Abstract

Immigration entails losses and challenges, confronting migrants with the question of who they are in relation to whom and what context, bringing forth feelings of vulnerability. The article discusses how the experience of vulnerability and of “being lost” can lead not only to grief, but also to self-discovery and growth. Building on two life stories of colombian immigrants in Chile, the article presents how the temporary experience of being “known to no-one” can be threatening for identity, as it hinders the possibility of recognition, and accentuates feelings of vulnerability, difference and displacement. However, under some conditions, however, this experience may also result in greater openness to connect with, experience and express self-states that had not been previously developed. Thus, migration could be experienced as an opportunity for self-discovery. The article discusses how this tension between increased vulnerability and self-growth unfolds, based on the experiences of Jaime and Ana, who migrated to Chile from Colombia as young adults. Despite their different migration trajectories (Jaime migrated with his family and Ana migrated by herself, as a personal project) and having gone through situations that thwarted/dashed their expectations, both have found a way to move on from the grief that follows the loss of their known world, and to embrace a newly found diversity within themselves. Their experiences put forth a challenge to the current social mandate, in which vulnerability must be reduced to its minimum expression, and suggest that embracing one’s vulnerability could in fact be the starting point of growth.