forward my interpretation of identity itself.

Simply put it is who were are. It is as much how one perceives as well as behaves in the world. It is what our motives are, it is what we are capable of and what our values are - in any given situation.
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Plural identity then, is the possession of different potentials, alignments, and characters toward (often more specified) situations.

It is less than a sense of multiple personalities, where the identities can become fully experienced selves. But it is also more than a casual mood change.

It is a case of one person having multiple senses of who they are, who they can be, and how they ought to act.

Different situations can bring those identities to the surface. Any one or more of these identities may be present at any time.
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Picture a deflated balloon. It has a printed pattern but it cannot be clearly seen.

Time, effort and experience inflate that balloon - that sense of who one is, and who they can be.

My balloon seems to be printed with a set of separate, but well established flowers.
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I have encountered four major identities in the past year or so.

Those who have seen me post in the forum are usually seeing Zoe - which is how I feel as I sit and type just now. Zoe is publicly around more than the others. I won't go into them for this post.

More privately, and certainly in person, the others can and do surface. It just takes the right environment.
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Well there we go. Apologies for the long post, I normally like to get to the point quickly :~)

I am voicing this partly because it is therapeutic. I feel better when I accept and allow things to be.

Thoughts for, against or ambivalent are welcome ...

[Zoetrope]

There are:

John
Sarah
Zoe
and Angie.

[stephaniec]

my identities are male, female , spiritual ebbing together sometimes in a great peaceful clear pond and at other times in a hurricane violently   pulsating on the ocean I call my self.

[PennyW]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit too recently. I don't feel I have plural identities, but more that my sense of self-identity is changing with time, and currently it's changing more rapidly than usual.

We all change with time. How much do you really have in common with the five year old version of yourself? I'm sure there's other five year olds that have more in common with the old you than the you of now. Most of the matter in your body has turned over between now and then, your relationships have changed, your thoughts have changed, everything is different really.

I don't know if you've heard of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus. The ship has had each part of it removed and replaced one by one, and the parts are then reassembled into another ship. Once all the parts are replaced, which is the original ship? This is an interesting philosophical thought experiment about identity.

The trans journey does differ from this in many ways however. We can almost reinvent ourselves as someone new, with updated ideals, values, and relationships. I feel the great thing about this journey is that we can in some ways choose the values we care about, and because we're stepping outside of the accepted bounds of society, if we want to we can ignore societies ideals.

I'd like to become a better person all around, for some self-defined idea of better


ps: I don't know that I copied your new phone number right Zoe. Send me a PM!

[Zoetrope]

my identities are male, female , spiritual ebbing together sometimes in a great peaceful clear pond and at other times in a hurricane violently   pulsating on the ocean I call my self.

Yes, I know that feeling :~o

As Zoe, it falls upon me to be a peacekeeper ...

[Zoetrope]

I've been thinking about this quite a bit too recently. I don't feel I have plural identities, but more that my sense of self-identity is changing with time, and currently it's changing more rapidly than usual.

Yes ... I had and have a continuing sense of my identity being broadened.

What happens when that sense of self becomes diverse enough to have different characters? This is what seems to be happening to me ...

We all change with time. How much do you really have in common with the five year old version of yourself? I'm sure there's other five year olds that have more in common with the old you than the you of now. Most of the matter in your body has turned over between now and then, your relationships have changed, your thoughts have changed, everything is different really.

One of me *is* very child-like. She is not an infant, but her temperament is quite dependent.

I don't know if you've heard of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus. The ship has had each part of it removed and replaced one by one, and the parts are then reassembled into another ship. Once all the parts are replaced, which is the original ship? This is an interesting philosophical thought experiment about identity.

Oh I like that. Well my zen answer would be that - it depends what you do with it.

If the object is animate and has a sense of identity, and then has components replaced, I would expect those new parts would begin to influence its identity.

But nonetheless, those parts are not the object's identity in itself. That already exists, and will respond to the new parts as it will.
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For me it is not so much a question of my parts. I am one person, but who I *can* be is quite diverse.

K number sent!