A few days ago, I went to a workshop called “Love Your Body”. Since it sounded so strange and weird (and sort of creepy), I decided to go.
In this workshop, we talked about how we react and think while conversing with another person. We talked about how the average person prefers not to share much personal information about themselves. We were pared up into groups of two to converse about something personal with a stranger; our favorite food. I ( and probably many other people) found this a bit strange and awkward. Because my favorite food is Spaghetti, I tried to describe to my partner the reasons why I liked that specific food so much. For example, I explained the nice fragrance of the food, how the noodles are just so easy to eat, how the sauce has the taste of umami, etc. (I know, this sounds weird). Next, we were supposed to relate how these foods were connected to our childhood. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who found this question a bit challenging.
The main idea of this workshop was to learn about how our character and identity is shaped based on our past experiences and surrounding. I found this psychological study about ourselves quite enjoyable. It is interesting to learn that without even knowing, our daily movements are shaped by our surrounding environment. For example, when I went to grade school in Japan, I was one of the tallest kids in my class. Everyone around my always mentioned how tall I was, and I hated it! As a result, I always bent my back and never stood up straight. When I later came to the United States, I was considered average hight (even a bit shorter than average). This made me stand up straight again and not feel self conscious about my hight. Therefore, my physical appearance changed overtime based on my surroundings.
After the lecture, I realized that humans are like herds of sheep. They try to move with the crowd and not stand out. If they do stand out, it could make them feel vulnerable or isolated from the pack. Even though we like to think that we are independent from one another, it is important to know that no matter how “independent” we might be, we are still greatly influenced by the society around us.