WIthout Job

 “So, what do you do?” It’s often the first question we ask when meeting someone new. A polite icebreaker, yes—but also a loaded one. It assumes our worth can be summed up in a job title. That our identity is best explained by how we earn a paycheck. And for many of us, that’s exactly how we see ourselves too. But here's the hard truth: if your entire identity is wrapped up in your job, who are you when it’s gone? When you retire, get laid off, take a break, or the world shifts beneath your feet—what’s left? Let’s talk about the uncomfortable space most people avoid: who you are beyond your work. The Illusion of Identity Modern society subtly (and not so subtly) trains us to conflate our job with our self-worth. From a young age, we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up—not who we want to become. The phrasing isn’t innocent. It plants a seed that what we do is who we are. You become "a doctor," "a teacher," "a software engineer." And it feels goo...