DAY 1:
The day I met her marked the start of my life. Everything before then was the old me and everything after was and is who I am now. Over the years of knowing her I’ve changed, but we’ve changed together and learn from each other.
For this first prompt I really couldn’t think of my life without Daniela. Daniela is my best friend, but that title does not even begin to describe what she is to me. I met her on the first day of high school and we’ve been intertwined ever since. We come from very different experiences but fit together perfectly. She is the most intelligent and insightful person I know, and I’ve learned so much from her.
DAY 2:
In that moment I realized…
I want to do more with my work.
I want to find my place to intervene…to contribute to something larger than myself. I want what I do to be as informed as possible and to be critical. Critical of everyone, including the people I look up to and most critical of myself and my position. Know my beliefs but know that values change and nothing is 100%. Ask questions. Listen more than speaking. Be open. Be honest with your intentions. Why am I doing this? Who is this for? Why do I value this? Understand where you come from and that everyone comes from different experiences and places. Understand that everything everyone does is a reaction to something and a chain of reactions that led them to be there. Have empathy for others and try as hard as possible to look at situations from multiple perspectives. Know that you will not always be right or wrong and understand that there really is no right or wrong. There is no good or bad. But all perceived differently depending on tons of variables. Everything is relative. Something might seem better…but better for who? Who is it affecting, and why does it matter?
In that moment I realized I have to understand my place in the larger scheme of things. Understand that I am privileged and am apart of the issues I work with. Confront the hypocrisy of researching the social issue of gentrification while living in East Village and regularly going to the new coffee shop that just opening on avenue B. Confront the fact that I’m interested in social practice, and am not personally affected by the issues I’m learning about. And that I’m actually am apart of whats fueling these issues by attending an outrageously expensive private school and being apart of the system. 
DAY 3:
If only…
I hadn’t wasted time hiding from my fears. During my freshman year and throughout high school I was extremely quiet and reserved in my classes. I am an introvert, but this was an extreme. For so long I’ve ignored my feelings of anxiety around others and in sharing my ideas. I’ve always had trouble verbally communicating what I think and have held back because of it, and am most comfortable with writing. But, there is no growth in staying comfortable. Pushing away your fears and discomforts stifles you from any progression.
By reaching outside of my comfort zone in small ways, I will become a lot more comfortable with being more open.
Don’t think about what you look like while doing it, just do it.
Don’t focus on how others might be perceiving you, but focus from within on your intentions and your work and your values.
Don’t hold back in fear of being wrong or looking uneducated on the subject. Be willing to put yourself out there, but always expect critique. Always think before you speak, but don’t think so much that you never speak.
DAY 4:
It started out as an ordinary day but then…
My uncle asked if I wanted to work at his friend’s falafel stand with my best friend at The Meadows music festival. I was actually extremely nervous because I know his friend and he is the sweetest, most genuine guy. But, when he’s working a show he is insane. He SCREAMS at everyone, doesn’t answer any questions, and expects everyone to know everything. So, yes I nervous and didn’t want to disappoint in such a fast paced environment. But, I knew it’d be fun working with my bubs, and I love working with food. As soon as we got there we worked, cooking noodles for hours. The rest of the group we worked with came from all different places, and traveled with Louie, the owner of Southernmost Falafel to festivals across the country during the summer.
It was hard work, on our feet from 9am to 1am serving food to hungry teenage festival goers. But it was so fun, and by the end it felt like we were a family. I wanted to hop on the bandwagon with Louie and the others and go to the next festival. This seems like such a small weekend, but it actually opened me up to different ways of living and working.
DAY 5:
Pick a role
In most of my relationships my role is always the happy person that always keeps things light. I never am the one to bring up when I’m feeling down or something’s bothering me. Being in this role, I’ve noticed that it is an unhealthy part of me because it always eventually comes out in passive or blown out ways when it could be have easily been talked about before reaching that point. A lot of times I can talk to others about their experience and their feelings, but when I have to explain how I feel I can’t really grasp it until it explodes in some way.
This is another reason why Daniela and I complement each other so well. She is the opposite. When something is bothering her she immediately puts it out there. She doesn’t do it in an aggressive way, but just lets you know when something puts her off. She calls me out when I am not being direct and pushes me to just say whats bothering me. We work because we are able to hash it out and are open enough to see where either of us is wrong or what happened.
This helps define who I am today because I am learning to be more upfront and honest about how I feel to those around me and most importantly to myself. Ignoring how you really feel never help the situation because it will inevitably come out in toxic ways. Be honest and open and expect the same in return. Even if you feel or think something you don’t want to think, confront it and try to pick out whats making you feel like this. Continue to dig deeper to the root of the problem.
Day 7:
Manifesto DRAFT:
Understand that nothing is ever only what it appears to be. There are layers to everything. There are many ways to live in this world. There is no 100% correct way, so put your thoughts out there and be open to the MANY perspectives out there. Do what you want to do, for yourself. There is no right or wrong, and everything is relative to who its coming from. Confront and understand your intentions. Don’t stay comfortable for too long. Good has different meanings to everyone. Know your values and work from within them. Put them into everything you do. Fuel your happiness with things outside of yourself. Keep doing what you’re doing, and do something else too. Be patient and always look for ways to get better. Be critical. Be critical of who you look up to and follow. Be most critical of yourself. When you’re happy with your work, point out 5 things that could be different and try them. Go back to old work. Research what you do, and understand its impact. Get to know the communities around it and the systems involved. Research in different ways, not just behind a screen. Don’t keep yourself in a box. Don’t look to define yourself.
Don’t compare yourself to others in an unproductive way. Make time for yourself. Make time for the ones you love. Make time for things that seem stupid. Waste time. Think about everything. Think about how you feel. Confront discomfort. Think about why you feel this way. Think about why you do what you do. Think about your place. Think about where you come from, and where you want to go. Be loyal, but also open. Go outside. Leave the city. Leave your hometown. Meet people you would never expect to meet.
Use your work as a tool. A tool to communicate ideas and new ways of thinking, new perceptions of space. A tool for engagement. A tool for improvement. A tool to empower others.
I commend you on the in-depth personal exploration you engaged in and the truthfulness with which you wrote. I like how you write with conviction and are very clear with what matters to you. You aspire to meaningful things and it is evident that you are an empathic person. You write with such openness and honesty, and with sharp observation. The drawings are wonderful matches with your writing: charming, conceptual, and interesting.
Thank you!!