I find the Starbucks 'Been There' mugs fascinating. For states and major cities it puts images of things that make that city or region unique. Who knew that shopping carts where invented in Oklahoma or that people in the Twin Cities have a border-line obsession with toast and butter? A lot of these images show the identity of the region.
I started wondering about what would be a 'Been There' mug that showed the identity of me. What images would be on there? Would it be mostly positive or negative? I think that for most of us the images found on the mug would have to do with our job, our hobbies, and our likes. If we are really honest, I would wager that we see our identity in WHAT we do rather than WHO we are.
Identity is our mental representation of who we are. It also relates to our values that will influence the decisions we will make. Our identity can be formed indirectly from family, peers, and other role models. Children will try to define themselves in terms of how they think their parents see them. In college, many students will refer to those four years as "finding oneself". Psychologist Erik Erikson believes that identity formation is most prominent during adolescence. Young people during that time are faced with physical growth, maturity, and impending career choices. Whether we know it or not, we are constantly trying to find our true selves no matter what stage of life we are in. Erik Erikson said, "In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity." With so much pressure on find one's 'true self', we can temporarily become confused. This confusion and uncertainty is often referred to as an identity crisis. The Oxford English dictionary defines identity crisis as "a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society."
I experienced this state of confusion and uncertainty in my identity. After I graduated college, I tried to adapt to my 'new identity' without success. I was spiraling into an identity crisis. I didn't know how to fit socially with my college peers or adult peers. I felt awkward about in all scenarios. I didn't know who the heck I was anymore. Moving into the 'adulting' stage of my life was increasingly harder than I ever imagined it to be. I felt like I was sitting in limbo between two identities. In college, I would have said I was confident, outgoing, adventurous, independent, accepting, a learner, a Christian, a student, a runner, a traveler, a friend, a Tri Delta (I have to rep my sorority), loves people, loves books, obsessed with old music, and an advent listener of podcasts. I could have easily made my 'Been There' mug. If you would have asked me to make a 'Been There' mug about two months after graduation, then it would have had one big question mark on it. I thought I had lost my identity.
Our lives turn to chaos as soon as we lose sight of what are true identity is. In all the psychology papers and blogs I have been reading, they say our religion also plays a major part in developing our identity. As a Christian, I never fully grasped that as soon as I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior that I received a new identity. We don't lose our true selves when we accept Jesus, but instead we become our true selves in Him. I never knew my true self until I understood that my true self is only found in Jesus. That doesn't mean all Christians have the same cookie cutter identity, instead God created us to have unique characteristics and purposes. Our true identity is revealed the closer we draw to Him. "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
As a child of God, all of our identities come together beautifully. Each one of my identities brought me closer to God in some way. God made us so that we may know Him. Everything within us aches to be closer to the Creator. Once we understand our true self in Christ, we are free to truly live and step into the purpose God called us to. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) Finding our true identity allows us to step from the darkness into the light. My 'Been There' mug has not changed significantly, it has one new addition: Jesus. Jesus is apart of my identity because without Him the rest of my 'Been There' mug doesn't make sense. It is a modge podge of different identities. In Jesus, that modge podge comes together as one to form my true self: Haley. I am chosen, unique, and called to be the light. Each thing on your 'Been There' mug is an avenue for you to be the light of Christ in someone else's life, so set your 'Been There' mug on the shelf and let it be used by Jesus.