One-Page View
Identity Layers Map
Seeing the whole map, so 'I can no longer do X' stops quietly becoming 'I am no longer anyone'.
A keep-close version. Read it here, or screenshot this page to have it on your phone — print and PDF copies will appear once final files are attached.
Identity is layers, not a single block — and illness typically strips the top ones (doing, roles) while the deeper ones stay intact but harder to see. This maps all four bands honestly: what was lost, what moved, what was never touched.
Doing — the things you did
Named specifically. Vague loss is heavy; named loss can be carried.
What illness took from the 'doing' layer
e.g. Full-time work; the garden; hosting everyone at Christmas
Roles — the parts you held
The roles that changed shape
e.g. The reliable friend; the capable one; the one who always drove
Values — what was underneath the roles
The values didn't live in the tasks. Choose the ones that were yours.
Core self — what was yours before any of the roles
Preferences, humour, ways of seeing. These were never located in the doing.
What stays, at any size
e.g. My terrible puns; the way I notice small things; my love of a good map
One value, at a survivable scale
The value is not diminished by the scale — a candle is still fire.
My smaller form
e.g. Care: short voice notes instead of elaborate help — the same value, at a size my body can afford
'I can no longer work full-time' is true. 'Therefore I am no longer anyone' does not follow — it only feels like it does when the top layers were the only ones getting named.