Engagement and wedding planning can bring tremendous anxiety because it signals that we’re becoming someone new. A new version of ourselves. With a new title, a new last name (potentially), a new role, and a new place in society. This shift in identity, even if exciting, can also bring uncertainty and a sense of loss.
As my own wedding day drew nearer and nearer, I began to feel incredible anxiety when I thought about becoming a “wife.” In my mind, the traditional archetype of this role felt out of sync with the identity that I had carefully constructed for myself over my thirty-three years of singledom, which was that of an independent, self-sufficient, modern woman. I had a hard time integrating what I thought in my mind was the role of a “wife” into my idea of who I am and who I wanted to be.
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