Everybody gets labelled. Some labels sound nice, some sound ugly, and others just sound like a matter of fact.
"He's smart."
"She's pretty."
"You're aggressive."
"They're crazy."
These labels can come from parents, teachers, professors, friends, bosses, customers or every strangers. They can fill us with pride or shame. But no matter what the label is, there is always a danger lurking in it.
Labels can limit us if we believe them.
This is more obvious with the negative-sounding labels. If someone starts to believe that they are, in fact, crazy because someone labelled them that, they will be less likely to share their ideas and creations. Even if they devise something amazing in their minds, those labelled "crazy" are more likely to keep their unique thoughts inside because they will buy into their label.
But even positive labels can limit us. Society has become much more open-minded about what a woman can be or do over the last fifty years, but we can still find cases where complementing a woman as "pretty" all the time can make her feel like her entire self worth comes from her appearance. A scientific mind or a enterprising spirit could be lost because a girl is instilled with a little too much confidence in her appearance and not enough confidence in her mind.
For me, I have encountered both of these types of labels.
On the positive side, I have been told by co-workers, friends and readers that I am a good sports writer. Sounds innocent enough. After all, I did work at the Harrisburg Patriot-News for seventeen years as a sports writer. Nothing dangerous there, right?
Actually, it kept me from creating stories beyond the sports world. While I am happy that The Pride of Central worked as a baseball story (as well as an allegory), I could have been creating other story lines in my mind. Instead, I accepted the label: sportswriter. True, but limiting. I found myself unwilling to delve into other types of stories.
On the negative side, I have been told that I am not a good writer, or not even a writer at all. Sometimes, these labels came from readers who did not like that I did not put their daughter on the local all-star golf team. Those did not bother me. But what did bother me was when I had teachers or professors label me that way.
For over twenty years, I've accepted that label. Yes, I've worked as a journalist. Yes, I've published a book. But the label sat there through it all. I never believed in myself as a writer because of what was said to me in my youth.
In my next writing venture, I want all of that to change, in both areas. When I finish The Jewelry of Grace, I want to have written a story that does not hinge on the season of a team or an athlete. But I also want to be able to look at the new story and say that I am the writer that God made me to be.
Ignore the labels. Be who God made you to be, too.
Next week: When the season is over