Identity Crisis
Like all humans with access to a certain degree of privilege, an education and a willingness to look inside, I’ve been in the ‘Who am I?’ quandary. Specifically, mine’s been about what to call myself as I wholeheartedly play as my life-long contribution to making our world a little better. When I first began PlayReflections®, I called myself a ‘consultant’, it sounded more grown-up than I felt, changed it to ‘educational and play consultant’, though that never felt right. When my brother printed up bogus business cards that read, “Creative Consultations, ‘What Do You Want to Talk About’ I realized it was time to drop ‘ consultant’ and begin the search for my true identity. At the time, I was working with a Holistic Marketing Advisor so I naturally brought my distress to her. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: (with confusion and mounting exasperation) “I don’t know what to call myself.”
“Why do you have to call yourself anything?”
Me: “Cause there’s doctors and lawyers and...what am I?”
(with a smile and the patience of the Buddha) “Why do you have to call yourself anything?”
Me: “Cause there’s doctors and lawyers and...what the %!*%&!*&&%! am I?”
This conversation was repeated several times, with my frustration abating not a bit. Finally, she suggested I spend a few minutes at the end of each of my playshops over the next few months asking for participants’ input. What did they think I am? I liked that idea - it was something practical I could do and I was sure there was somebody out there who could succinctly and definitively tell me who I am. After the usual “the Play Lady’, ‘Playmate’, ‘Play Girl’ and ‘Play Teacher’ kept surfacing, I realized a more creative and intensive approach to this dilemma was called for. So, I recruited my local cousins, famous for their love of a good laugh. We brainstormed ideas, without editing or censoring, and as we got sillier and laughed uncontrollably, I finally put a stop to our creative endeavor when the ‘Grin Reaper’ came up as a suggestion. Here’s part of our brainstormed list:
Agrinologist
Playmometer
Play Hydrant
Playshaman
Playsorcerer
The Grin Reaper
Educational & Play Wizard
Pied Piper of Play
Play Enthuser
Play Instigator
Playologist
The Human Interactive Toy
Playmaker
Several years ago, a public relations person I worked with dubbed me ‘International Play Professional’, since once I had a gig in Montreal. Really, when it comes down to it, I am a teacher. I teach play with groan-ups*, I lead playshops for the kid in everyone. So, when someone asks, that’s what I say. But truthfully, I still never know what to write on some bureaucratic form that demands to know my occupation. I’m a...no, I’m a...waitaminute I’m a ...so…Who am I?
