The lava syndrome of identity
We walk around life with a solid and relatively continuous identity. This allows us to interact effectively with others and with our environment. I suspect that it is for this reason that we categorize as disorders patterns where an individual changes their identity frequently and dramatically.
Sometimes in life, the identity we have formed is increasingly less compatible with others and or a new environment it finds itself in. This causes suffering for the individual.
We typically seek self-help books or therapy to find out why this discrepancy is occuring.
Another approach is mindfulness or contemplation. These are methods where we step away from our intellectual problem solving mind and instead create space for new understanding to arise.
The space created through these practices allows our identity to shift into a more aligned configuration.
Often, after longer meditation retreats, I have experienced that slow but noticeable shifts in my identity occurred as space was created.
Peter Ralston calls this the lava syndrome: As the volcanic rock of our identities is heated up it is allowed to reshape itself. Later, as life cool down, a new identity is set in stone, hopefully aligned with a more fulfilling life.
