Of Picasso, Pick and Mix and Puzzles.

Which one describes your personality best?

Introvert/Extrovert
Calm/Energetic
Creative/Organised
Positive/Negative
Fun/Boring
Spontaneous/Structured

What if you find you fit each and everyone one of them depending on the day/situation you are in?

I find that I have such a dual personality, a mix (or mismatch) of characteristics and behaviours which are contradicting and yet complimentary to each other. I'm sure this is true for most people, we are of course not two dimensional, black and white creatures. It's like having pieces of different puzzles thrown together and trying to join them up. We're all just going to have to get creative with which of the pieces to feature depending on how we want our picture to look.

At work, I try to feature the calm, organised, positive, structured puzzle pieces. At home I can be introvert, energetic, calm, creative, fun, spontaneous. It's a bit of a pick and mix. I think we all choose different versions of ourselves to present to others - whether it's at work or home, face to face or online, with friends or family, at holiday or in the real world.

It's when we try to fit them all together, those various shades of grey, all us, all true but slightly filtered versions of all that lies within, that things get complicated.

For instance, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would feel uncomfortable with everyone who I work with knowing all about my life. Or how about your parents watching what you get up to when you go out (ok, maybe these days it's quite a sedate affair, but still...). Is your friends' perception of you the same as that of the people you work with? It's why we make our internet settings restricted, why we blog anonymously, why we dress different for work/play.

Of course some people seem to have it figured out. If everyone who knew them had to give a description of them they would all be very similar. They still had all those random puzzle pieces, yet have created a picture from all of them, beautifully fit together. The picture might look different depending on the light of day, where it's displayed, it might look beautiful to some, ugly to others but nevertheless, it's there, it's theirs.

One day, I hope to be able to fit all my pieces together and be proud to display them all for all to see rather than getting half way through the pick and mix puzzle, decide it looks too much like a Picasso and putting them back in the box. After all, a Picasso is a masterpiece.

Comments

Stuff it.

Ever feel like you just want someone to come and remove all the junk from your house? The stuff: the kids toys they never play with (but happily scatter around the house); the unread books, the clothes we've outgrown (yet the kids will still pull out, discard in the washing basket unworn for you to wash over and over unknowingly); the things lurking in drawers and cupboards; the things you trip over in the garage. The stuff. This minimalist, Scandi-style is all the rage lately. But after having spent 3 years aiming to reduce the amount of clutter in our house, I can only conclude that I have been defeated. We seem to bring in far more than we get rid off. It's so tempting to get the black bin liners out and just swoop from room to room chucking everything out. Because it's the sorting through, the planning how and where to take things to (tip, charity shop, donate etc) that takes up all the time and makes me loose the will to live. OK, maybe not to live, but at least...

The pool of possibilities. How not knowing your niche makes you valuable.

I was recently asked to think about what my niche is. That whole question was the purpose of this blog when I started it: a place for me to write down my thoughts as I try to find out what it is I’m good at, what my strengths are. A way to discover me and my USP. Turns out, that’s a lot harder to do, when you are the type of person who likes to try new things at a rapid rate and gets bored of them just as quickly. If you read back through my older posts you'll find that I try stuff, invest in it, then move on. You know, the type of person who’s a jack of all trades, master of none. It has a negative connotation, but ask yourself: “What is worse? To never try anything new for fear of not being brilliant or lack of time to become great at it? Or, to learn more about yourself with each new experience gained?” Maybe my niche, my little special party trick, is that I can find enthusiasm for new things, delve into the best way to do it, have a go, then tick it off the list of ...

"Get back in your box" and other thoughts on blogging.

When I look at other people's blogs I love the ones which are multidimensional. I have a preference for those which cover everything from fashion to travel, beauty to food and are personal, open conversations, preferably of the rambling, spill the beans - there is a word I'm looking for here, can't think of it - type. So how come when I think about writing a new post, which differs slightly from my usual slightly neurotic, comical content I feel like a fraud? As if someone will put a big red mark across the page saying "NO. This is not your territory. Get back in your box". I'd love to expand my blog (even calling it that makes me feel like a vain, self-centred idiot) to cover other interests I have in life, to post some of my favourite products I use, fashion loves or places I have visited. To display some pictures rather than hide behind drawings would be cool. So why don't I? It all links back to the fear of criticism. It's somehow easier to t...

MEscovery

Search This Blog