THE FINAL PROJECT

“Unless we’re willing to have an honest conversation about what gets in the way of putting these into practice in our daily lives, we will never change. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light."

Inspired by Brené Brown's

The Gifts Of Imperfection

"Ordinary courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line"

"As long as we’re creating, we’re cultivating meaning."

“Overcoming self-doubt is all about believing we’re enough and letting go of what the world says we’re supposed to be and supposed to call ourselves.”

I started keeping a gratitude journal. My goal is to write a few things I am grateful for during the day every night.

I began considering the communication patterns I’ve previously had with my friends and family. It’s true that sometimes I can be very closed off and hard to reach.

I am much more consciously aware of the importance of enjoying the creative work I do. I am attempting to reintroduce the concept of creativity as a gift, not a necessity.

I try to be as honest with myself when I’m feeling down, triggered or just too emotional. When I recognize these states I try to take action against falling in the emotional hole any deeper through practicing deep conscious breathing.

Recently I have also started exploring the effects of meditation. I discovered that 10 minutes in the morning truly sets a mindful tone for the rest of the day.

The Things That Changed In My Routine Since The Beginning of This Project

My final mending gesture builds upon the first video I created for exercise two. Originally, I had the idea of designing my own tarot cards, something that’s been a source of inspiration and happiness for myself lately. However, after finishing Brene Brown’s The Gifts Of Imperfection, I realized that she is talking about a sequence of actions that need to be undertaken when on the path of the “wholehearted living” as she calls it. Of course doing the things that make you happy and embracing a life of creativity were still in the list, yet her narrative began with something a little different. Before she spoke about happiness she talked about the importance of being honest. According to her, if people want to be happy they must initially allow themselves to be honest about the things they are ashamed of, and when they are honest with themselves the next step is opening up about that shame and freely talking about it. She claims that shame is only powerful because we are the ones that give it power over us, and that power is born through our silence.

This is the reason why I chose to do my final video in this rather narrative format. Instead of designing cards, something that will evoke positive emotions within myself for sure, but will not tackle the core of my issues, I decided to follow Brene Brown’s advice and truthfully admit the things I am ashamed of. Because of that I decided to expand upon the first mending gesture video I created, as I thought that the act of writing my insecurities down directly reflects that desired truthfulness. Similarly, the video portrays myself drawing upon my fears in a free, no expectations attached doodling style.

This doodling is not about hiding the words written below. On the contrary, it’s a metaphorical representation of how communication and honesty have the capacity to free one’s soul. What is different about my final video is the act of making origami flowers (I skill I was always interested in but never tried before) out of my insecurities, and this further extends my desire to portray that each of us carries the ability to bloom, if only we allow ourselves to do so. My garden was made out of roses and lilies, imperfect flowers, as roses grow with thorns, while lily dust stains wherever it falls. Yet, despite their imperfections they are beautiful and adored. What I wanted to portray with that is that even when we reach the state of bloom there will always be some insecurities left within ourselves, as above all we are human and therefore imperfect. But as with roses and lilies, everyone focuses on the flowers. The thorns and stains are there but we don’t gift them attention. The same should apply to shame.

Lastly, even though the video was so focused on being honest I really did have fun while making it. Originally I was planning to make it clean and simplistic like the first one, however I thought about the state of feeling overwhelmed by the things you are ashamed of, and it seemed like nothing close to clean and simple. This is why I decided to let go of the idea of making a perfectly looking aesthetic video and started playing around with layering footage to represent precisely this sense of feeling overwhelmed. At the end, the video calms down to suggest that everything sooner or later is bound to find peace and in this case peace is achieved through honesty.

THE STORY