IM FINISHED!! :) *I am not posting this in order to brag, or to get praise or approval from all my facebook friends, I’m posting it for two reasons: One, because I’ve gotten requests from participants in the video who wanted to see it, and two, because I hope to make my friends aware of how we sometimes talk to ourselves, and maybe we can start to love and CELEBRATE ourselves a little bit more. * A HUGE thank you to all my participants!!! Here’s an explanation of the project and my experience with it for anyone who is interested! “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” In Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself,” he celebrates his existence and invites others to join him in this celebration of life. I was inspired by his spirit, and by his ability to freely proclaim and appreciate the wonders of life, specifically his own life. This struck me deep. For those of you who know me well, you know that it took me a long time before I could learn how to love myself and appreciate my own unique qualities. I am sometimes very ashamed of my past (I battled an eating disorder), and I do not always celebrate my personal struggles. However, I started to realize that my past, while it does not define me, has shaped me into who I am today. My past has made me a more compassionate person, a fighter, and an encourager, and I need to be proud of that—I need to celebrate it. Because of my struggle to celebrate myself, I am passionate about helping others learn how to love who they are. This was why I decided to go out on a mission to ask others celebrate themselves (yes, it was for school, but it became much more than a simple school project for me). I took a cue from Whitman and invited others to celebrate themselves. I asked friends, family, and complete strangers to think of a personal quality (physical or otherwise) that they wanted to celebrate. I was changed forever by this project. When I first set out to ask strangers to write down something they liked about themselves, I had no idea how much it would affect me. At first, I was nervous. I thought that people might turn me away, or think I was strange or awkward. However, the responses I got were touching. Some people had no problem coming up with something, wrote it down, took a picture, and went on their way. However, most people struggled for a minute to think of something they liked about themselves. This was hard for me to watch. It was sad to see how people can be so hard on themselves, and that we rarely take time to celebrate who we are. In fact, I had a couple people reject the request, saying that they did not want to be conceited. We live in a society that spends so much time feeding us messages about how we need to fix ourselves. Because of this, we have been brainwashed to believe that if we admit the fact that we have good qualities, we are being vain and smug. One response from a young girl will stick with me forever. When I approached her and asked if she would participate, her response was, “well that’s going to be hard because I don’t like anything about myself.” Her answer broke my heart. Choking back tears, I convinced her that she had a certain quality that was beautiful (I’m being vague to protect this person’s identity). I took the picture and we parted ways, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wanted to say so many things, and I wanted a second chance to speak with her. Sure enough, we ran into each other again (I do not believe this was pure coincidence). I built up the courage to break the ice, and we ended up having a long conversation about her past with bullies and a verbally abusive mother. I shared my story with her, and told her what I knew to be true: God only makes beautiful, wonderful, lovely things, and he loves his creation more than we can understand. I told her that there was no one in the world like her, and that I pray that she learns how to love herself and how to celebrate her own individuality. In the end, I had over seventy participants. I do not know what kind of impression I left on all of them, but I can only hope that this project them think twice about how they talk themselves, and about how wonderful their own unique life is. While it was heartbreaking to see people struggle to celebrate themselves, it was equally heartwarming to see what they came up with. Watching it all come together thrilled me. I was overjoyed to see all of these people smiling, loving their distinctive qualities. It was actually kind of hard to stop; I wanted the pictures to keep coming. While some things in Whitman’s “Song of Myself” were ambiguous and a little strange, several things stood out to me. First of all, Whitman said that “all men born are also my brothers…no two alike and every one good. The stars good and the earth good, and all their adjuncts good.” These lines stood out to me as I worked on my project. I thought about how every person I approached was my brother or sister, and about how they all had such good in them. Whitman also said that “a kelson of the creation is love,” meaning that love holds the world together. A kelson is the center structure of a ship that helps it stay steady and held together. Whitman is saying that God is a central part of who he is. Additionally, he feels a sense of unity and fellowship with the rest of creation. Finally, in two small lines Whitman sums up what I am trying to help others realize—that we are all a part of this wonderful, unique, beautiful, and complex creation, and we should celebrate that. Whitman reaches through the pages of my poetry book and gives me a good shake: “in the faces of Men and Women I see God. And in my own face in the glass.” I am forever grateful to Whitman and his “Song of Myself,” to the people who helped me learn how to love myself, and to all the beautiful souls who helped me by participating in this project by celebrating themselves! Thank you all so much!!! Clint Bunch, Belinda Choate Bunch, Sara Bunch, Lauren Bell-Bunch, Crystal Bunch, Monica Nicole Milford, Kimmi Kelley Bunch, Laura J Smith, Stephanie Allen Adams, Hayden Wilson, Angela Wilson, Kaitlin Thaxton, Jenny Lord, Binbin Wu, Bee Butler, Brooke Trapp, Amber Nicole Holt, Taylor Barham, Ariel Watters, Chelsea Paige Butler, Chistow Langston, Susie Hair Kromrey, Catherine Harrington, Megan May, Emily Alene Geer, KaSarah Michelle Seabourn, Cody McNeeley youtu.be/nVTavcVL4L4
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:24:11 +0000
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