I find it hilarious that in the age of the wireless-internet-based-paperfree-cloud, the ancient ritual of business card swapping remains strong in most industries. It’s weird, right? And if it’s not the business card exchange, it’s that initial conversation about “what you do” or “who you work for”. It occurred to me that in the moment of information exchange, I’m not just sharing my employment or contact details, but I’m presenting my name, title, position, my influence and a chance for you to judge me based on that.
“What would the world look like if our choices made us better people, not richer or more influential?”
The past 12 months (or so) have been a journey* of learning for me. Or should I say RE-learning? Y’know those times when you think you’ve got a life-lesson down pat, but you get thrust into a position of learning once more.
In the past I’ve found myself in leadership roles that literally defined the way people saw me. When that role changed, so did many relationships, and admittedly I was left with the challenge of shaking the meaning I had placed on that identity.
I went from full-time to part-time, manager to co-ordinator, from a team of hundreds to a team of about six. Some people thought I was crazy.
Then, just when I thought that lesson was over, there it was again. My short part-time contract ended and I was faced with the potential of being ‘just a casual’ for a while. No full-time pay check, no business card, no paid leave, no influence, no team to manage, just casual shifts. Was that hard? Totally! Was it good? Actually, yes!
Did my change in job title effect a change in who I am? No. I discovered that my mini identity crisis I’d experienced earlier had equipped me to cope with the change again.
I learned that despite the (reoccurring) change in my circumstance, I was still Jessica Bigg, Darren’s wife, Lachie, Tommy & Charlotte’s awesomeAunty, Joe & Joy’s daughter, Emma & Caleb’s sister, singer, chocolate eater, and try-hard-blogger.
How my business card reads doesn’t affect the way I care about other people, how I prioritise my family or what I believe in. It doesn’t change WHO I AM.
The corporate-ladder-climbing culture needs to be addressed as we ask ourselves what matters most. At the end of the day, our jobs are temporary anyway – like so many other things we look to for self-gratification/fulfilment/definition.
I don’t believe this life is about building your status. It’s about the way you serve, love, support, and treat other people regardless of your or their job titles.
So, how do you define yourself? Is it your job title? Stamps in your passport? The car your drive? Your house/mortgage? Your wardrobe? Maybe it’s your relationship status?
I am not alive to impress you.
I am alive to be the best me I can be.
– – – – – – – – – – – –
*I’m SO over the word ‘journey’. I’m open to suggestions for a decent replacement.
jessicabigg 
This is so true.
Check out The Gift of God by Rowan Williams on utube may lead from a journey to that what is within
Good one Jess.
Last Jan I helped some friends out who were needing money by organising to do yellow pages deliveries with them. It was so interesting to be an “unskilled worker” and have people treat you as such. People tended to see the high vis vest and make a stack of assumptions about us – you could tell just by the way they looked and interacted/ignored us. I was a little surprised by my urge to call out “by the way, I also have a uni degree”. A great experience – I highly recommend doing a manual labour job every so often to keep grounded that what we do is not who we are AND that this applies to other people too. So give the garbo a big smile and wave next time you see them.
Love the reminder Jess. So true. i hate that small talk question of ‘So what do you do for work?’. Finishing my midwifery degree means that every one asks me where i am working next year and whether i got a graduate job. I haven’t. But it is not because i suck and didn’t get one (lots of people didn’t) but its because i didn’t apply cause i believe God has other plans for me. But in our secular culture and our professional worlds it is uncool to respond to them with ‘I don’t know- God has revealed that to me yet!’. How we pay the bills does not define us. Doing what we love and glorifying God as we do delights our Father and thats who we should be trying to impress 🙂
Reblogged this on Courage thru adversity and commented:
A bit off topic…but I wanted to share this blog entry by a friend Jess. I took comfort in Jess’s words especially when strugfling with my professional identity and the implications of hitting the pause button on my career while focussing on our ivf journey.
I hope you find a little pearl of wisdom out of this too. Xz