Opting for Elsewhere by Brian Hoey

Author:Brian Hoey [Hoey, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780826520050
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Published: 2014-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Potential Self

The conditions of time in the new capitalism have created a conflict between character and experience, [and] the experience of disjointed time is threatening the ability of people to form their characters into sustained narratives. . . . The dilemma of how to organize a life narrative is partly clarified by probing how, in today’s capitalism, people cope with the future.

—Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character*

Although relocation offers opportunities for new beginnings, we have also seen how dramatic changes in one’s life can be a source of insecurity, uncertainty, and even fear. Regardless of the underlying reasons or circumstances, even in the best of all possible worlds relocations can be stressful on relationships and challenge personal identity. For lifestyle migrants, life in other places may offer an alternative to individuals and families seeking to break from a given model of success. The potential self serves as a means for many to negotiate the harsh reality of everyday balancing between work and family obligations and economic challenges. Lifestyle migrants speak of sacrifices in their allocation of time to family, community, and self made possible by holding on to the promise of an imagined self. Lifestyle migrants are both willing and able to act on a lifestyle commitment rather than adapt to existing conditions through the imaginary of potential selves.

Here Alan describes his own fears of leaving the corporate world for a life on his own. Despite the challenges of that world, it had become a ready form of identity, provided in part through a great deal of routine. What would it mean to let go of that? “When I moved up here, we moved into the river cabin. It was only nine hundred square feet. We came from two thousand square feet, so it was a squish. We lived in there for about a year. I think what kept us there was my hesitancy to make any more moves until such time that I knew that we can make it work.” I wanted to make sure I understood what Alan meant by the fear he said that he felt during that transitional period. I asked him to clarify.

Financial fear. Just to make sure I could cover our costs. I was planning on staying in Northern Michigan, but I wasn’t sure about taking that financial plunge. During that time did I start thinking about looking at another job? Yeah. Going back to the [corporate] world I was in. A regression back to where I was at. I never shared that with Beth, but I was thinking that this is not my comfort zone. No W-2 income. You know, it was not my comfort zone. There was a two-year transition. I came here deliberately, but it doesn’t mean that you’re comfortable when you get here—you have fear.

As with other lifestyle migrants, Alan can look back on and reflect on this period of transition from one world to another. He sees this time in a different light and, in retrospect, understands what he was feeling.

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