SUNDAY NOTES 055
Have we lost our personalities? I'm afraid of being forgotten!
A Sunday playlist: Top Gun Anthem
A Sunday watch: Top Gun (1986)
I’m working on a handmade animation piece, and I share an early work in progress
there is so much to say,
yet little to do about it.
Something I’m thinking about:
I read a piece on Substack this week: Nobody Has A Personality Anymore
Before reading it, I thought it’d be a commentary on our society’s obsession with going viral, and the way we follow formulas to feed social media algorithms in order to get noticed, and in the process stripping our personalities away from the content we create. Rather, it’s a piece about self-diagnoses and therapy. I think it’s a fascinating commentary on current culture. I’ve never liked labels. And I agree that our urge to categorize one another isolates us from each other more. Especially when we take on the roles of psychiatrists and therapists with each other without training. But, personality is defined as ‘the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character’. Is one’s inability to multitask due to their ADHD brain a personality trait?
I don’t necessarily believe that. Our personalities—what makes us human—bold and unique, can exist hand-in-hand with mental health treatments and medical diagnoses. I think we as a human species have always longed to understand. It’s in our nature to be curious. To want to better understand the way your mind works doesn’t make you less human, it doesn’t make you less interesting, less mysterious. It’s a reflection of our progress in being curious about our brains. Reminds me of the narrative around artists and therapy…fix your issues and you’ll lose your creativity! To be an artist is not to be unhealthy. Creativity flows out of joy.
We find a lot of humanness and personality in our collective longing to emphasize with each other. Even, and especially, when it’s clumsy.
Something that inspires me:
The photographs and collages of French artist Gilbert Garcin (1929-2020), made with cutouts of himself, big and small, and, often, sand.
A quote:
“We are all failures- at least the best of us are.
—J.M. Barrie
Until next Sunday,
In case you missed it:
Last week—A tribute to my mentor and friend Joanna
Last Sunday Notes—SUNDAY NOTES 054