The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Sometimes the stories from our past resonate today, informing us of our attributes, achievements, limitations and maybe our losses. We may challenge those voices, listen to them or reframe them. Approaching career end, those voices may affirm or undermine our sense of self. Reflecting on the life that has been and the life that is to come can bring fresh insights. An occupation ‘fixes’ the self, but reflecting on the journey of my working life, it clearly shows transitions, transpositions, and transfers. Using bricolage as a metaphor, this chapter revisits a working life; the accumulation of experience, wisdom, and expertise, deciding what can be revisited, repurposed, recycled and restored. Some ‘selves’ seem remote but reachable, removed but retrievable, others can be ‘let go’ having had their time, receding from view like a place once visited. Looking forward requires intentionality and purpose, determining which resources will be useful on the journey ahead. It may be revitalising old skills as well as reaching out for new ones. It is about exploring what is ‘to the side’ as well as what is ‘in front’. Revisiting the toolbox that enabled this journey may lead to the prerequisites for a completely different path.