Wendy Chase
In the age of texting, Instagram, and Facebook, it is far too easy for us to edit our words and images so that they can be as perfect as possible. But I think the most exciting parts of life are not lived in a state of knowing or mastery or perfection--they are lived in a state of not-knowing. The Japanese refer to this kind of situation as “wabi-sabi”: the beauty found in things that are imperfect, incomplete, or impermanent.
Leonard Cohen captures the same concept in a wonderful song called “Anthem”.
The refrain goes:
Ring the bell that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything—
That’s how the light gets in.
Waldemar Q. De Lemos
I am a 21-year-old born and raised in Puerto Rico, and I have always been curious about all that surrounds me. If it’s any type of adventure I’m in! By participating in this project, I got the chance to expand my personal network with future professionals and gain a better understanding of other’s passions and viewpoints.
Tyler Carter
The person who has shaped me to be who I am today is my girlfriend, Maddie. When I met Maddie, everything changed. I started becoming more involved in my faith and going to church more. I really started to realize that I can better myself, and I thank God every day that he sent her my way after all the heartbreak I’ve faced before.
Victoria Frisina
I am unique because of my own journeys!
Victor Briz
I am very bubbly and talkative, which makes me unique. And I like being me.
Sophia Hidalgo
What should really matter in life is what makes you happy and the people that make you happy. Social media is not all bad. As an artist, it is beneficial for me to put my work out there and try to get recognized and form a base for my career. Beauty is in passion.
Shirin Bos
I am perfectly imperfect.
This sentence has stuck with me since I was 10-years old because that is me.
My life has put opportunities and stones in my way, but that has shaped who I am today.
Being a Photographer gave me an opportunity to see the world through a different perspective and has shown me whom I want to be, who I am and what I want to stand for.
Sonja Bos
I am a little crazy - I love that because that is my strength.
Rachel Chaifetz
I don’t have a solid definition of beauty, I just go with the flow! At times I don’t want to wear any makeup at all and I feel beautiful and some other times I want to beat my face to the gods and I still feel beautiful. I have put myself through the obstacles of life and without that I would have never been able to pursue what I most enjoy today.
Sandy Bainton
I think what makes me unique is that I see the world as a place of opportunity. People are capable of great things even in terrible situations, beauty can be found throughout the world and that even if one person sees something as trash that another can see it as a treasure. It is all in what that person wants to do with what they find in the world, there is an opportunity in everything. I look for those opportunities for myself to grow and become a better version of myself every day.
Myriam Mompoint
Being ever-curious keeps me interested in and attuned to the creative energy in the world. Humans are hard-wired to create; we seem to have an endless capacity to make art in a multitude of forms. Teaching Humanities allows me to feed this curiosity. My students teach me so much because they bring in their cultural backgrounds and their interests in contemporary artists, writers, musicians. So it is a synergistic relationship between me, the students, and the artists whose works with which we are interacting.
Milo Briz
People can look like me, talk like me or do the same things I do, but we are still different because we grew up differently.
Mateo Hernandez
Experiences humbled me back down to Earth.
Matt Leyesa
I am gay. My whole life is, and will forever be an experience. It shaped me who I am today.
Madison Longridge
I often delete my social media apps so I could focus more on reality and not let negative thoughts of wanting to achieve the unattainable beauty standards and lifestyles I see scrolling through my feed, but social media has also connected me to amazing individuals who share similar beliefs to mine.
Keven Aulet
I found self-love and self-acceptance only recently. Sometimes you find that self-worth later in life and that’s okay.
Lindsey Fischer
I am just too damn stubborn to let something or somebody knock me down.
Karen Aviles
I think beauty are the things that make us up on the inside. A person´s perspective on life is what makes them beautiful. If a person holds kindness, empathy, and tolerance that is beautiful.
Joevany Rosa
Loving yourself for who you are no matter how you look like is amazingly important to a persons' self. Beauty to me is the way a person treats other people as opposed to having beauty standards. When you are a kind person on the inside you are a beautiful person inside out.
Julexiua Ellis
One experience that has shaped me into the person I am today is my brief experience with homelessness. I think that the experience taught me the value of humility and empathy
for others as well as myself. It is definitely something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life and has pushed me further to hold onto my faith and to cherish the
relationships in my life.
Jesus Perez
I like being me.
Isabella Arroyo
It is all about living in the moment.
