the first intervention
Going back to May 19th, our class presented a mini-showcase on our first interventions. After much thought between ideas, I decided to present an interactive experience building off of my previous intervention, “I know who I am today, but who am I tomorrow?”
The purpose of the interactive experience was for my participants to choose a selected fashion image they energetically felt drawn too, while engaging with reflective practice to understand the deeper meanings of the choice they made.
I was fortunate to receive 13 participants overall. Each engaging with the 5 questions they must answer over the course of eight minutes.
Lets break the chosen images down into six categories.
Image One: 3 people
Image Two: 0 people
Image 3: 3 people
Image 4: 4 people
Image 5: 0 People
Image 6: 1 person
(Two responses did not specify their chosen image)
After reviewing the responses I received, it was difficult to find a commonality due to subjective opinion along with the individualistic experiences that led to their chosen image. However reflecting on question two, I observed that 7/13 responses specified their chosen image coming from a past self, 2 from a future self, 2 from the past and future, 1 from the present moment, and 1 from the present-future self.
I found it intriguing that majority of the responses was chosen based off of feelings or a version of themselves that existed in the past, or may currently exist.
Personally, I find myself ruminating about my past plenty of the time. It makes me think however, is my current self dictated by a version of myself that once existed or the one that I am waiting to meet? How much baggage am I yet to unpack from my past? And what am I take with me to the future?
Taking it back to fashion, it makes me question my personal style as well. Is my personal style reflecting the thoughts and feelings that I am carrying from my past or is it signaling the way I perceive myself to be in the future? The version of me that has reached the goals I aspire to achieve, whether that be personal or professionally related. One participant specified on question four, “It allows us to embody the person I can be before I acknowledge I’m already there”.
All questions that I am unable to answer, but it makes me think that if we are carrying our past with us, how can we let go of what is not serving us a purpose anymore?
It’s interesting because even the responses recorded for question one ranged widely. For some people, chosen images reflected power, inner strength, and peace. However on the opposite end of that, the same images reflected fear, self-frustration, and mystery.
If the way we view the same image alters from person to person, then it further shows that the way we have experienced life leading up to that moment is the way that our perspective enables us to view it. Going back to my previous claim that life is happening from us, not to us.
In all of this, it makes me further question the present moment. If I was born today, what past experiences would I leave behind, or want to relearn? And how would that change the current version of myself that exists?
I was 19 when I moved out of my parents house to Manhattan. I remember hearing at 20 years old that your twenties are like being a kid again, but in adult years. 20 is a baby, 21 is a 1 year old adult, 22 is a 2 year old adult, and so on. Being 25 now, I am a “five year old adult.” So what is it that I would like my “five year old” adult self to embody?
