Jocelyn - Week 1: Underneath the Waves
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| A view of the ocean similar to the one I saw (Photo credit: Bay Area Telegraph - Thomas Smith) |
The sun barely makes it through the clouds. The breeze blows through my hair. My brother and I carefully walk in the sand, with our sneakers still on, and take in the view of the ocean. We are in Half Moon Bay, our parents stand on the trail with our bikes and take a break. I look towards the horizon where the sky touches the sea. Even though it is a rather chilly day, the ocean is still beautiful. Like the ocean, our identity has a public surface and layers that get much less light the deeper you go.
Most of my time I spend in school or in other public spaces. On the surface, I project a version of my identity to teachers and classmates. Personally, this changes frequently depending on my mood, just like the weather changes how the ocean looks on top. Underneath this, there is a deeper layer. This is my identity as it is shown to my close friends and family. Light reaches this layer when I am relaxing at home, laughing with my school friends, dancing at the studio, or building with my robotics team. I show more of my true self and it is more stable than the surface level. Much deeper down is my core identity. This often comes out when I am alone at home. It stores my private thoughts and is not usually shared so it is untouched by the outside world, like the deepest layer of the ocean. Around the right people, I notice that I start to show light on the deeper layers.
Shifting your personality and habits based on your environment or around the people you are with is not being fake or inauthentic to your identity. Simply, different people are just experiencing different parts of your identity and together they make you whole.
Experiencing the different layers is also one of my favorite things to observe while meeting new people and creating friendships. It is really beautiful to see someone showing more and more of their deeper self and sharing a sense of comfort and belonging with them. The more people show, the more vulnerable they can be, so I always feel really honored when someone opens up to me in that way. It is a reminder that you cannot see the true depth of the ocean just by standing at the beach.
I enjoyed how you used the ocean as a metaphor for the depth of a person’s personality, because the ocean does truly represent the versatility and vastness of a person. Personally, I’ve been told by friends and family that I behave nicer, more patient, and more serious in more public, or surface-level situations, versus when they see me at my comfiest where I’ve been told I’m the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI thought the way you compared the ocean and identity throughout your blog was really well done. The opening immediately created a peaceful visual of Half Moon Bay and the transition into connecting the ocean to the different layers of a person’s identity was very smooth and felt really fitting. The idea that different environments and people can bring out different layers of who we are without making any of those versions feel fake stood out as it challenges the idea that there is only one “true” version of ourselves. The comparison at the end about how you cannot understand the depth of the ocean simply by standing on the beach and how you connected vulnerability to levels of friendship sparked a thought of how we often judge people quickly based on a mere glimpse of their identity.
ReplyDeleteThe connection of the ocean to the different layers in personality was interesting, how each different layer of personality is stacked on top of each other, creating one full identity. I think many would relate to this occurrence of having multiple personas; similar to how in Greek theatre, the actors would change their masks to represent various characters during the play. For me, I also have various personalities that I only show to my friends, family, and even my dogs; my mood and my environment also being factors of the way I act.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago, my family was absolutely obsessed with the beach, especially my brother, and well the one closest to us was the infamous Half Moon Bay. Although the waves are known to reach extremely high and powerful levels, I remember it to an extent, being extremely relaxing, and the way you describe it I can almost visualize it again. Your connection of the ocean to the different layers people wear was very well done, and I really like how you talk in first person throughout, giving us personal examples and almost guiding us through your feelings. The whole ocean metaphor kind of reminds me of the whole onion scene from Shrek, which is definitely a good thing as I ended up paying more attention to it. Just an extremely creative idea overall, I do not think I could ever come up with something like that, and well executed too.
ReplyDeleteThe metaphor comparing the ocean to one’s identity was very well-done. My favorite part of this blog post was when you compared your moods to the weather. The main point was that people are more complex than they may seem at the surface, but there was also an implication there that I appreciated. “Weather changes” can be interpreted as conflict, and the idea that whims and troubles are momentary and will come to pass can be extracted.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how opening up to people was described as shining “light on the deeper layers.” The imagery there really communicates the beautiful warmth and intimacy that lies in discovering someone’s true character.