-
Initiative Vs. Guilt
I often initiated play with my younger brother. An event occurred when we were playing with sticks, we were pretending they were swords. I hit my brother on the hand resulting in a small cut. My dad had a tendency to jump to conclusions. He assumed I intentionally hurt my brother and reacted in a way that made me feel guilty. I was punished and was no longer allowed to play outside. Because of that event I went on to feel as though imaginary play was a bad thing. -
Identity Vs. Role Confusion
In my teens I found myself more interested in stereotypically more masculine career choices. E.g. piloting and aviation mechanics, I was taking classes to learn about this and was the only female. It caused a great deal of confusion in my self identity as I was not praised by my classmates or teachers but instead I was talked down to and treated like I was lesser due to my gender. I felt a lot of social pressure to do something more feminine but ultimately gave up on that. -
Intimacy Vs. Isolation
At the age of 22 I got married to my longterm partner. We made this decision because we felt it was the best next step in our relationship. We believed that we were ready to commit to one another unconditionally instead of continuing to live separate, independent lives.