So many labels: Paleo, Keto, Empath, Democratic, Republican, Optimist, Nerd. On and on.

Why do we feel the need to label ourselves, to place ourselves into groups/tribes? Sometimes it might be that we’ve found a group of people who are like us, who understand us, and we feel like we’re home with a family, our own tribe. I understand that. It serves a purpose and in times of life transitions, in particular, they can be comforting, almost life saving. They serve a purpose, but they’re sticky.

Perhaps over time, one might outgrow the tribe. People change: what you believe today might not be what you believe in five years. Maybe the tribe is getting a little full of itself, self-righteous, or you’ve received what you needed from the tribe and want to move on. It can be difficult to extradite yourself.

I’m not a psychologist, just interested. I would love to hear your story. Do you label yourself? Why? Would you like to remove the labels you’ve placed on yourself? Or perhaps labels are where you feel understood and safe. Again, just curious.