Identity crises are caused when we are told that we must act a certain way or believe certain things. Conform or be cast out of the community. What happens when the cognitive dissonance is just too great to pretend anymore? We either get asked to leave, or we walk away.

This is the beginning of a death. A death of what we tried to embrace. A death of the relationships. A death of the dreams we had while still in that community. But this death is needed if we are to remember who we really are.

After death comes (re)birth. A (re)birth of wonder, curiosity, and fearlessness. The worst of it has passed, and joy and peace are to be found in the unknown, the places yet to be explored.

We were always meant to die before we could truly live. This is the mystery of the ages. That through one man death entered the world and through one man life was offered freely to all. For how could we know what is Life without first walking through the valley of death?