The former first lady, Michelle Obama, published the book, Becoming on November 13, 2018. While many people think she’s exceptional based on her memoir, the psychologist, Ruthellen Josselson, said that Obama is simply the reflection of every single woman in the world.
There is no doubt that Obama built quite an empire on her own even before she became the first lady of America. In a span of eight years, she filled the White House with her elegance and nobleness. Many people look her up, and she serves as an inspiration to her fellow women who want to be as successful as she is.
Josselson studied the life paths of women for forty-five years, and she thinks that Obama’s journey is very similar to most women’s life cycles across the globe. Despite living an exemplary life, what she went through is just very common in every woman’s life.
Identity
In her book, she illustrated her life chapters as the titles Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More, and Josselson described it parallel to the psychological phases in the lives of women. Becoming Me, for instance, signifies identity.
Unlike other famous personalities, Obama wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She grew up in an average household and later accomplished numerous remarkable achievements. After all the time she spent in law school, she suddenly realized that she doesn’t have any passion for the career that she took.
She began questioning her life purpose and found the answer through noble, non-profitable works. The identity crisis Obama underwent as described in the chapter Becoming Me happens to every woman at that phase. Around their early 30s, they begin to reevaluate themselves and look back at the choices that they have made.
Intimacy
While in the chapter, Becoming Us mirrors the phase intimacy. After women have met their true selves, they will be filled with overflowing energy of love in all kinds. And because of the relationships that they build along the way, they begin to set aside their personal needs above their duties as a wife.
Obama perfectly illustrated that woman’s stage of life when she put her husband’s political objectives above her personal ambitions. Intimacy transforms her into someone that she didn’t plan to become. Some women’s experiences might not be as impactful as Obama’s, but it follows the same pattern.
Becoming More – Care
And for the final chapter Becoming More, it reflects the stage of life, care. During this phase, a woman doesn’t necessarily have to become a mother.
Obama’s role in the White House where she focused on improving the health care system for children and setting a very good example to her fellow women, reflects the common path that every woman would go through.
FB: Have you read Michelle Obama’s book, and what do you think about it?