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Artist Statement
Inspired by personal experiences and observations of my peers, I began to formulate an idea. This idea grew into a fully-fledged poem conveying a message: Competition is preventing us from finding inner peace.
As a young, growing individual, the battle for self-identification is constantly being waged in my mind and my actions. Schools encourage students to work hard in school; the ultimate goal being to work in a profitable field. The first step to a successful career is to be an A student and go to secondary schooling while participate in extracurricular activities and volunteering. Students are expected to constantly be making themselves available for activities that will make their resume and applications more appealing. Every day an unconscious competition takes place within the halls of the school. Each student just trying to out-do their neighbor. Through the images that are projected to the entire population in a matter of seconds, we see invented people and have the unrealistic belief that if we just work hard enough and surpass our peers, we will become the perfection media fabricates. What we don’t realize, is that we are all looking for where we belong, trying to piece together ourselves and how we fit in the puzzle of the world. In everyday life, we go through individual struggles and face challenges much different than that of our neighbors, but in the end we are still sailing the ships of life, even if our routes may be different. Who are we to judge someone that’s struggling? We have no right to look at anyone with scorn because we are the same; struggling and finding our way the best we know how.
One of the misconceptions—besides the fact that the whole thing is a misconception—of perfection is that we can’t be weak. I am always trying to hide my flaws and pretend like everything is okay by showing this impenetrable façade of happiness. Behind that wall, I am hurting on the inside and confused because I can’t seem to find inner peace. This competition gives life to a lack self-understanding and appreciation. We have a hard time knowing our own peace and knowing ourselves because we try to be so many people at once. While writing my poem, I tried to incorporate the different layers of the self that we reveal to each other; “layer one, it’s what you see.” Society sees one part of me, while my family sees a little bit more of who I really am. I go through this progression until I reach myself and what I see; a judgmental and hurt heart. Then I break the poem down and get into how the media allows us to ignore the fact that we are all humans, just as imperfect as the next. We are hiding from each other. We still have this belief that we can’t let others see us struggling and so we bottle it all up and don’t let anyone help us. I hide my troubles because I think if I show weakness, it allows my opponents to “win” because I have fallen apart and they haven’t. We compare ourselves to our “competitors” and judge our successes based on each other. This brings me to my main point; we are all the same, working to figure it all out, so we need to let down our guard sometimes and let others help us. Because alone, we are not strong enough.
As a young, growing individual, the battle for self-identification is constantly being waged in my mind and my actions. Schools encourage students to work hard in school; the ultimate goal being to work in a profitable field. The first step to a successful career is to be an A student and go to secondary schooling while participate in extracurricular activities and volunteering. Students are expected to constantly be making themselves available for activities that will make their resume and applications more appealing. Every day an unconscious competition takes place within the halls of the school. Each student just trying to out-do their neighbor. Through the images that are projected to the entire population in a matter of seconds, we see invented people and have the unrealistic belief that if we just work hard enough and surpass our peers, we will become the perfection media fabricates. What we don’t realize, is that we are all looking for where we belong, trying to piece together ourselves and how we fit in the puzzle of the world. In everyday life, we go through individual struggles and face challenges much different than that of our neighbors, but in the end we are still sailing the ships of life, even if our routes may be different. Who are we to judge someone that’s struggling? We have no right to look at anyone with scorn because we are the same; struggling and finding our way the best we know how.
One of the misconceptions—besides the fact that the whole thing is a misconception—of perfection is that we can’t be weak. I am always trying to hide my flaws and pretend like everything is okay by showing this impenetrable façade of happiness. Behind that wall, I am hurting on the inside and confused because I can’t seem to find inner peace. This competition gives life to a lack self-understanding and appreciation. We have a hard time knowing our own peace and knowing ourselves because we try to be so many people at once. While writing my poem, I tried to incorporate the different layers of the self that we reveal to each other; “layer one, it’s what you see.” Society sees one part of me, while my family sees a little bit more of who I really am. I go through this progression until I reach myself and what I see; a judgmental and hurt heart. Then I break the poem down and get into how the media allows us to ignore the fact that we are all humans, just as imperfect as the next. We are hiding from each other. We still have this belief that we can’t let others see us struggling and so we bottle it all up and don’t let anyone help us. I hide my troubles because I think if I show weakness, it allows my opponents to “win” because I have fallen apart and they haven’t. We compare ourselves to our “competitors” and judge our successes based on each other. This brings me to my main point; we are all the same, working to figure it all out, so we need to let down our guard sometimes and let others help us. Because alone, we are not strong enough.
Watch the live performance of the poem and read along below!
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Homosapien 3000
Layer one
It’s what you see.
This intelligent soul
Optimistic, thoughtful, beaming
Extending knowledge and grace in my wake
We are the same
Layer two—for the few close to me
It’s what they see.
This desolate mind
Fragmented, defeated, misled
Drifting on the surface and leaking the poison of lethargy into the lake
We are the same
Layer three—for he who is the closest
It’s what he sees.
This bitter critic
Vengeful, cynical, spiteful
Thrusting spears of angst into the muddy coast
We are the same
Layer four
It’s what I see.
This crumbling body
Pessimistic, judgmental, derogatory
Burying razor blades in the beautiful upholstery of my boat
We are the same…
…And alone, we are not strong enough.
