Why Do We Keep Putting Ourselves in Boxes?

When I was around Grade 7 or 8, there was an art competition connected to Rememberance Day.

I liked drawing, so I entered.

That was pretty normal for me. I was never particularly afraid to enter something, try something, or put my hand up. If something sounded interesting, why not?

What I didn't expect was how far my drawing would go in the competition. I don't remember the exact placing anymore — this was a few years ago, after all — but I remember the feeling.

Oh. Maybe I actually have talent.

It was one of the first times I consciously recognized art as something I might genuinely be good at.

But here's what's interesting when I look back at that girl now:

I didn't suddenly decide, I'm an artist, therefore this is who I am.

I just kept living.

I loved art. I loved music. I was in a band, and we even recorded a song that played on a French radio station in Ontario — a pretty big deal to us at the time.

But I also loved sports. I needed to move my body then, and I still do. I could spend time with the athletes and then move just as naturally into the group of artists and musicians.

And somewhere in there, I was also being asked to take on responsibility. By Grade 9, I was treasurer. I joined committees. I got involved.

When I graduated, I received recognition in both art and sports.

I never thought there was anything unusual about any of this.

I was just having fun.

Why do we think we have to choose?

We love putting people into categories.

He's a jock.

She's an artist.

She's the businesswoman.

He's the musician.

She's the leader.

Even the movies we grow up watching reinforce it. The athletes sit at one table. The artists are somewhere else. The musicians have their group. And somehow we're supposed to decide which table belongs to us.

But what if you want to sit at all of them?

What if the qualities that make you you were never supposed to be confined to one part of your life?

I've realized that my creativity doesn't belong only on a canvas.

My leadership doesn't belong only in a boardroom or on a committee.

My ability to connect with different kinds of people doesn't belong to one community.

The same qualities travel with me.

They show up differently depending on where I am and what I'm creating, but they're still mine.

And maybe that's the distinction I've come to understand:

What you do is not the same thing as who you are.

The box can become the limitation

There is value in focus. Absolutely.

When we want to build something meaningful, focus matters. Commitment matters. Giving something our attention long enough to become good at it matters.

But focus doesn't require us to reduce our identity to one thing.

That's where I think we sometimes get confused.

We discover something we're good at, and instead of allowing it to open a door, we build a box around ourselves with it.

I'm an artist, so I'm not a businessperson.

I'm an athlete, so I'm not creative.

I'm an entrepreneur, so this is what my life is supposed to look like.

Why?

Discovering that I had artistic talent opened a door for me. It didn't mean I needed to close all the other doors behind me.

Maybe freedom has always been the thread

When I look back now, I can see something that younger version of me probably couldn't have explained.

Freedom mattered to me even then.

I wanted the freedom to create.

The freedom to move my body.

The freedom to spend time with different kinds of people.

The freedom to take responsibility and lead.

The freedom to try something simply because it sounded interesting.

And community mattered too. It still does.

Maybe that's part of why I can move between different worlds today. Art. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. Community. Life.

They don't feel disconnected to me.

They're different expressions of the same person.

I've been given certain strengths, qualities, curiosities and abilities. Why would I use them in only one place?

So maybe the question isn't:

Which box do I belong in?

Maybe it's:

Who am I — and how many beautiful ways can I allow that person to show up?

I'm still finding out.

And I hope I always am.