Faith, Justice and Formation 

The Relationship Between Identity and Wellbeing

In follow up to my earlier articles this term regarding what Identity is all about, I write today about the inextricable connection between Identity and Wellbeing at this College and everywhere else.  One really cannot exist without the other, but often the lines become blurred, and our human nature can lead us to thinking that the core of Identity is about ourselves.  Despite what the name might suggest, the area of Identity (or Mission) is really about the other, and how by understanding who we are we can make lives better for all. We all know that the Mission of the Church is to make Christ known to others.

Wellbeing looks to ensure the care and development of the whole person in a pastoral manner.  Our College’s Wellbeing Framework looks at the five core dimensions, being Spiritual, Academic, Emotional, Social and Physical, all of which could incorporate elements of our Identity: serving as a foundation in our Catholic context.

I want to stress that everything crosses over both areas at the College but sometimes we need to be reminded that our Identity (Catholic Tradition) calls us to go beyond.  As a college, we put a lot of emphasis on wellbeing, and rightly so.  We look at mental health, care for our students in lockdown, matters around gender equality, self-esteem, goal setting, problem solving, getting out of our comfort zone, challenging ourselves, learning life skills and the like.  We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t tackle these issues.

However, the realm of Identity is to go beyond.  While many issues like gender equality cross both areas, Identity in the field of Justice calls us to look at the big picture, like climate change, homelessness, the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum in our world, the position of and respect we have, for First Nations people and more.  It is to be outward looking.  Nevertheless, you can’t look outwards until you have looked inwards (which comes with liturgical practice and Formation, as well as our Wellbeing programs and initiatives), and then once you look outwards you can see better and succeed internally.  Thus, both must go hand in hand.

This is difficult to talk about on ‘paper’, but something I have observed for a while. Often when people are asked to look at Identity at the College, they name mental health and issues related to themselves.  Without one bit of criticism, it speaks a lot to who we are as a society.  Everything is important and all areas need to be covered. I simply raise this to help us remind ourselves to look outwards; to see beyond and to know that some matters are more connected to Wellbeing and others to Identity.  Ultimately one does not exclude the other, but each has their own zone.

Gillian Daley

Director of Identity