NEST submission

I submitted a piece for NEST magazine, based around the theme of 'focus'. 

'absorbed in it all is based off of the focus of body image in todays society. focusing on the way our image and how we choose to scrutinise or adjust it, consumes us and obtains our focus regularly.'

Self Branding

Following on from the task in which people i'd only known for a month wrote down a list of words to describe my identity, i created my own list. My list of character traits, both positive and not so positive in order to gain an understanding of what identity i have, how i could portray that, and what aspects of my self i wish to present to the world.

i am (at this point in my life) 

• messy 
• give off mardy vibes 
• easily distracted 
• a fan of lattes, small dogs and brie  
• bad at sticking to plans 
• a drummer 
• a fan of drawing with a lot of lines 
• sarcastic 
• clumsy 
• easily distracted (it appears i put that twice...maybe not perceptive should also be on the list)

Planning My Time

Creating a weekly timetable of my day to day activities and following it for a week has proved successful in bringing more structure in to not only my college life, but everyday life, and in doing so has reduced my stress levels as i'm beginning to be more strict on when i do work; ensuring it's not left to the last minute. 

Spread out during my free time in the week, i was able to create a list of 10 things i want out of life. 

• join a band 
• hold own exhibition 
• work within the media 
• buy own apartment within a city with a lot of space 
• live in Berlin for a bit 
• live in France for a bit 
• get a tattoo 
• change my hair 
• learn a new instrument
• visit Italy 

Although some of these 'wants' may seem a little trivial, they focused my mind on my goals, both big and small, and put in to reality how one day i could achieve them all...if i plan out and use my time wisely.  

Stress

Today's session started off by writing down some rather personal truths about our stresses and how we cope, or in some cases, don't cope with them. 

What scares you? 

. failure 

What stresses you out? 

. letting my work pile up 

What do you do to de-stress?

. drink coffee and sleep (not a winning; or successful combination) 

What negative thought have you had today? 

. i'm never going to get all my blogging done in time 

Once everyone's responses were collected (anonymously) i found that i could relate to most if not all of everyone's answers, with seeping being a very common de-stressing method, and the doubts and anxieties i have about not being good enough for the course, or not creating work innovative enough for the quality around me, being concerns that almost everyone was experiencing, which was comforting in the way that it made me realize that i'm not the only one feeling this way.

what scares you?

I then made a list of other peoples stresses and solutions which i could relate to, and then created a little haiku, which again showed me how likely it is that whatever stress i'm feeling, someone else is experiencing it too.

We were then set a small task in groups to come up with a concept, be it a website, a device, anything really that we believed could be used to share the stresses that we're feeling to show people that they're not alone and try and find some solutions.

One of my groups ideas was an app which acts as an alarm, and the only way to turn off the alarm is to take a picture of the sky. So that when you wake up in the morning, rather than checking Facebook or your emails, you look at the natural enviroment surrounding you.

This app can be suitable for any ages and genders, we believe that it would be effective in the way that it would slow down, if only for a minute, everyone's chaotic lives and give them a chance to appreciate the world before they log back in to the digital one. 

Identity

Asking 5 people you've known for less than a month to describe your identity is strange. I felt awkward, although i'm not sure why. The realization that i was going to see how people perceive me; and how i present myself for the first time is quite daunting i suppose. 
Below are the descriptions i received...

I do tap on the table when i'm bored, i was covered in bruises having fallen over several times that week, and i had just finished a falafel wrap; so i suppose my description was pretty accurate. 

Although these descriptions were quit limited, at least the perception from strangers was positive. This task was revealing and reassuring, however describing other people was slightly more difficult. 

When it came to giving a description of the identities of the five people around me, i resulted in listing traits that are quite cliche, such as 'friendly' and 'good listener'. Although they're positive, they're boring, and not individual or representative of anyone's actual personalities and identities, but i just felt awkward trying to describe someones identity, when i don't really know them at all.

This task has got me thinking though, about what aspects of my identity i want to communicate to people, and how to go about doing it...