Past Achievements

Photo by Lohbado

The other day I was talking to my friend, L, about the flaws in our education system and she came up with a point I had never thought of before. She said she had a hard time in school as a kid. She would go up to a teacher and say she didn't understand something, to that they'd simply ask:"What don't you understand?" L said it was frustrating for her. It made her feel bad, as if she wasn't smart enough. She then told me that if she became a teacher she'd always ask what the kid DOES understand so that there can be a starting point to understanding what must be learned.

L'autre jour je parlais avec mon amie, L, des failles dans notre système d'éducation et elle m'a sorti un argument auquel je n'avais jamais pensée auparavant. Elle disait qu'elle avait eu de la difficulté à l'école lorsqu'elle était enfant. Elle allait souvent voir l'enseignant pour lui dire qu'elle comprenait rien et à cela le professeur répondait simplement: «Qu'est-ce que tu ne comprends pas?» L m'a dit que c'était frustrant de se faire demander des évidences. Elle se sentait mal, comme si elle n'était pas assez intelligente. Elle m'a ensuite dit que si elle devenait professeur, elle s'assurerait de toujours demander ce que l'enfant comprenait pour qu'il puisse y avoir un point de départ pour mieux apprendre. 

Photo by Lohbado

This made me think of my whole "discipline" thing. I constantly bash myself for procrastinating, but I never highlight what I do well. That's why today I thought I'd do the whole Pavlov's dog theory and highlight what I am disciplined in to help me achieve my goals. In fact, I think I have been achieving my goal for longer than I thought simply by dressing up and having a blog. Whether what I do are masterpieces or not, it's not the important part. Actually, I should be proud of being much more creative on a daily basis that the average person. I dance every day and that's a sign of persistence in itself.

Cette discussion m'a par après fait réfléchir sur toute mon affaire de «discipline». Je me rabaisse constamment pour ma procrastination, mais je ne souligne jamais ce que je fais bien. C'est pourquoi, aujourd'hui, j'ai décidé de tester la théorie des chiens de Pavlov en soulignant ce que j'ai déjà réussi, pour continuer à atteindre mon but. En effet, je pense que j'atteind mon objectif depuis plus longtemps que je ne le pense, simplement par le fait que je me suis toujours efforcée à bien m'habiller et avoir un blog. Si ce que je fais ce sont des chefs-d'oeuvre ou pas, ce n'est pas l'important. En réalité, je devrais être fière d'être plus créative que la personne moyenne. Je danse à tous les jours et cela est une preuve de persévérance en soi. 

Photo by Lohbado

This realization was important to understand that achieving a goal doesn't come with a clear finish line either, especially with discipline, because it is something constant that I try to incorporate in my life on a daily basis. That is why noticing my current routine and identifying my efforts will hopefully help me get where I want to be.

Cette prise de conscience a été importante pour comprendre qu'atteindre un objectif ne viendra pas avec une ligne d'arrivée clair et nette, surtout quand il est question de discipline, parce que c'est quelque chose de constant que je veux incorporer dans mon quotidien. C'est pour cela qu'en analysant ma routine actuelle et en identifiant mes efforts je pourrai éventuellement arriver là où je veux être.

See more of Lohbado at http://clubmorono.blogspot.ca/

Discipline Through Dance

My love story with dance is very old, but it's only been getting better with time. Last Saturday I had my auditions for the Contemporary Dance School of Montreal and it was amazing. I realized how much I've gotten better in the last few years, and I was able to have so much fun in this stressful situation. After a five hour audition, I came out of the school feeling high and so joyful. This ecstasy dance gives me makes me want to push myself farther and discover more.

This semester, I have so many choreographies to prepare. Therefore, I will have to practice more than ever. So, with the joy and effort I will be putting into my dance studies in the next 15 weeks, I hope to develop a lifestyle that'll cultivate constant curiosity and a stronger love for dance.

A tool to reach my goal and to help me organize my work is to film myself dancing. That is why today I have made a collage of some footage from the last few weeks that inspired me.

Mon histoire d'amour avec la danse est très vieille, mais elle ne fait que s'améliorer avec le temps. Samedi passé, j'ai fait les auditions pour l'École de danse contemporaine de Montréal et c'était génial. Cette expérience m'a fait réalisé à quel point je me suis améliorée dans les dernières années, et cela m'a permis de m'amuser dans cette situation stressante. Après cinq heures d'audition, je me sentais comme sur un nuage. Cette extase que la danse me procure me donne envie de me pousser plus loin et de découvrir plus.

