I posted this a few days ago in general chat, but after discussing it with my art teacher today, we are both interested to see what older people say.
My next art project is based on people, personalities, and where personalities come from.
So basically, I would like to know what you think makes you the person you are today.
your past? Social influences? Music? Media? friends? family? sons or daughters? jobs? experiences? any significant life changing moments?
Details would be much appreciated if possible.
Also, I will be using what you say as research for my art project, if you would rather I didn't please let me know.
*may trigger* I think that a whole range of things make us who we are!
Our life experiences, what we've been through as children and young adults! Early traumas can leave a mark as to how u perceive the world and how u react with it and the people within it!
For instance whereas we have sites like this today to help us to share and assist each other with our problems, 50-100 years ago we'd have been locked up in lunatic asylums!
Society itself and how we interacr with it is always changing and therefor we ourselves are always having to adapt and change within it! Every generation has their own music, interests fashion statements to help us carve out our own identity! But as society is fluid then we 2 have to be fluid in our interaction with it!
I think music is definitely one of the main influences of my life right now, the main person being Christina Aguilera...i mean listen to her Stripped album and tell you that has no effect on you! that lead to a new way of thinking...Being lead into the world of self-harm by a friend and the positive side being completely more open-minded...yet feeling more and more alone each day...meeting new people that have changed my life, through the internet. I also think teachers/tutors have a huge influence on your life too, the ones that you become close to, more like friends.
My family splitting up when i was 9, that made things harder but all the things me and my twin btother were put through just made us stronger, and maybe even a little closer.
I'm not sure what else to say but i hope this helps :)
Being able to learn and grow is a defining force in my life. I believe that if we don't grow, we die.
My passion for the environment has made me what I am. Even though I had to go from being an environmentalist who sews to a seamstress who is careful of the environment, that desire to take care of Earth that nurtures us is strong.
13 years of sobriety have taught me that not everyone will destroy me. There are people who will help me and ask nothing in return but that I help the next person who needs it. From those people and from you here in RYL i've learned that it is okay to ask for help. For everything from Clinical Depression to being instructed to get some girly shoes and some lipstick.
I've learned gratitude too.
My husband is my best friend.
In forgiving others, we are not exonerating them. They may not deserve exoneration. Rather, in forgiving others we are giving up our anger over the fact that what happened is not what "should" have happened or that our life is not the way it "should" have been.
a lot of what makes me me is what happened to me as a child.
from age 4 - 14 i was sexually abused by 4 different men, which made me think that s/a was normal and what happened to every child.
i was bullied every day of my 12 school years.
i was neglected by my mum my whole life until i left home at 18.
i know that these experiences have made me someone very different to who i could have been in a different family. i feel i am in a position where i can be there for people who had similar experiences and even tho i need a lot of hjelp myself, i can help others who are going through these emotions at whatever level.
my self harm came as a result of not being able to deal with the pain. it started when i was 33 years old.
i will never forget what people did to me, but i will always try to be here to help others deal with their stuff.
One of the biggest influences was the first time i took Lsd.
I remember taking it and all of a sudden i could see art in anything and everything. I remembered looking at a simple paving stone and looking at all the tiny stones and the colours inside it. I remember it opened my mind to a whole new way of viewing the world. I just saw things i had never noticed before.
I became overtly aware of the real, the hyper-real and of course the surreal.
~Phoenix~ is my Little Sister of Awesomeness and Self-Delusion :P Bitter Angel is my Mitten Animad is my Top Trump All Im Living For - Is my beautiful and special daughter who isnt called Kim but will moan if i dont add her :P
at the moment the only thing i can think of that drives me,inspires me and makes me....me is.....
that sucks.
Last edited by griddlebone : 16-09-2009 at 12:08 AM.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
What makes me me? Other people I would say. I know that sounds strange... The people that are around me have moulded me into the person I am today. My friends have encouraged me to be that little bit less shy and not to be so scared. Through the different people guiding me in my life I've become me. I think I'll keep moulding as I meet new people, and learn from them too!
hmm, lots of things. I think how I grew up and being afraid of how people would react to who I was (gay) made a big part of me, the part that always worries what people might think. Hmm, TV had a big effect on how I thought love should be, namely that it's turned me into a hopeless romantic whose found of doing nice things for people.
The first time I had my heart broken had a HUGE effect on me, when I got through it I felt like if I made it through that, I could make it through a lot, and it made me feel more like an adult. I think counselling has also really changed me, taught me how to be more comfortable with myself, which has had a really big impact.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has replied to this. It's been really quite interesting to see the difference between your answers, and the answers I got in general.
Thank you all. And if anyone else wishes to post, please feel free, the more answers, the merrier!
xx
The way I've been brought up by a loving caring family. My achievments, getting good grades, performances I have been a part of. The way that other people can make me feel happy to be here when Im down and make me think "You know, maybe its not that bad" the way that I will trn th alarm clock on snooze on average about 6 times each morning. The way my room is a mess even if I tidied it previously. The way every detail is thought of before doing or saying something. The way that I flirt; with others, with the ideas of things. The way that I can talk about nothing for ages but people still seem happy to listen. The way that I brush my teeth or dance across my bedroom when I'm happy
I think what makes me me is the amount I have moved the fact that whilst I have loving parents I have spent the majority of time away from them.
Boarding school, the fact I love the sound of my own voice, being able to grow and learn through friends, being able to travel, being messy and disorganised. wanting to help always, loving my bed
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
Not having a father, having mother who filled in for him, my parents divorce, my best friend and her family that was always there for me, that they knew about me and my life even though I never said anything to them, military academy, my teachers the ones who say something in me and pushed me to reach it, my older sister who took care of me and taking care of her when I needed to, standing up for her when she was being beaten, find out at a young age that I need to be strong in order to make it, learning to not let what my father did or didnt do hurt me, showing him he had no power over me, the love I felt for my mother even when I was in trouble.. I could go on but I think thats good for now.
Everything comes into play when you try to see why you are who you are now.
honestly, right now i am just beginning to learn how to BE, what a oerson is made of...I've been ill for most my life (27 years) so i dont KNOW what 'well' is...
but i want it, i want to find out :o)
romp
