Background
A lady I know from the knitting store sent out this mass email (of course I did not respond and send it on to all my friends, knowing that I am SO not a mass emailer):
Describe me in one word.... just one single word.
Send it to me and to me only.
Then send this message to all your friends and see how many strange & interesting things they say about you.
The email sat there and I stewed about it. Nearly a month later, I sent her this:
[start email]Believe it or not, I have been thinking about this a lot--it has to do with a book I am thinking of writing.
OK, so your word is:
OPEN
Here is how I apply it to you (I realize this is not part of the deal, but it is the idea of categorizing a person by one word and how it would affect your ideas about that person that intrigues me):
- You are open in how you view the world
- You are open to new experiences
- You are open to others who may differ from you
- You are open to the voice in your heart
- You interact with other people in an open, honest fashion
- You are open in how you share your feelings with others
I wonder how I would view you if I had picked another word? I am going to post on my blog an invitation for people to post a word about me, and then I will give them a word if I can think of one. It should be interesting.
[end email]
So, I have been thinking about how applying a label shapes how you think about another person. I think it would be interesting to note how the labels others would give to me would affect my own perceptions of myself. And can I give one-word characterizations like that to others? I am not sure!
The One Word Challenge
So, blog readers, are you up to the challenge? Can you describe me in one word? If you can, please post it in the comments but think of your word BEFORE looking at the others (I'd like to see if any repeat). In return, I will try to think of a word for everyone who contributes. I'll make it a blog entry and you can book mark it and come back, once it's up (I will link to it here).
I think we can learn a lot by considering how our perception of someone else
is shaped by how we categorize them in general, and whether thinking of a one-word
label for someone affects your view of them.
Then, think about how reading all the labels that I hope to find applied to
me affect your perception of me. I know it is weird to subject myself to such
scrutiny, but I didn't want to do it to anyone else, so I win.
Thanks in advance for participating!