Cette session, j'ai tellement de chorégraphies à préparer. C'est pourquoi je vais devoir pratiquer plus que jamais. Alors, avec la joie et la discipline que je vais mettre dans mes études en danse, j'espère développer un mode de vie qui cultivera en moi une curiosité constante et un amour plus fort pour la danse.

Un outil pour atteindre mon objectif et pour m'aider à organiser mon travail est de me filmer en train de danser. Pour cette raison qu'aujourd'hui j'ai fait un collage de séquences vidéo des dernières semaines qui m'ont inspirés.

Discipline

Discipline. If I want to succeed in the arts, or in life in general, I need discipline. It enables you to have a structure for your creativity to bloom. At first, it seems like a restrictive way of working, but it actually helps you to evolve. It obliges you to always advance and fine tune your technique.

Être disciplinée. Si je veux réussir dans les arts, ou dans la vie en général, j'ai besoin de discipline. En effet, ça permet d'avoir une structure pour faire épanouir sa créativité. À première vue, le terme semble présenter une manière restrictive de travailler, mais elle permet en fait d'évoluer. Être disciplinée m'oblige à toujours avancer et peaufiner ma technique.

However, I say all of this, but I'm actually way more prone to procrastination. I never push myself to take the next step. Therefore, this month is somewhat an opportunity for me to establish a way of working. Before doing anything though, I had to define what discipline means. 

Cependant, je dis tout ça, mais je suis beaucoup plus enclin à la procrastination. Je ne pousse jamais à passer à l'action. C'est pour cela que ce mois-ci est en quelques sortes une manière d'établir une éthique de travail. Par contre, avant de faire quoi que ce soit, j'ai dû définir qu'est-ce qu'être disciplinée.

Then, I figured out what I wanted to be disciplined about. I created a list of things that I want to succeed in, and I figured out what could help me to accomplish my goals.

Puis, j'ai décidé ce dans quoi je voudrais être disciplinée. J'ai créé une liste de ce que je veux accomplir et je me suis trouvée quelques trucs pour accomplir ceux-ci.

I also found a list of resolutions I made last summer that could motivate me on my creative path. On that note, I will be posting every Monday evening, and maybe other evenings if I get good at this whole no procrastination lifestyle.

J'ai aussi trouvé une liste de résolutions que j'ai fait l'été passé qui pourront me motiver dans mon parcours créatif. Sur ce, je vais publier des articles tous les lundi soirs, et peut-être d'autres soir si je deviens bonne à vivre sans procrastination.

Brain Warp

So I'm back from the dead with a new name, new ideas and a new image. New year, new me, am I right? Actually, that's not totally true. I was trying to figure out how I should format an entirely new blog when I realized that I just wanted to make my original idea evolve. That idea being that I explore different themes from month to month. The only difference with this revival will be that I'm going to focus my attention on a my creative work (e.g.: dance, videos, pictures, etc.). However, I still want to put energy into opinion based texts.

On that note, I give to you the new and improved: Brain Warp! Why Brain Warp you may ask? Well, with my art I want to change and bend my mind and body into shapes I've never seen before. I want to take risks and discover what is unknown to me in the world. I want to create a discipline so I can thrive in what I love. That's why I will be sharing all about that theme until the end of February. 

Alors, je suis de retour avec un nouveau nom, de nouvelles idées et une nouvelle image. "New year, new me" comme on dirait en anglais, n'est-ce pas? En fait, c'est pas tout à fait vrai. J'essayais de trouver un format pour créer un blog entièrement nouveau lorsque j'ai réalisé que je voulais seulement faire évoluer mon idée de base. Cette idée étant qu'à chaque mois j'explore un thème différent. La seule différence avec la renaissance actuelle du blog est que je vais me concentrer davantage sur mon travail créatif (e.x.: danse, vidéos, photos, etc.) Par contre, j'ai tout de même envi de garder une place pour les articles d'opinion.

