Know Thyself

This exercise is prompted by the question, “Who are you?” Empty your purse, wallet, backpack, or briefcase and place all items on a table. Arrange, organize, and cluster those items that share similar characteristics (e.g. all writing instruments in one pile, all credit cards in one pile, all makeup in one pile). Give each pile its own label or category name, but avoid descriptive nouns such as MAKEUP; use more evocative labels such as GLAMOUR or MASKING MYSELF. Write an analytic memo on yourself that explores the assertion, “our identities are supported and altered by various forms of identification” (Prior, 2004, p. 88). Also address the higher-order analytic question: What do all the piles (categories) have in common? What is the Pattern Code?