Groundswell Winter 2014 Winter 2014 | Page 12

IDENTITY DEPARTUREGATE Self-portrait by Chris Allsop Living abroad can have a lasting impact on who we are. Despite decades spent living in England, writer Chris Allsop finds his American side is never far behind. Identity is a strange, malleable, paradoxical thing composed of many parts. It’s something that we seek out but always have with us, which we defend at all costs and readily discard. It’s also catching. At the age of eight, my family relocated from California to Br