Unconscious waves of empathy tune us in to the same station
Like the underlying roots of an aspen forest, our foundations are connected
See your hand, how it fits perfectly with mine?
Homosapien 3000: methodically made, systematically similar
Yet we have the audacity to assume that we are an exceptional specimen.
Our screens, the cigarettes that blacken our minds;
The misleading drug, turning our heads to each other in search of a hidden enemy
We are drowning in competition and powerlust
The gears of our minds are defaulted to desire perfection, like an absolutely motionless lake--
Perfection as vast as the universe that we pretend to understand,
Glorious like the Gods we think can save us, endlessly unattainable
And somehow…somehow we harbor the selfish belief that we will be the first
To mount the pinnacle of absolute divinity
And alone, we are not strong enough.
Scientists have recently discovered a new lobe in the brain.
Located intermediate to the cerebellum and temporal lobe lies the “not enough” lobe.
So always remember: “You need to be better!”
Trivial persistencies fuel our fruitless climb as we join Sisyphus on his never ending ascent to…
…achievement?
Blinders force us to focus on the path
I elbow you in the ribs, you bruise my cheek
Never thinking to reach…
out to each other
up with each other
forward to our future
And alone, we are not strong enough.
We knock each other down, using the crippled bodies to get to the top.
But bodies decay.
So will our pillar of “accomplishment” and we will fall into the rot of defeat
And we pin our lips back in a sarcastic snarl; a smile for each other
And we bite the insides of our cheeks to keep from falling apart
And when we are alone at night, the darkness will strip us of our falsities
And alone, we are not strong enough.
Those things that are so blatantly fake, the only reasonable thing to do is believe them
And in the obscurity of our minds, the silence forces us to examine the lies
And we are left with the emptiness of an alias we can’t uphold forever
Alone at night. Pulling blankets tighter around us as if they offer formidable protection.
CoverGirl lasts 24 hours! Only 24 hours before the thick foundation cracks with sweat streaks of stress
How much longer can you stay synthetic?
When will we stop wearing our shoulders as earrings and let someone else carry the weight?
No amount of praise will make us heal,
Nothing from the outside will bring us inner peace,
And we are perpetually trapped in a power-thirsty world
Because alone, we are just not strong enough.
It’s what you see.
This intelligent soul
Optimistic, thoughtful, beaming
Extending knowledge and grace in my wake
We are the same
Layer two—for the few close to me
It’s what they see.
This desolate mind
Fragmented, defeated, misled
Drifting on the surface and leaking the poison of lethargy into the lake
We are the same
Layer three—for he who is the closest
It’s what he sees.
This bitter critic
Vengeful, cynical, spiteful
Thrusting spears of angst into the muddy coast
We are the same
Layer four
It’s what I see.
This crumbling body
Pessimistic, judgmental, derogatory
Burying razor blades in the beautiful upholstery of my boat
We are the same…
…And alone, we are not strong enough.
Unconscious waves of empathy tune us in to the same station
Like the underlying roots of an aspen forest, our foundations are connected
See your hand, how it fits perfectly with mine?
Homosapien 3000: methodically made, systematically similar
Yet we have the audacity to assume that we are an exceptional specimen.
Our screens, the cigarettes that blacken our minds;
The misleading drug, turning our heads to each other in search of a hidden enemy
We are drowning in competition and powerlust
The gears of our minds are defaulted to desire perfection, like an absolutely motionless lake--
Perfection as vast as the universe that we pretend to understand,
Glorious like the Gods we think can save us, endlessly unattainable
And somehow…somehow we harbor the selfish belief that we will be the first
To mount the pinnacle of absolute divinity
And alone, we are not strong enough.
Scientists have recently discovered a new lobe in the brain.
Located intermediate to the cerebellum and temporal lobe lies the “not enough” lobe.
So always remember: “You need to be better!”
Trivial persistencies fuel our fruitless climb as we join Sisyphus on his never ending ascent to…
…achievement?
Blinders force us to focus on the path
I elbow you in the ribs, you bruise my cheek
Never thinking to reach…
out to each other
up with each other
forward to our future
And alone, we are not strong enough.
We knock each other down, using the crippled bodies to get to the top.
But bodies decay.
So will our pillar of “accomplishment” and we will fall into the rot of defeat
And we pin our lips back in a sarcastic snarl; a smile for each other
And we bite the insides of our cheeks to keep from falling apart
And when we are alone at night, the darkness will strip us of our falsities
And alone, we are not strong enough.
Those things that are so blatantly fake, the only reasonable thing to do is believe them
And in the obscurity of our minds, the silence forces us to examine the lies
And we are left with the emptiness of an alias we can’t uphold forever
Alone at night. Pulling blankets tighter around us as if they offer formidable protection.
CoverGirl lasts 24 hours! Only 24 hours before the thick foundation cracks with sweat streaks of stress
How much longer can you stay synthetic?
When will we stop wearing our shoulders as earrings and let someone else carry the weight?
No amount of praise will make us heal,
Nothing from the outside will bring us inner peace,
And we are perpetually trapped in a power-thirsty world
Because alone, we are just not strong enough.
Animas High School 3206 North Main Avenue Durango, CO 81301 (970) 247-2474
My Contact Information: [email protected]
Updated on: 5.21.13
My Contact Information: [email protected]
Updated on: 5.21.13