Blog 10A

For this blog assignment, we read David Rendall's "Freak Factor" on http://changethis.com/.

I really really really liked this article a lot, for a lot of different reasons. The article describes the ways in which we have been taught to look at strengths and weaknesses. He examines the common idea that we should all build on our strengths, and attempt to eliminate our weaknesses. But instead of giving us ways to implement this concept, he turns it upside-down. He agrees that we should build on our strengths, but rather than trying to eliminate our weaknesses, we should embrace them.

3. "Flawless: There's Nothing Wrong With You."

Strength --->Weakness
Creative ---> Unorganized
Organized ---> Inflexible
Dedicated ---> Stubborn
Flexible ---> Inconsistent
Enthusiastic ---> Obnoxious
Calm ---> Emotionless
Reflective ---> Shy
Adventurous ---> Irresponsible
Responsible ---> Boring
Positive ---> Unrealistic
Realistic ---> Negative
Assertive ---> Intimidating
Humble ---> Weak
Self-Confident ---> Arrogant
Patient ---> Indecisive
Passionate ---> Impatient

He gives this chart^ as an example to illustrate that every strength has a corresponding weakness, and therefore every weakness has a corresponding strength. I had never really looked at it this way, but this chart lays it out perfectly. For every single weakness you think you have, there is a positive attribute that is always going to be tied to it. In this light, every weakness becomes something that doesn't necessarily need to be fixed, but understood and explored. If we were to fix our weaknesses, we would diminish our strengths. I love this, because allows us to finally take a deep breath and realize that we are not all fatally flawed and doomed for a life of misery until we can change the core of our being. If we stop thinking of weaknesses as things that need to be altered, we can stop feeling so bad about ourselves and start to concentrate on the other side of the chart. I am going to implement this idea in my creative life by changing the way I view myself. Instead of feeling scatterbrained, I am going to start feeling stimulated. Instead of feeling emotional, I am going to start feeling compassionate. Instead of feeling obsessive, I am going to start feeling passionate. It's all about what names we give to our personality traits.

7. Fit: Find the Right Spot
In this suggestion, Rendall talks about the importance of finding the right situation for you. I think that this is really important. By doing this, our strengths can flourish and our weaknesses can become strengths. I really like the idea that our weaknesses are simply "strengths in disguise." I have always been a very messy person. I always have been made to feel like this is a bad thing, and have always tried to fight myself on it. It always feels like a struggle to get organized. I can clean my entire room, and no matter how many times I tell myself to keep it that way, it has always and will always end up a mess again. That's just the way I am. Same goes for my car. I have more fast food wrappers, cigarette butts, random articles of clothing, etc. in my car at any given time than anyone could begin to count. But the reason I am so messy is because I feel so free and relaxed. I would never trade in my ability to carelessly toss shirt on the floor without a second thought for inability to. I would hate to feel as though I had to clean up the second I made a mess. I would never get any real thinking done, and I would never make anything. So basically, I fully agree with this suggestion because I really do think that it is important to put yourself in the right situation. I am glad that I am in a creative major, so that I have the freedom to metaphorically throw my things all over the floor. If you put yourself in a situation that doesn't denounce you for your flaws, you can stop thinking of them as bad things. It's like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole, or whatever that saying is. Don't try to do that, just go find a round hole.

9. Freak Factory: Putting Your Quirks to Work
This suggestion has several parts, but I am only going to focus on one of them, "Engage in permanent procrastination. Instead of procrastinating activities that you don’t like, just stop doing them altogether." I love this suggestion, because I think it is really relevant to me. Procrastination is another of my "flaws" that I have always struggled with. Always putting things off until the last minute. And while it is not always realistic to simply stop doing activities that you don't like, I think that there is some validity to this. I have so many friends in majors that they don't seem to like. I see them painstakingly complete absurdly long assignments, memorizing fact after fact, formula after formula. And I have to wonder why they are putting themselves through all this misery. Sometimes it is necessary, yes. But I recently had a good friend tell me she was going to switch her major to biology. I asked her what she was going to do with that. She said, "probably become a pharmacist or something. I mean I guess I'd do that, I'd make a lot of money." This response shocked me. She's only 18 years old, and she has committed the rest of her life to something "she guesses she would do." And maybe she was just being nonchalant about it and has more passion for pharmacy than she was showing. But I think that life is way, way, way to short and uncertain to do something, something as big as your future career, just because you feel like you should. I think that it is important to do things because something inside you needs you to do them.


So what have I found my strengths and weaknesses to be as far as the creative process is concerned?

Weaknesses:
-Disorganization/Procrastination. This isn't always a problem, but sometimes it is. I get behind on assignments and it starts to stress me out. I have the ability to push things into this "I'll do it later" box in my brain and then it comes time to open it and I feel as though I have just been shot, because it is so full and overwhelming
-Second-guessing. I have a very irritating habit of second-guessing myself all the time. Although the article says there is some corresponding strength to this, but I just think of it as a tick stuck to my side that I'd like to tweeze off.

Strengths:
-Seeing things from a unique perspective. I think the way I see things is sometimes very strange, but I like this about myself. I find humor and beauty in a lot of things.
-I like mostly everybody. This is something else I have always liked about myself. It's really hard to make me mad, and even harder to make me stay mad. I really like people, because everyone is so different. I like people's flaws and quirks and habits. I feel like this openness has allowed me to draw inspiration from those around me.