As I sat in the Culp Ballroom, I was among some of the most recognizable staff, faculty and students alike. Just a row in front of me was ETSU President himself, Dr. Brian Noland. Other names you might recognize seated in the room were Calvin Claggett, Joy Fulkerson, Mason Mosier, Shivam Patel, Carter Warden, Morgan Colley– the list goes on.
We all gathered in this ballroom for a special preview event for the “Dear World” event happening on Campus on Oct. 5. Wes Woodson, one of the storytellers for “Dear World”, stepped up to the podium and introduced the initiative.
What he explained in the following 45 minutes was how “Dear World” got its start, other celebrities or key figures who have been involved in the campaign and how to craft our own “brain tattoo”.
The concept of the “brain tattoo” is defined as a physical representation of your story written on your skin as it “connotes a truth and anchors in an authentic perspective,” according to their website.
Woodson invited us to brainstorm some words that represented who we are, whether that be interests, favorite color or defining moments or people in our lives. I wrote down things such as “purple,” “journalism,” “photography,” “mom,” and “family.” After our brainstorming time, he invited at least two people to share what they wrote down; Dr. Noland was the first to volunteer, listing off things ranging from Poptarts to his family.
We then moved on to selecting a word from that list and picking three specific memories from that list and jotting them down. The memories had to be specific, because it had to be something you could pinpoint later on. From these memories, we narrowed down one of them to be our “story”, which is what evolved into the “brain tattoo” we etched into our skin in marker to later be washed away. (It is erasable, I promise.)
After we all decided on our “brain tattoos”, we worked together to write the tattoos on each other. Looking around the room, some chose their forearms as a canvas, others chose their hands or their back.
Being one of the first to finish, I entered the queue to be photographed by the “Dear World” photographer, Alyssa Meadows. Meadows positioned the other participant in front of me in several poses, all representing the message displayed across their arms.
As I stepped in front of the camera, all of my fears and anxieties about the event dissipated. I became less worried about my physical presentation and more at ease with myself.
I left the ballroom happy, smiling knowing that I told a story that was important to me.
I have lived my life mostly behind the camera or on the other side telling other people’s stories, so it is not often I get to publicly share my own.
If you are a member of the ETSU community wondering if your story is important enough to share as part of this event, just know that all stories are important and valued. As Woodson explained, “If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.” I was hesitant to feel like I had a message to share, but everyone has some kind of story within them worth sharing.
I encourage everyone to participate on Oct. 6; they will be set up in the Culp Ballroom Right from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., with a Story Celebration Event at 6 p.m. that same day.
For more information, visit https://dearworldatetsu.rsvpify.com.
