Kimaya Khurana - Blog #1 - Liminal
Liminal
Growth is one of the things most interlinked with identity, defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. It gets developed through “interactions with people close to us, like our family and friends, our schools and other institutions, the mass media, and our encounters with other individuals. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we have these ideas because we don’t remember learning them” (Facing History). Throughout the process of growth, one may explore their own identity, fight against ideas that are not their own, and weave around just to settle in their own confinement. The beauty of growth is that it is never fixated, as it is never-ending.
When you think about a squiggly line or look at the one above, you may notice how it has so many curves and twists, but still progresses nevertheless. The squiggly line you're seeing above represents a person's life, with numerous curves and twists, yet still progressing. A term I like to use to describe this is “liminal”, an in-between state or a threshold of transformation. Growth isn't just about improvement, but also about combining all experiences together, whether they be struggles or achievements.
However, there is never growth without pain. One can experience the joys of life, curiosity, and wonder, which can be influenced by friendships, a lesson taught in class, family, or anyone surrounding you on a daily basis. Coming to terms with oneself and choosing to make different choices play a huge role in this development. According to Charles Hooten Cooley, identity is based on the concept of a “Looking-Glass Self [which] describes how one’s self or social identity is dependent on one’s appearance to others. This initial theory was based on Cooley’s observations of childhood social development” (Simply Psychology). In essence, growth is a realization that your life is not defined by what others think of you, but rather how you respond to others around you; when you choose to focus on the good, your heart will learn to dance in the rain instead of waiting for the sun.
Hi Kamaya! I liked how you used a squiggly line as a metaphor in your blog. The picture you used almost seems like a signature because there are a lot of funky signatures out there. In a way, a signature is also apart of your identity because it's your unique name as well as some combination you created. I love how you expressed the troubles of growing and how there is no growth without pain. Pain can be many things like mistakes. Making mistakes makes you grow into a better version because you know what you did wrong and how to be better for the next time or even fix the mistake. The last few words, "your heart will learn to dance in the rain instead of waiting for the sun." were beautiful. It was like an eyeopener and shows resilience even when you are faced with pain.
ReplyDeleteI really love the analogy of the squiggly line as it does embody the.spontaneous nature of life and how unpredictable events could be. While I was observing the image I saw there were loops overlapping throughout the line. It made me realize that sometimes in life you have to go back to a point and work it out in order to move forward. I felt this was like an underlying message from the line that in order to grow you have to reflect and look back.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kimaya! Today I learned about the word “liminal” and thanks for teaching me about it. I really like this word and how it can define our growth and progression. It reminds me of math class where we are learning about limits. The line that you shared is continuous and has a limit for every point of the graph. It shows how we never “stop” when changing and sometimes we take a detour until we continue improving ourselves. Similar to limits, growth does not have an “end point” and it is about how we approach and respond to our values. Liminal is such a unique and interesting word, and I will do my best to start using it from now on. Overall, I really liked how you use “liminal” as a way to explain such a complicated and important topic such as growth.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kimaya. I specifically like how growth is developed through “interactions with people close to us,” because it somehow makes me more appreciative of my friends and how they help me grow. I guess it also puts a little pressure on me to make sure I surround myself with the right people. However, it’s a bit of a paradox too, because I could also be one of the “bad people” I don’t want to surround myself with. I don’t think the “bad” group of people are usually aware they’re bad, and no one ever thinks it’s them. I obviously don’t think I am. How can I be sure I’m truly not? Also, I truly like the saying that “there is no growth without pain.” It makes me feel reassured that at least there’s some good in the bad. It’s weird that I’m talking about “good” and “bad” for this entire comment, but I couldn’t define either, or what is inherently good or bad. I don’t think there is a definite good or bad. Who knows?
ReplyDelete