I believe everyone has meaningful stories. Somewhere out there, there are people who need to hear our stories…
We never know what happened to other people, what makes them do what they do, or wear what they wear. When is the last time you see someone who looked so weird to you, who made you create negatives comments about them? What triggers you to start judging others?
My curiosity about ‘the stories behind people’s looks’, ‘why people dress up like that,’ leads me to create a personal project: “#iwearmystories.”
We all have experience of being judged or bullied while also judged and bullied others. For some people, those painful experiences could haunt and harm them for the rest of their life.
“#iwearmystories” was inspired by how I feel so sick of being judge and judge others too and exhausted witnessing people judging each other without trying to know each other… Judgments can harm people’s heart, trigger their insecurities, and give a huge negative impact on their life.
Don’t we tend to judge and bully people because of their appearance? We might often unconsciously judge others even we still feel guilty because we know that it isn’t the right thing to do.
“Most of us couldn’t help but to naturally judge or analyze people by their appearance. I think it’s our defense mechanism to protect us from the unknown. We feel more comfortable when we know something even a little.”
READ: WHAT DOES OUTFIT MEAN TO YOU
It gave me an idea to learn to stop judging people by trying to remind myself: I also don’t want to be judged… I don’t know them, their reasons, or their stories… and if I have a chance, I decided to ask them directly why…
One and a half years ago, I started to interview random people who were willing to share the stories behind their looks and share their identity.
The people I interview don’t always need to be someone who is fashionable, fashionista, understand fashion or work in the fashion industry. I believe everyone has their own interesting stories to share and reasons why they choose certain clothing, style, or looks.
After writing several stories and posted on my old blog, I started to feel that sharing people’s identity became a burden. Most of the people I interviewed gave me permission to share their identity. Even though I always try to be as neutral as I can, I’m still afraid to make mistake; like writing something that makes them looked bad.
My purpose of interviewing them is to share their stories so others can gain insights, knowledge, inspirations, and also can understand each other more. I don’t want the stories they share —which was supposed to help us learn to stop judging— became a trigger that just makes other people judge them.
Finally, I decided to not mention the identity of the people I interviewed to avoid any worst case scenario.
“#iwearmystories” is my pending project. Most of the interviews occurred in the last few months of 2017 until mid-2018, but I still think that will not make their stories’ power expired. Their stories, their thoughts, their personality might change, but I believe that their stories’ impact won’t change.
For now, I don’t think I’ll be capable of interview too many people, but I’ll try to post “#iwearmystories” at least every once a month. Hopefully, I can more often interview more people and share more precious stories. The first story “A Caring Proof” has been posted! Stay tuned on my blog, subscribe if you want to keep updated with the newest stories. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
While we are still breathing, let’s start to try to stop judging, feed our mind with curiosity, and continue to learn to the best version we could ever be. Open our eyes, ears, and heart… to listen and to see how much beautiful things have been waiting for us to discover in life.
If you want to share your stories, feel free to contact me through comments, e-mail, or Instagram, I’ll be happy to talk or interview you! You can also share your stories on your social media by using #iwearmystories @iwearmymood
Our looks and appearance may worth a thousand words…
but let our heart speak up our own voice…
share our stories through fashion!
What does outfit mean to people? Is it just a piece of clothing to wear or is there something more to it? What can outfits tell about people?
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4 Comments on "#iwearmystories to Learn to Stop Judging Others"
Btw mba, kadang pertanyaan juga beraroma judge loh 😀
Setuju banget, mengapa harus menghabiskan waktu untuk menjudge orang?
sedangkan hidup ini terlalu indah untuk diabaikan dengan sibuk judge orang ya 🙂
Makasih Mbak sudah mampir!
Komentar Mbak benar-benar inspirasi saya buat nge-revisi artikel ini dan nambah-nambahin hal! 😀
Pertanyaan walaupun beraroma menge-judge, bagi saya pribadi lebih mending daripada kita benar-benar langsung menghakimi, karena kita masih bisa mau open dengan jawaban-jawaban, tidak jadi seperti titik, seolah tidak kasih ruang untuk mengerti atau memahami hal baru… Abis klo saya pribadi sering nge-judge otomatis, baru sadar abis ngelakuin. Hehehe.
Iya hidup udah indah, tapi kita sering juga ya belajar supaya bisa melihat keindahan itu hihi. Makasih banyak ya Mbak!