Sur ce, je vous présente un blog nouveau et amélioré: Brain Warp! Pourquoi Brain Warp, vous vous demandez? Et bien, avec mon art je veux transformer mon esprit et mon corps pour créer de choses inconnues. Je veux prendre des risques et découvrir ce qui m'est inconnu dans le monde. Je veux établir une discipline pour réussir dans le domaine que j'aime. C'est pour cela que jusqu'à la fin du mois de février j'explorerai ce thème initial. 

Body & Mind

Body & Mind, sounds like the name of a body product or a new age yoga group. Sadly, it's not. But don't worry, it's this month's theme. Yes, fellas! March 2015 will be dedicated to creating a union between these two important aspects of our existence. Plato will turn in his grave as I try to understand how I can center my life equally between my flesh and intellect. I will have lots to share, because this has been the fruit of my thoughts throughout the past few months.

How do I balance my life between my physical self and my psychological self? Is one more important than the other? Does our society have a bias on the subject? These our some of the questions that have been floating around me, and I will try to explore them as much as possible for the next 28 days.

Body&Mind from Imogen.Andersen on 8tracks Radio.

Devil Got My Woman

Devil Got My Woman - Skip James

Hi everybody! As you might of noticed, I haven't posted anything during this short month of February and I'm not planning on posting anything either. I have been sick with a cold, and lots of little things have been happening, so I would prefer to take a rest until March. Don't worry, I'm doing fine. I'm just searching for inspiration and sorting things out slowly. I will be posting at least once on Grime Vibes though. (That's a plus for you!) Anyways, I hope you are all having a wonderful Valentine's day and a fabulous month.

Peace out,

Imogen.

Grown Woman

Grown Woman - Beyoncé

I've thought a little bit about womanhood in the past, although this month I put a little extra thought into it. I know we're technically in February and I should be moving on to a different theme, but I believe it's important to finalize what I want to say on the subject. To give an idea of how I proceeded in my exploration, here are some questions I used to guide myself. What is womanhood? Is it important to emphasize the use of this term? Could it simply be adulthood?

Firstly, I'd like to clarify the definition of this word that can sometimes be very vague to some. Womanhood means the state or condition of being women. It defines women as a whole, a collectivity. It also stands for women who are no longer girls. Basically, this word signifies maturity, aging and the responsibility of women in general.

Now that that's out of the way, let's carry on to our main analysis. Though, adulthood and womanhood are very similar in their form, I believe there should be a slight differentiation between the two. On one hand, we have a term that includes the world population. There's nothing wrong with that, except that women have a particular status in society that should be pondered upon more.

To me womanhood is about understanding the position of women in society and sharing our knowledge about it with others. It is a way of taking a stand against the unrealistic standards of our society and distancing ourselves from them by doing whatever we have to do. I see this concept as a informal solidarity group for women around the world. It serves the purpose of encouraging each other and uplifting ourselves into a position of fulfillment and richness. Therefore, I think transitioning into womanhood is very important, because it is like signing a paper saying: "I will encourage my peers and not feel subjected to follow all of our societies norms."

I would also like to particularly emphasize the idea of transition. Womanhood and adulthood is all about evolving and change, it isn't a level up in Mario Bros. It might sound obvious to some, but it wasn't to me at first. I often expect things to change drastically from one day to another without any effort, but that's unrealistic. If we want change, there is an effort that has to be put into it. That is valuable for anything in life. It's also something I'm working very hard on lately. Thus, to fully flourish in womanhood, one must await to put energy into it. Miracles are rare.

On a last note, i'd like to share an observation I would of never thought about if it weren't for this article by Junot Diaz. It shows probably one of the only advantages there is to be placed second in society. To paraphrase what he says in his short text, Junot says women have a bigger point of view on society. We are born into a world were we are taught the mentality of white, cis-gender, heterosexual men (WCHM). Consequently, everyone outside that category has the advantage of having both the experience of the average WCHM and their own. He develops his point of view through literature, saying women create more refined characters because of their larger acknowledgement of what surrounds them. Basically, this is a great example that shows that it's possible to use our disadvantages to elevate ourselves.

All and all, being a woman can be amazing if we learn to work in solidarity, and if we encourage each other to take a stand in a world where women are still seen as unequal to men. I would also like to add that this idea of unity is applicable to any group of people who face inequality in this world; people of color, transgender people, Native Indians, you name it! Be curious and discover what others have to say about their experience in society.