Identity is a funny thing.
You see it all stems from understanding, which is itself a tricky concept. On the TV show Babylon 5 the Vorlon Ambassador called understanding “a three edged sword”, later explained to mean “your side, their side, and the truth”. This could just as easily be applied to identity. What I understand about myself is not what others will see, and the truth probably does lie somewhere in between the two.
Recently a few bloggers have put up Johari Windows to examine aspects of their identity and see if what they think of themselves ties in with what their readers think about them. It’s a fascinating idea, but what other tools are out there that might give a little insight into our identities?
The other day I was checking something on my Flickr page and I happened to look at my tags. I think tags are one of the greatest ideas used on Flickr: they allow you to group your photos together by theme, and allow those photos to link in with different photos from other users. It turns individual collections of pictures into a living, breathing photostream and it’s like all other excellent ideas: really simple when it comes down to it. That’s when the thought occured to me that maybe the tags I apply to my images would give some insight into how I see things and, by extension, my personality. After all these photos are from my life, and surely how I categorise them has got to show something about how I view things?
So, not exactly a Johari window per se, but maybe enough for now. Have a look at the image above (you can also click here for a larger version if you like): would you say it reflects the aspects of me that you have seen in the year since I started the egg? Would you say other things need to be added? Do the images on my Flickr page reflect the person that has been writing this blog?
Who am I? Or, more precisely, who do you think I am?
March 5th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
“Balancing Balls”? :/ I like “impressivemostimpressive”. I think “brothers excellent family friends home wedding work” sums up the Doo presented at the Boiling Egg.
So, no Johari(or Nohari) Window for the Doo-ster?
March 6th, 2006 at 10:42 am
In the interests of keeping the egg a relatively family-friendly zone I should point out that “balancing” and “balls” are separate tags! The mind boggles at the thought of what photos could be tagged under “balancing balls” though! ;-)
Glad you liked the tags…so you think those sum me up the best huh? Interesting…wonder if anyone else will chip in with any differing thoughts.
As for the Johari window I thought about it, and maybe I will one day, but I’m interested now in how many ways we display our personality without really knowing that’s what we’re doing. Maybe one day I will Johari, just not today.