Self-Labels Can Empower, but Also Trap Us
Blog Series-Beyond the label, Who Am I
Labels are interesting.
They can make us feel strong, understood, validated
and they can also make us feel small, stuck, and boxed in.
Both things can be true at the same time.
When Labels Empower Us
Self-labels often begin in moments where we’re trying to make sense of our story.
When life has been confusing, painful, or overwhelming, a label can feel like clarity.
Saying “I am a survivor” can be a victory.
Saying “I am chronically ill” can be a request for compassion.
Saying “I am a mum / caregiver / healer” can bring purpose and belonging.
A self-label can empower because it:
✨ Gives language to what we’ve experienced
✨ Helps others understand us
✨ Connects us with people who relate
✨ Validates what we’ve survived
Sometimes finally naming what we’ve lived through is the first step toward healing.
There is power in saying: “This happened to me and I’m still here.”
But as empowering as they are
labels can also quietly turn into limits.
When Labels Start to Trap Us
A label becomes a trap when it stops explaining our life and starts defining our whole identity.
“I am a survivor” becomes the whole story
“I am chronically ill” becomes who I am instead of something I manage
“I am the strong one” becomes an identity I’m not allowed to step out of
“I am the mum” becomes the role that swallows the woman beneath
We can get stuck in the belief that:
We are only our trauma
We are only our illness
We are only what we do for others
We are only the person the world expects us to be
Sometimes the label becomes a mask we hide behind because it feels safe even if it slowly suffocates us.
This often shows up as: • Feeling disconnected from joy or play
Being afraid to dream beyond survival
Believing softness or vulnerability is “not who we are”
Feeling guilty for wanting more than the identity pain gave us
The label helped us survive but survival is not who we are.
The Shift: Keeping the Truth, but Making Space for the Rest
We don’t have to throw away the labels.
We don’t have to pretend our story didn’t shape us.
We don’t have to erase what we worked so hard to overcome.
This isn’t about removing identity.
It’s about expanding identity.
The magic happens when we realise: I am a survivor
AND I am more.
I am chronically ill AND I am more.
I am a mother AND I am more.
Healing isn’t just recovering from what happened.
Healing is rediscovering the person underneath the person who existed before the labels and underneath them.
So we ask bigger questions
Who am I when I’m not in survival mode?
Who am I when I don’t have to be the strong one?
Who am I when I allow myself to be more than the labels?
The answers don’t arrive overnight.
They’re revealed slowly through curiosity, softness, and self-permission.
We are not abandoning the labels.
We are simply refusing to let them be the whole story.
Reflection Questions
Which labels make you feel seen and strong?
Which labels make you feel small, stuck, or boxed in?
Where might you be ready to expand without erasing any part of your story?
Mantra
The labels helped me survive.
They don’t have to define the rest of my life.