Pigeonholes and labels
Iโve always hated labels. I donโt want them for myself and I refuse to apply them to others (whenever possible). I dislike pigeonholes, stereotypes, shoeboxes; call them what you will the idea of defining anyone, let alone myself, asย โexactly thisโ, orย โjust thatโ is abhorrent. But...ย
Other people seem to like them and use them a lot, which makes you on the outside of a lot of stuff. It makes finding your tribe hard. And no, I donโt just want to be part of Group A, Gang B; Iโm no much of a joiner either.ย Iโm using tribe very loosely here. But if you post about a topic that interests me I want to feel like I can be part of the discussion.ย
You put a tag on that itโs for this particular bunch of people then Iโm immediately excluded if I donโt self-label that way. Why would you want to do that? Why arenโt you interested in what other people who are interested have to say? I get that maybe the idea is to focus attention on people with a shared experience. Especially if that groupโs taken a lot of flak fromย โoutsidersโ. But by making yourselves and others... well,ย โotherโ, arenโt you making it worse?ย
In over sixty years the only label Iโve ever really taken to myself isย โmassive introvertโ and even thatโs just because sometimes I feel a need to explain my responses and itโs the simplest way that other people get. I donโt really think my brain is that easy to categorise, but when I was younger it was the only label in common parlance and it is still easily understood. But I watch other friends who use the same tag and they do many things Iโm not comfortable with and behave in ways I never could... so even if weโre both right, itโs such a broad group that doesnโt really tell us as much as we think.ย
Do you have a label that works for you? Are you more comfortable in a box? Maybe if I understood that point of view my own would gain some clarity.ย
