Sunday, February 12, 2012

Express Yourself!

E is for "Express Yourself!!!!!"

The the more you do it, the better you get.  And in our world today, there are SO many options and ways to express ourselves.  When you think of it, it's breathtaking...

...and yet there is so much misunderstanding.

Aside from the obvious messages when expressing ourselves, an understated part of expressing and communicating is incorporating verbal and nonverbal cues; to listening to what IS said or portrayed, and to what IS NOT; to carefully selecting visual objects or words while keeping in mind length, message medium, and the audience involved.


HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF???  Here are some examples - enjoy them and leave your expressions in the comments.


Whether you express yourself with the faces you make, or the images you create

... be they comics
 
 ... photos


... or paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc.













The songs that you sing...


OR The way you move your the body and gifts you were given -as this Dance clip at Central Station, Antwerp Belgium shows..

And this Martha Graham clip expresses:



Or the words you share...Be they:
(Kenneth Branagh's) Shakespeare's Henry V Speech on the Eve of Saint Crispen's Day
    Or. (Taylor Mali's) Slam poetry, relaying bravery, passion, and pathos
       
      Others may take a completely different approach and express themselves through cooking, baking, decorating...
      From: djssugarshack

      The keys to successful expression are:
      • experiment in multi-modal means of expression
      • practice with others
      • practice in front of a mirror or tape yourself
      • keep track of others' reactions to your various means and modes of exprssion
      • put your whole 'self' into it
      • embrace it and have fun!
      Some interesting tid-bits on expression:
      1. Slam poetry is a multi-modal means of expression. While it is a verbal-visual-vocal retelling involving words, facial expressions, body posture and movement, voice volume adjustments,  and visual body cues.
      2. Comic books are another means of multi-modal expression integrating visual and verbal communication.  While the writers select the essence of the story, artists enhance the message as readers integrate the art and word with their own stores of knowledge and experiences to construct the entire story.
      3. Music and science:  Michaeleen Doucleff in Saturday/Sunday (Feb. 1-12, 2012) Wall Street Journal article, "Anatomy of a Tear-Jerker" notes that science has uncovered what in music evokes emotional reactions - in this case why Adale's "Someone Like You' makes listeners cry:
      Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda analyzed properties of songs that made people cry and found they contained an "appoggiatura" - a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound, which when resolved releases a 'feel good' feeling.
      "'Someone Like You' which Adele wrote with Dan Wilson is sprinkled with ornamental notes similar to appoggiaturas....[and] during the chorus, Adele slightly modulates her pitch at the end of long notes right before the accompaniment goes to a new harmony, creating mini-roller coasters of tension and resolution" said Dr. Guhn, psychologist at the University of British Columboia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject."
      Martin Guhn and Marcel Zentner found that 'chill-provoking' musical passages shared at least four features: (1) "They began softly and then suddenly became loud. (2)They included an abrupt entrance of a new 'voice'. (3)They often involved an expansion of the frequencies played (ex. the voilins jump up one octave to echo the melody). (4) They contained unexpected deviations in the melody or the harmony.  Music is most likely to tingle the spine, in short, when it includes surprises in volume, timbre and harmonic pattern."

       Regardless of the mean or mode of expression, do it as Taylor Mali says..."with authority!"

      28 comments:

      1. Love Adele. This song is so awesome!

        Mary

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      2. Interesting post! I'm over from Magical Mondays!

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      3. So true! Dropping by from Monday Madness. Drop by Happy Hour Projects and say hello if you have a minute!

        Adrianne
        www.happyhourprojects.com

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      4. Interesting expressing :) Stopping by from Twinfatuation's Makes My Monday

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      5. Love your post,thanks for linking up to Creative Mondays :)

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      6. That Kenneth Brannagh speech before St. Crispin's day is one of my very favorites of ALL TIME!!!

        This post---and particularly that clip---Make My Monday! Thank you so much for playing along!

