Aleye Boyle, in her book, The Identity Bracelet, uses a beaded bracelet as a metaphor for all the elements that make up our identity: our values, core beliefs, roles we have taken on and roles we have had thrust upon us, our coping mechanisms that we have developed over our lifetime. Each item is another bead on our own personal identity bracelet. Other beads comprise our fears, hopes and dreams, material things we value are also beads on our bracelet, our cars, home, a prized and much-loved childhood toy or family heirloom passed down the generations. Our status, educational or career achievements, the meaningful relationships we have forged in our lifetimes are also beads that make up our identity bracelet.
In my quest for personal growth and change I have become aware of aspects of myself that no longer serve me well, I have developed many coping mechanisms that were necessary at the time they emerged but no longer serve a useful purpose. Some of these beads in my identity bracelet I would like to phase out over time, others I may choose to keep, but perhaps rearrange my beads so they are in a less prominent position in my bracelet. Sentiment has always been an issue for me in phasing out some of my beads, some of the coping mechanisms I developed in childhood have served me very well throughout large parts of my life and this makes it difficult to enact change in my present life.
Aleye Boyle’s book may be just the push I need to take a more organised approach to enacting change in my own life. She wrote this book as a personal guide for herself in her journaling practice, and I think I will incorporate it into my life in the same way. Boyle describes her methods in easy-to-understand language. She states that we have chosen some of our beads ourselves, but others have chosen us. I would like to identify the ones that have chosen me, examine them closely and decide if they are beads that I wish to keep or discard.
I’ve only read to the end of Chapter One so far but I am already hooked on this book and excited to see what the next chapters bring. I highly recommend this book to anyone who journals regularly, it looks like it will be a fantastic tool in further developing my self-awareness in the weeks and months to come.
Aleye's Book can be purchased from Amazon
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