Hypothesize the expected outcome

As the week went on, I continued to think about this fear assignment.  I pushed it further than what I had thought about doing before class last week.  That being said, I would like to change the expected reaction because I have a new angle on the assignment.  I think the class will still find my take interesting.  I think they will think it is "therapeutic" and a good way to process fear. At first I was doing my project based on why we have fear.  Now I am at the place where I want to explore what you do with that fear.  I hope the class finds away to use my take on the project to explore their own thoughts.

Reaction about fear assignment

I think the class will find my perspective unique and interesting.  I want their reaction to be that they learn something and to maybe give them something new to think about.

What has stuck sideways?

What are 3 things you remember from this class thus far?

• The first thing would have to be the fish bowl.  I really have realized how much I like to be "fish bowled".  Expectations are easier for me to process and complete when I have them laid out for me.  The lack of a fish bowl has definitely been a challenge for me.
• I really enjoyed the book assignment.  I love books and really enjoyed taking the time to look at one in different ways.  I never thought that the reason I love some books so much could have been because of the way the paper felt or the way that the book smelled.
• The third thing that comes to mind when I think about what I remember from class so far is the video we watched about the guy who makes pottery.  That video was very cool and I really liked his perspective on creativity and art.

How has your experience in this class been different from your experiences in other classes? If it has not been different, explain what is similar to your other classes.

• The experience in this class has definitely been different than that in other classes.  Honestly, I would say this class is more difficult for me.  I think this is because going to school for me is a checklist.  My mindset has not really been "what can I get out of school" but has been "what is on the list that I need to complete to meet or exceed the expectation."  I have a career and I am not in school for career advancement.  I make enough money I can pay a mortgage, car payment, tuition without taking any student loans, vacations, save for retirement, etc.  I am in school only to get that piece of paper.  This class has been challenging because there is not a checklist for me.  My assignment is to take an idea and "go do something" with it.  That is so ambiguous.  It is a challenge because I feel like I have to personally invest in what I create, not just make a website that contains x, y, and z or write a paper.  I think this class has shed a new perspective so far.  My attitude in school has not been what can I learn, but what do I need to complete.

What would you like to get from the rest of this class?

• That is a good question.  I am not sure what I want to get out of the class, I had not thought about it in those terms.  It goes back to my normal mindset of what does the course expect to get out of me.  I guess I would like to continue to explore creativity in this class and learn about ways people have challenged creativity and pushed it farther.

Unexpected improv

For this assignment I put my totem (an Eiffel tower keychain piece) into a candle. I also scented the candle myself with vanilla and hibiscus oil. What I think is awesome about what I did is that as the candle burns, more and more of the totem is revealed - kind of a cool concept!! Finally, when the candle is completely burned, the totem is free again. I like the concept of this being like a cycle, full circle.

Totemic bliss

I may be cheating on this assignment. I'm spending more than one hour doing what I love. I am currently writing this blog post from: Disney world!! :) (I will not be back for class today) BUT I will be in totemic bliss!!

Take Away

I had a couple of take aways from class today.  My first take away was just how varied and interesting the projects were this week.  It is neat to see what people do when they are not fish bowled.  I liked seeing the differences: videos, tattoos, cookies, etc.  The second thing that stood out to me is that we need to be more aware of the difference between each of us in order for us to appreciate each other's work.  The videos we saw were great, however, it is important to keep in mind how everyone else will see your work.  Sometimes your point could be lost.  I think it is very eye-opening to consider those who are hearing impaired or may have another disability such as dyslexia.  When we create anything, for school, work, or pleasure, we want it to be able to be enjoyed by all.

Tyger tyger burning bright

I found this project to be slightly challenging at first.  The lack of a "fish bowl" is almost overwhelming.  I thought about a few ideas before I came up with the one I settled on.  My first idea was to compare my cat to a tiger and do something with that (yes, I may be a crazy cat lady).  I thought about the time one of my cats was held "captive".  He is typically an outside/inside cat and loves roaming the neighborhood.  Keeping him inside makes him angry and depressed.  One day he came home injured (not sure what happened to him).  After a visit to the vet it was decided he had to wear a cone and remain inside for one month while he healed.  This made him feel so distraught and upset, probably similar to the way a tiger in captivity feels.  But, I decided that maybe a difficult connection to make in class in our two minute presentation, so I started reading through my 50 questions and wanted to make something based off of those.  What was difficult here is that I could not come up with just one question to use.  So, what I did was made a collage based of half of the questions I asked.  I went through every other question and put something to represent it in a collage.  Once I settled on this idea, it became a lot of fun and somewhat challenging to find a way to represent some of my strange questions.  I would say that this assignment was more difficult than the book assignment just because it was like the bead assignment, very open.  I continue to be amazed at how it is challenging to come up with something given so much freedom.  Below is my collage.

What if Questions

What if that tiger could talk?

What if that tiger was free?

What if that tiger was lonely?

What if people didn't put them in cages?

What if I never saw a tiger face to face?

What if no one did?

What if tigers were extinct?

What if no one ever killed a tiger?

What if we didn't crowd them onto smaller pieces of land?

What if we never built what we built by crowding them onto smaller land?

What if we live in zoos?

What if our houses are cages?

What if our houses are a refuge?

What if you can't tell them apart?

What if its both?

What if a tiger liked his cage?

What if he could choose his cage?

What if we could cage our choices?

What if our choices are cages?

What if we thought like a tiger?

What if that made us uncivilized?

What if we aren't civilized?

What if tigers are civilized?

What if tigers wore clothes?

What if tigers were like apes and could learn sign language?

What if tigers felt shame?

What if tigers had personalities as varied as people?

What if some liked to show off at the zoo?

What if some hated finger pointing?

What if they hated camera flashes?

What if they felt like celebrities?

What if we knew?

What if tigers could fly?

What if tigers could swim?

What if tigers could drive?

What if tigers could ski?

What if tigers could build buildings?

What if tigers opened their cages?

What if they put us in cages?

What if tigers had to ask 50 what if questions?

What if tigers wore shoes?

What if tigers wrote books?

What if tigers told stories?

What if tigers were green?

What if tigers were friends?

What if tigers were vegetarians?

What if tigers had super powers?

What if tigers could create?

What if tigers could paint?

What if tigers could tell us their dreams?