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      7. You have a lot of great, informative posts on your blog! I'm running short on time this week and will be away from my blog for the next week. Hope to get a chance to catch up after that. Thanks for stopping by the Google+ hop. Do you have an acct. I can't seem to find the button. There's also Linky Followers now that you can use to have people follow you on. A lot of people are starting to use that for followers now, too. For now, I'll subscribe to your emails!

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      8. Oh, I love Calvin and Hobbes! Calvin is so good at expressing himself and yet so misunderstood! This is a great post--thank you so much for sharing it at Teach Me Tuesday!

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      9. Expressing myself especially out in the crowd is hard for me sometimes.

        Happy valentine's day!

        Emergency Scam
        Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

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      10. I LOVE that song Express Yourself. Got appropriated in some rap song that I don't remember (tho, in fact, I own it.)
        I sing in choir. I blog. I try to express myself that way...
        ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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      11. Expressing myself. When I was young I was to shy to express much, and now after many, many years of learning how to express myself, they can't shut me up. ; ))

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      12. Great post for E day. Self expression is important as well as having those around us expressing themselves. Carver ABC Wednesday Team

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      13. I agree that how we express ourselves is frequently misunderstood. To quote myself from something I once posted on my Penelope Puddlisms blog: “ … good people who mean well still manage to misunderstand one another on so many different levels. The result ranges from minor disputes to silent suffering and misguided decisions, to global strive. Human survival depends on a marvelous mix of signals we give and get. Yes … we achieve a connection and empathy much of the time. But we also get it wrong and make assumptions to fill in the blanks. In fact, we are all storytellers in our own minds continually creating motivation and implications about the behaviors of others.”

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      14. I ran the full gamet of emotions in this post.
        I guess I express myself though the arts, mostly photography. I used to be in a singing group which I loved.
        Oh how I would love to be dancing like the Flash Mob.
        Another way I think I express myself is through serving and volunteering. Giving is a wonderful way of expression.
        Terrific post today.

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      15. Shakespeare knew the formula for a spine tingling speech,for sure.
        Jane x

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      16. The first time I heard Adele, I was hooked! Bought the CD "21" and listen over and over to it. My favourite is "Lovesong" as it has so much meaning for me and Lorne - if we ever get married, I'd like it to be our first dance song.

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      17. Hello.
        I'm a poet. I also love to sing, dance, eat and talk. I am at my most expressive when I'm writing...that's my passion.
        Interesting post. Love the dance video.
        Thanks for sharing.
        Endless Love And Devotion

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      18. What an inspiring post! I express myself through photography, writing, blogging, singing (but only in the shower). It's an essential part of life, I think. Thanks for sharing this!

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      19. GREAT POST!! Just wanted to say thank you for joining our Welcome Wednesday blog hop! We hope to see you stop by weekly and even maybe enter some of our giveaways and check out our freebies & deals! We are so happy to be new followers of your blog and can't wait to come back! You are more than welcome to grab our special Welcome Wednesday button which will link you directly to our hop each week & that also helps spread the word about our great event!

        THANKS!
        Kristin & Jaime
        --
        Take It From Me

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      20. I've had an entertaining time with your clips, wonderful Henry V, words and then the music rising. Love Adele. I might be going to Antwerp later this year, I'll be checking out the station.

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      21. Loved the song Someone like you - never heard it before but really loved it. Music and writing are my expressions. Awesome post and thanks for dropping by my blog.

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      22. One of the biggest expressions I make is under one of my "titles" The Cookie Lady. I love to bake, most of my life my baking as been a way I expressed myself...In fact, today I gave cookies to the repairman who fixed my husband's brakes.

        Your post was such an interesting read...thanks for all the expressions you put into it!!!

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      23. Oh, I love this post! I trained as a musician, so that is one way I express myself...

        This was a very interesting post- thanks!

        Have a great Thursday!

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      24. Interesting post...Found you from Friday Blog Hop & following you. Hope you will visit me.
        Food Corner

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      25. Hi! I'm a new follower from Hop Along Friday. I'd love it if you would follow me back!

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      26. Hi! I really enjoyed your post. I am your newest GFC follower. I hope that you can follow me too. Thanks http://www.coolchicreviews.blogspot.com/

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