Candy Chang's moving TED talk left me thinking that there are plenty of things that I hope to accomplish before I die. Watching how an artist made art into a strong social statement and a way to connect her community was very moving.
In this very technologically advanced age, it is easy to become separated from our community, our friends, our family, and in many ways even ourselves. It takes a level of self awareness to realize this and to step back and breathe it all in. Candy Chang's community art project gave individuals in the community a chance to stop, look at other responses and then think of their own goals before they die. How do they want to leave the world a better place?
I thought, is there something like this in Portland, Maine, where I live? The first Friday of every month there is a community art walk on Congress Street, it's a chance for artists to come together and display their work and let the community see what a diverse and beautiful city they really live in.
Many murals are visible throughout Portland and many of them have significant ties and meaning to the community.
Although I have not done any organizing around art, a few years ago I did start a small movement on campus that was based off a larger nation wide movement called Operation Beautiful. A friend and I spent hours over the course of a few weeks creating post it notes, index cards, posters, and cards that we designed, decorated, and wrote words of inspiration on. We left them on campus, in restrooms, at truck stops, in the super market check out line, in weight scales that were being sold at Target, in books as bookmarks. We left hundreds of these everywhere we could think of. We even sneaked into our old high school to put notes of inspiration in students lockers!
These three are just a small example of the many things we put up around our community.
I noticed some of my fellow classmates with post it notes on their notebooks.
"Where did you get that?' I asked.
"It was in the bathroom, by the mirror. Ya know, I was having such a bad day and this was so sweet. I had to take it with me."
That was the goal! The point, my mission. To spread the positivity and the idea of self love. Before I knew it, post it notes that I didn't write started appearing on campus and I was over joyed that others were so touched by my original messages that they went and started their own.
As an individual that wants to be social worker, I want to focus on the big picture. I want to look at policy and making large structural changes and getting all caught up in that makes it so easy to forget that the little things matter, too. Little things, like post it notes, or large community projects like Candy Chang's mural can make a difference and bring a community together.
I was also moved by Candy Chang's video. I think its fascinating how she was able to take a sad event and express it in a way that actually helped her community. When you think about that concept, it's really pretty amazing! I also researched Candy Chang as well as her "When I Die" walls. I pretty surprised to learn that there is a "When I Die" wall in Biddeford. Who knew? I also like your concept of posting positive notes to friends and loved ones. I used to put notes of encouragement such as these in my daughter's lunch box when she was very young. She really loved them! Giving someone a note of encouragement can really make a difference in someone's day or even life. I think your onto something big when you stated "little things, like post it notes, or large community projects like Candy Chang's mural can make a difference and bring a community together".
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