[3] Who we are

How do we build a better world?

Is there a single role for each of us, or do we make multiple impacts ~ each special in its own power?

Looking at Deepa Iyer's Social Change Ecosystem Map, I would be a caregiver, a healer, a visionary, and a storyteller. Perhaps a guide and a weaver, too.

What about you? Experimenter? Disrupter? Builder? Firstline responder?

The world needs us all ♥

A word of wisdom

Oh, but the multitude of echoing voices and the magnitude of sameness are twisting our (self)perception, dimming our lights.

With the "collapse of context" and the "acceptance that truth no longer matters", as James O'Sullivan notes about the socials, "we are drowning in this nothingness."

Can we emerge back to the surface? Back to ourselves? Do something for real ~ not just obey the rules, play for expectations, surrender to comparisons, tiptoe around vanishing cycles?

Let's take a minute here to slow down. Catch our breath. Think about what brings us joy, what moves us forward.

We should "become aware of the full spectrum of who we are," Rick Rubin suggests. “The self is a prism, refracting life’s light into different shades of art."

Our nature is multifaceted, our careers multipassionate. We can be anything and everything, all at once. And that's good. We get to know a lot of things, own a lot of skills, share a lot of experiences, live a lot of lives...

"There is no immutably true self," Alexander Douglas would add. "Instead, our identity is as dynamic and alive as a butterfly in flight."

The future awaits. We look ahead and fly into the unknown. Whatever happens, we will be ourselves. We are who we are. We are ready.

A sense of play

Clear your senses and sharpen your pencils. We're about to play a 9-word game:

• Choose 9 random words
• Use them to describe who you are
• The more variable the words, the better

Level pro? Try with 6 words. 

Master? Use 3 words only. 

Want to spice things up? Don't stop at describing yourself ~ try telling a story. It can be a thematic little essay; your day/week in a sentence; a lifetime in three words; a single universal truth; a poem; a haiku; a love letter; a slogan; [no limits].

This is a fine exercise in changing perspectives and getting down to the very essence of things, It's super hard, yet ultra fun. Keep going 💪

A thing of beauty

We are a collage of our dreams, fears, memories, experiences, ideas, inspirations, insecurities, loves, hopes, decisions..

No need to hide anything. We should be wearing our crowns as both humble and proud. That's what Marryam Moma is doing with her collage art.

"In Moma’s hands, collage becomes an act of reclamation—not only of image, but of narrative, space, and self." – Collé

At the core of her practice ~ as she notes for Collé ~ Marryam is looking to empower the Black body.

"I aim to unveil the magic that breaks collective contemporary stereotypes and allows society to rediscover us as powerful, complex, beautiful, revered, and valuable beings." – Marryam Moma

Powerful. Complex. Beautiful.

We are all drifters and shape-shifters.

Depending on the mood, environment, expectation, habit, people, knowledge, culture... we adapt.

Does this mean that we don't know our true self? The one & only self? The real, authentic self? I think we do, but the self is versatile.

We are one and many, same and different, real and ideal, simple and complex, hidden and obvious, partial and whole.

We are all made of stories.

We are all human. And most of all... most of all... We are all equal ♥️