Ecology of the Self: The Shifting Landscape of Identity
How migration and intercultural existence reshape the self-concept within different environments
I am a serial immigrant. I moved from my birthplace in northern China to western Canada at the age of 6, then relocated to Quebec for university at 18, returned to China for a year, and have now been living in Germany for nearly 10 years. This is the short version of the story that I try to say quickly when I’m asked the question* at parties.
* the question, that shall be named just this once, henceforth known simply as the question: “Where are you from?”**
** the other question, even less worthy to be named: “Where are you really from?”
A few weeks ago, I channeled the image of the Self as an ecosystem whose complex being-environment balance had to be maintained for internal wellness. The image was so clear that it led me to google “Ecology of the Self” to see if others had had this idea as well. It seems like I tapped into a resonance field with this idea. The first hit returned was a journal article entitled:
Restructuring the ecology of the self: a framework for self-concept change by Stefan E. Hormuth.
This paper was right on. Though published in 1991, it validated many of the concurrent frameworks and still-forming ideas I’ve been swimming through about the shifting form and nature of the self, especially as a result of migration and intercultural existence.
“The self-concept exists in interdependence with its ecology of others, objects, and environments. As long as the ecology of the self is stable, the self-concept will be stable and drive toward maintenance. Self-concept change, on the other hand, results from an imbalance in the ecology of the self that leads toward restabilization under different ecological conditions, a restructuring of the ecology of the self.” - Stefan E. Hormuth
Each migration I’ve made has come with costs and opportunities. With each crossing, I have left parts of myself behind - some lifelines forever abandoned, others suspended - inspirations frozen mid-breath - and a few rivulets still steadily, hopefully, beating on despite only occasional nourishing.
With each new landing, the Self that has just departed the shores of the old life now breaks upon new banks. It is lighter for what it has left behind, but also less stable, less grounded, and less certain of itself and what it is to become. This new tender Self is soft, thin-skinned, and vulnerable. It is reborn in another world, where foods, stories, songs, and rules are different. Now it must take a step forward and discover what place it will have in this new ecosystem, and what it will be.
If you’re an immigrant, third culture kid/adult, inter-ethnic-cultural person, or any other kind of multi-self being, you may find the paper “Restructuring the ecology of the self: a framework for self-concept change” helpful in grasping your own inner complexity.