Artifact 5: Personality in Context
The last artifact that I chose was from Module 8: Chapter 6: Culture and Personality. This exercise made my top 5 Artifacts because it made me reflect back on a time when my behavior was far from my personality based on a particular event in my life. Last year between July-December 2017, I went through a traumatic family issue that effected me negatively. An important parental figure had abandon my family which caused a major shift in my personal life. It negatively impacted my personality and has changed who I am forever. During this episode of my life I became self-conscious for the first time ever. I have experienced waves of depression and vulnerability, major anxiety, and most of all, anger. I experienced all the sub traits to Neuroticism which I haven’t experience intensely before. While experiences all these emotions, It became a challenge for me to stay focused in school and work with all the stress I was carrying. Overtime, I overcame this dark time in my life that my family and I experienced. After what I experienced, My personality change. In a way, I evolved positively and it is an experience that I will never forget. “You can’t rush your healing; darkness has its teachings.”
The image above is a lyric from one of my favorite songs by musician Trevor Hall.
Artifact 4: “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are“
The fourth Artifact that I have chose was from Module 12: Chapter 10 Culture, Language, and Communication. For this chapter I watched Social Psychologist, Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are.” Amy Cuddy discusses the importance of body language and how big of an effect in can be to man kind. She describes the details of how body language can significantly change how your life unfolds. She mentioned how interested people are with one another’s body language and social interaction. Cuddy confirms that “our nonverbal governs how other people think and feel about us” but the actual question she focuses on is “do our nonverbal govern how we think and feel about ourselves?” One of the topics discussed that I was interested in was the physiological differences between a powerful individual and a powerless individual. Within this topic, she shares that there are two key hormones; testosterone (primary dominance hormone) and Cortisol (primary stress hormone). She found a comparison that alpha males and powerful effective leaders both have high Testosterone and low Cortisol. This shows that power is also about how you react to stress. I enjoyed this ted talk because it changed my perspective of where power roots from, how to obtain it and how to stabilize it. Finishing this video made me reflect on how I visually present my self publically and how my body language has shaped me.
The Photography below is a clip from Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk
The photography below is of mexican actress Renata Notni. I chose this photo to represent my body language because it symbolizes the beauty of confidence.
Artifact 3: Self-construal and Emotion
The third Artifact that intrigued me was from Module 7: Chapter 5 Culture, Self, and Identity. For this chapter I did an activity that was based off emotion that was encouraged by independence of self from others and the interdependence of others. In this activity I chose the top 5 happy episodes or experiences which I have experienced in the past. With the five experiences I chose, I had to decide which category they belonged in, whether they fell under the socially disengaged emotions or the socially engaged emotions. This exercise gave me a clear understanding of what makes me happy and what leads to a positive experience.
The photography above symbolizes freedom, achievement of self and others, and happiness.
Artifact 2: Color & Emotion
My second favorite artifact was from Module 11: Chapter 9 Culture and Emotion. In this activity I listed which multiple emotion I can relate with colors that were provided. I thought this was a fun activity because as an artist, I know the effect that each and every color can cause. I compared the categories I created which are vastly different from one another. I know that there is a major relationship between color and emotion which is why I really enjoyed this activity.
The Photograph below is a screen shot of my color and emotion activity
Artifact 1:
My favorite artifact from my top 5 is from Module 6: Chapter 4 Culture and Developmental Processes. In this exercise I was instructed to relate my present self to past experience in my childhood. One thing I shared in my about me page, was that I am a 9/11 survivor. Although it was a horrific experience, it an experience who shaped my character and effected my developmental process as a childhood. My cultural background also played a large role during my developmental processes. My experiences as a child, especially 9/11 has influence the path of my present self. The activity required us to illustrate my experience by drawing a picture. I decided to draw a self portrait of who I have become with my experiences. This was my favorite artifact because it involved art, culture, experience, and self enhancement.
