Jaycee Snelson Week #3: Chameleon
Jaycee Snelson-Week 3: Chameleon
Whenever you think of a chameleon what is the first thing you think? To me, my first thought is their special ability to shift colors. They shift from their typical green to a multitude of colors like bright pink, purple, and even a mix of colors.
Every day I feel like a chameleon as I shift my personality to fit those around me.
I've always been a people pleaser, wanting every person I meet to like me. Over time that has evolved to me shifting my colors to fit the group or person's own identity. “Oh, you like pop music. Me too!” “You hate country music?” I guess I won't tell you I think it's fine. “Me too, it's awful.” It is exhausting constantly remembering what persona I came up with for each person. Did I tell her I love coconut ice cream or was it him I told that too?
Becoming tired of constant worry of saying the wrong thing to someone, shattering the perfect color created just for them, I slowly started to stop trying to match them perfectly. I realized that it's ok for my opinion not to match everyone else's perfectly and no one will hate me just because we disagree on a little thing, like our favorite icecream flavor. Now, instead of coming up with a whole new color for each person, I am content with using the colors I already have. I found that being human is much more fun and freeing than being a chameleon, worried about all my many colors and if I am showcasing the right one at all times.
Jaycee, I'd like to start by answering the question asked at the start of your blog. When I hear chameleon, my mind races to Pascal and the lantern scene from Tangled (which is SUCH a good movie imo).
ReplyDeleteI like the imagery in the first paragraph; it feels like as I read, I am imagining the various colors of a chameleon.
I am not fully sure if all English classes did this, but I remember reading Trevor Noah's autobiography and he also compared himself to a chameleon! I really liked that book, and do highly recommend it if you have not read it.
I'm not sure if this is true or not but if you do (and I hope you do) LOVE COCONUT ICE CREAM, me too! I loveee coconut ice cream and am so happy you decided to include it in your blog.
The "shattering the perfect color" line; OOH! That was a bar.
I really like how there was an underlying theme/ extended metaphor of being a chameleon throughout the text. And then at the end with the last paragraph, where you used the word "color" in numerous different ways. I really like the way that was written.
One more detail I observed and enjoyed reading was the italicized lines you included. It felt like I was in your head, and hearing your thoughts, and I feel like it allowed me to connect more with the blog.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read, and am especially happy you included ice cream lol.
P.S.
I read it again and wanted to say I liked the transformation type line of when you wrote about how being a human is more fun than being a chameleon. I feel like it added to the extended metaphor as it depicted growth.
When I think of chameleons, I also first think of their abilities to shift their colors and blend in. Your description of the variety of colors a chameleon can turn into is really cool! It kinda connects to the rapid contrast you talk about later about how you change yourself around other people, since your opions vary a lot when talking to them
ReplyDeleteThe one sentence paragraph about you feeling like a chameleon adds a lot of impact on the sentence and helps me to understnad the central focus of the blog better. Also, the choice of using italics in order to represent you thoughts made reading a lot more convenient! However, if you want to try and express a thought alogn with a dialogue in the future, you could also use parenthesis since those also separate the content inside from the other writing.
I'm really glad that you have been able to break out of the habit of changing yourself to suit other peoples' wants and feel more free to just be yourself around others!
Jaycee, I can relate to your personality-changing chameleon-like qualities, although I find it especially interesting that you shift toward mimicking the identity of the person you’re interacting with, like a real chameleon does in their quest of camouflage. I really enjoy the way you formatted your third paragraph too—the way you use italicization to depict your thoughts feels immersive and reminds me of certain writing styles in novels. The growth you describe through your blog seems like you’ve evolved into the individual human you now are rather than embodying that of a chameleon. It’s like an evolution scene is playing out through your blog; I find that very cool! It’s unfortunate that you mentioned that freak subject of ice cream…(arousing Romir’s interest has to be terrible, I’m sure—haha!) but I like how you use the dessert as the example for the little traits you've molded of yourself in order to appeal to the other person’s agreeability of your identity. The image you chose is also captivating, I didn’t know chameleons could employ such a diverse range of colors!!
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