Vision + Voice Day 055

Interconnectedness

How do you describe yourself with just 1 word?

On Friday I took a phone interview for a paid internship. I was asked a few of the standard-issue type questions, but on the whole the 45-minute interview leaned further toward the end of spectrum that is inhabited by conversation. One question asked me to describe myself in just one word…I hmm’d and haw’d for a moment trying my best to stay away from the “c” word. CREATIVE…I wanted to stay away from calling myself creative. Its like calling yourself ‘a good dude’ or ‘I’m pretty cool’ So, doing my best to show I was creative and not just calling myself creative I went in a different direction — Interconnectedness.

For a moment, I wasn’t quite sure if I just went and made up a word. Nervously, I realized I had never used the word ‘interconnectedness’ to describe myself. But, I decided I had hit the point of no return…and since my creedo, if you have to have a creedo is, ya know — GO FOR IT — I went for it (National Lampoon’s Vacation reference)

I went on for a bit. I feel like I explained myself in a way that wasn’t perfect but it’s what I am striving for — the reason I want to be creative. I feel creativity is nothing more than searching for and finding connections.

So, this got me thinking over the past few days about connecting the dots, observation skills (I read an article in Communications Arts Magazine titled “The Ten Things You Didn’t See This Morning”) & photography (my current 365 project) & mindfulness, Gestalt Theory, memory (today on Kamryn’s white board, in jest, I wrote “Remember this day”) and, today, the movie I Heart Huckabees. The basic principal of this movie is this: We are all connected. We should treat each other AS IF we are all the same because…when we lose everything that matters to us, we ARE all the same — Empathy.

I think this is why we love stories. Stories lead to empathy. Empathy leads to understanding. Understanding leads to (inter)connectivity.