My suggestion would be a dynamic identity.
Instead of becoming rigid through attempting to find an
identity, the identity remains light and changeable. It is no longer sought after, instead being
dynamically present.
The search for one's own identity contains within it one of the big questions: „Who am
I?"
This simple yet massive question. I suggest leaving it unanswered. „What do you do?"
is, after all, the more cautious question, despite the fact that this one often gets answered
incorrectly since, within capitalism, our identity is considered equal to that which makes us money.
From this, the question often arises: Am I my job? Or is my identity separate from my job? This question
is to be answered depending on how much I identify with my job. The artist probably identifies more with
his work, the supermarket cashier probably less (although one can "find their place" there
just the same). Besides work, one's identity is further forged from various elements such as
one's surroundings, family, interests, thinking, activities etc. Over the course of our lifetimes,
our identity becomes clearer. The newborn has no identity in this sense. The old man has a clear
identity. From this supposition, I conclude that lack of identity stands for life, whereas the clearly
defined, rigid identity stands for death. That which moves lives, that which is static is dead. I
suggest staying alive, using identity as a stable surface to be jumped off of. This could be the role of
our identity.
In my work as a teacher, I time and again witness how a rigid identity can prevent people from learning
and from seeing life in its entirety. Rigidity and narrowness of identity retains its focus on a small
fraction of life, thus preventing the acquiring of wisdom. The suggestion is to explore life in its
entirety, thus acquiring wisdom. The way of reaching wisdom through ideologies, dogmas, systems and
methods, may be questioned.
Because of this, I keep my method dynamic. It is methodic, but it is
not a method in and of itself. What we do and what I teach constantly changes. I work methodically, but
no static method arises. This is often difficult, and the line is a fine one. It requires a lot of
contemplation. The procedure with the dynamic method gives me enough solid ground to jump off of and
allows me to vary between landing on solid ground and hovering in the air. Challenging and reflecting
creates the dynamic. The constant is change.
Joseph Bartz
Translation: Oskar Henke
2018