DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

of my building, heated through by intellectual pride, chauffeur-driven cars and over
charged clients.” (p.11)
She says how when she left the job, she sees exactly how much her corporate self
relied on the structured routines and accolades of the job. She describes how the shift
was towards a less structured, more fluid form of identity:
“I can’t say that I have replaced that identity – the identity of the corporate finance
lawyer – with something else. I don’t think that’s the point. The point of the second
month was learning to live without an identity, in such a definite way.” (p.9)
New Life Role: Passion in Action
After separation from a career-focused life, and after exploration of new
alternatives, these four women do not swing the work/home pendulum in the opposite
direction and look for the family life they never had. The change for these four is not
from work to home, but from a career motivated by “should”, “ought” and by striving
for visible achievement and money, to a career that is motivated by really “wanting”
to do it, that is more flexible, and leaves more time for intimate connections with
friends and family. All four have latent passions from earlier years that surface once
again and are expressed through a new form of vocation.
After finishing the Masters degree, Mary moved out of London, which she
realised she hated, and moved close to the sea. She started lecturing in business and
philosophy and gradually built a new life structure that is based on her passion. She
takes a role with an organisation that investigates the interaction of science,
philosophy and spirituality.
Lynne finds a new life balance in which career dominates less and friends and
relationships get more time and space. She takes up poetry and joins a poetry club.
The material goals of a career cede to a desire for genuine and authentic relationships.
There is a new life structure, based on a flexible freelance career, so that her new self
can be more “connected” to the parts of her that previously didn’t get nurtured. She
says:
“I’m in a different position now because I have made real attempts to nurture
friendships that are good for me and good for them – good quality friendships. I
don’t think I was very good at that before. I think that was part of the issue – I would
drown myself in work – work was my life.” (p.8)
Angela develops a new life structure after her separation from her corporate
job that for the first time is something she wants to do – become an art teacher. This
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