Indentity

As aerialists we spend a lot of time on our craft and after a while we can start living and breathing it so much that it becomes who we are.  

I found aerial at a point in my life where I was lost and a little broken. I used it to heal the cracks until I filled myself to the brim with it so there was room for nothing else. It was a perfect distraction and it matched my idea that successful, highly skilled, physical careers were only for those who were able to completely dedicate every inch of their lives to perfecting their technical ability. 

It became my identity. I was an aerialist now. People had to accept that I am a shiny, new, exciting, thing.  

When we can’t separate ourselves from our art/ work/ business we can become every peak, every failure, every win, every setback, every quiet period. It begins to consume us. It can become harder to separate the rejections from our own being.  

What does this mean when we are injured or can’t train for whatever reason? Who are we then? What’s left of us?  

A lot of us don’t need much persuading that we are not good enough, so if we let every mistake, failure, quiet period become a direct reflection of our own self-worth this can get extremely difficult to cope with.  

I feel it is important to find a balance and separate our work / artistry from who we are as people. So our identity, worth and wellbeing cannot be manipulated by things that are judged externally. 

Me and @kalinasuter (Instagram) spoke about this in our Live on Thursday. You can watch it back on Kalina’s page.