What’s this all about, anyway?
I’ve found that one of the hardest parts of leaving my religion and political orientation behind has been finding solid ground for my identity. Identity is more than just a label, it’s my basis for interacting with the world. Identity is the key to my beliefs and my perspective and my decision-making and my social interactions.
As I’ve come out of my old identity, it has been hard to know where to plant my feet. I’ve heard some describe that as a loss of certainty, but I know that I have FELT more certain and more confident in my path to self-leadership than I ever felt before, even though the steps are much less clear. “Uncertainty” does not match the emotional truth of my journey—far from it.
I have looked to other people and groups who have taken identity-based journeys. They are inspiring—I have often wished there was a gay bar for ex-evangelicals. But… my identity doesn’t put me in a specific group. My journey has led me out of the church and out of the Republican party, but I am so much more than an exvangelical. And I’m not even sure I’d consider myself a Democrat. Where’s the place for us to find our footing when all of us end up somewhere different? Is there a bar out there for people coming out as… human beings?
I have things in common with people who have landed in very different places than I have. People still in the evangelical church. People in religions I know nothing about. People across the political spectrum. As I have listened to their stories and thought about my own, I have noticed that what we have in common isn’t where we land or even the path we follow to get there, but how we navigate.
We are all following things that feel true to us from the depth of our being. We all feel like we suddenly see a disconnect between our place in the world and the sacred longings of our hearts. The more we follow those longings, the more certain we feel that we are on the right path.
I have traded in almost every important aspect of my life to follow those longings, and I know many others who have as well. Off the Map publishes stories of people who have followed those sacred longings as well as reflections on what those longings are and how to uncover them.
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