I am Shirley.
As it so happens, the dawning of the era of digital photography serendipitously coincided with the dawning of the era of me + AIESEC = hearts. Ideal! It went from first being wow-ed by meeting people from different universities, to meeting people from different countries, to visiting many of these countries, some of which I had straight-no-chaser never heard of before joining AIESEC, >cough, Rep. of Macedonia, cough<.
So all was well and good, and all the while I became xtra mobile, only taking with me the bare essentials, due to all the moving around. So with regards to memories, all I had with me was a few family photos and AIESEC photos. And as I met people, they would ask me about me, and more often than not, you pull out the laptop and show some photos of your friends, which, given the context, were mostly in connection with AIESEC. And… as that was how I was often giving a more extended introduction of myself, the photos I had, became the memories I have, and the memories I had, became one part of my sense of self or identity… And so now you see where the shit goes wild.
So now I’m home. While I am in the midst of learning not to limit my sense of self, especially not by identifying myself with past experiences, it is still a comfort to have struck sentimental gold… I found 33 rolls of Advantix film, which for a small sum, can be transferred into a digital medium. This was a breathe a fresh air, NOT because it builds my sense of self that wow, I am cool because I once went to an archaeological field camp, but because I think after three years full time working in an organization with increasing responsibilities and a particularly challenging year with regards to personal physical/mental space, no disrespect to the campaign, I strayed a bit from my sense of self, and was handicapped, unconsciously, by the idea that “I am an AIESECer”.
So yes. I recommend you check out some recently added albums in good ol’ facebook, to get a sneak peak some other sides of sma, before I had ever heard the word AIESEC. This anal retentive digital packrat is just thrilled. :)
So all was well and good, and all the while I became xtra mobile, only taking with me the bare essentials, due to all the moving around. So with regards to memories, all I had with me was a few family photos and AIESEC photos. And as I met people, they would ask me about me, and more often than not, you pull out the laptop and show some photos of your friends, which, given the context, were mostly in connection with AIESEC. And… as that was how I was often giving a more extended introduction of myself, the photos I had, became the memories I have, and the memories I had, became one part of my sense of self or identity… And so now you see where the shit goes wild.
So now I’m home. While I am in the midst of learning not to limit my sense of self, especially not by identifying myself with past experiences, it is still a comfort to have struck sentimental gold… I found 33 rolls of Advantix film, which for a small sum, can be transferred into a digital medium. This was a breathe a fresh air, NOT because it builds my sense of self that wow, I am cool because I once went to an archaeological field camp, but because I think after three years full time working in an organization with increasing responsibilities and a particularly challenging year with regards to personal physical/mental space, no disrespect to the campaign, I strayed a bit from my sense of self, and was handicapped, unconsciously, by the idea that “I am an AIESECer”.
So yes. I recommend you check out some recently added albums in good ol’ facebook, to get a sneak peak some other sides of sma, before I had ever heard the word AIESEC. This anal retentive digital packrat is just thrilled. :)
posted by shirley at 4:11 AM
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