Grace Longridge
Every day I am surrounded by other cultures and people who look different. I think it is important that we all be reminded of how we are all unique, but still human at the end of the day. No one should be treated differently based on how they look or where they come from.
Haley Gamez
Embracing our differences and finding value in all things is so important to me.
Evelin Perez
I love using social media to connect with people, but I do not let it consume my life.
Emmanuel Briz
There is not really just one thing that impacted me... all the little - tiny things has impacted me to become who I am today. Either positive or negative experiences, we are still changing and evolving with each second.
Charnika Duverge
Social media places such an emphasis on how you look and how you should change your looks to be more beautiful. We should be telling people to love themselves for who they are. For someone to feel beautiful they have to accept themselves first. They use to call me so many names when I was younger. One day I decided to tell myself that I am beautiful and I started paying attention to my own worth. Honestly now...I'm okay.
Daniel Korotko
Andrew Ayala
In the past, I’ve dealt with self-confidence issues, and by participating in this project I had the chance to step out of my comfort zone and to be a part of something cool. I’d say I am an open person and take pride in speaking my mind and being myself, I like being me!
Andrea Gonzalez
When I was younger it was more common for social media to pull a lot of weight on my self-image, but it has also motivated me to achieve what I want for myself, regardless of the standards already set.
Yoel Deciderio
​Social media has not been one of my resources. While many people use it regularly, I have noticed that they start to compare themselves to others and that's why most of the time it is seen as something negative. I have learned to understand my worth and social media is not something that I depend on. At the end of the day, it shouldn't matter how many likes I get on a photo or how many followers I have.
Alex Lopez
My father, this man has taught me what is truly necessary for obtaining fulfillment - Balance. Balance is part of every decision we make, and the actions we perform.
Valentina Osorio
The images of ourselves are drastically affected by social media. It holds this barrier between reality and fiction, fabricating a standard mold we all wish to be apart of. However, I believe in the form of expression, whether through words or actions. The images of others do not define who I am or whom I should become; I’m unique because I’m expressive.
Terri Housley
As a psychology professor, we talk about the importance of personal growth on the individual level because when we cultivate healthy thoughts and feelings about ourselves and others, we not only enhance the quality of our own lives, but we also enhance the quality of our relationships, society, and ultimately, the world at large. I’d like to believe that the more we get educated, by projects like this, more people will put into perspective the insignificance of social comparison and will begin to see themselves and others as people instead of as statuses.
Sage Jones
I feel that what makes me unique is that I can handle extremely hard circumstances. Life has allowed me to experience difficulties where I've been able to learn and carry on.
Sara Duque
As a photographer and being in the media, there is one thing that I've learned. Social media influences us to change, whether it's good or bad; People try to hide their flaws and insecurities to fit in, be like others but one thing is for sure, we can never be the same as others. No matter how hard we try, we are different in our own way, embrace your flaws because they are the ones that make you unique.
Ryan Jones
Maria Garcia
Too many people have been bullied for their appearances or judged for being different. Sometimes we forget that not everyone is the same and we all don't think alike, but that's the beauty of it, we can learn and grow to accept the differences.
Kelsey Bautista
What makes me unique is that when I put my head to something or a big goal I want to achieve I work really hard to get it done. When something catches my eye, I know I have to accomplish it.
Martha Bautista
Social media shouldn't only be about posting when we have something "cool" going on in our lives or when we look good. We should be creating content that brings our community together and brings awareness that spark conversations.
Latavia Phillips
On social media, I usually post videos or images of me having fun, doing something interesting, or well dressed. About 90% of the time, that is not the real me. So in this photoshoot, I decided to show the natural me, the one that doesn't wear make-up or the one that people force me to smile in a picture.
Kelly Maguire
As a young child, I developed the mindset that it was safer to hide my pain behind a mask and pretend I was okay nearly all of the time. Yet, deep inside, all I desperately wanted was for someone to listen. As I have matured and grown-up, I have learned that while it is scary to be vulnerable and show my true colors, it is much worse to live a life that isn’t authentically me.
Agnes Tappen
I think what makes me unique is that because I'm 93 years old, I feel so fortunate that I have the ability to love people for who they are, and I enjoy life like if it was my last day.
Katherine Alcarraz
Society has a set of ideals that forces us to change, but I believed that our beauty is uniquely beautiful, and that is the ideal that makes me a confident person.
Justine Alcarraz
I once tried to fit into society's ideal of beauty; however, when I discover how impossible it was, I hid my perfection under hoodies and sweaters. I grew to understand that my "imperfections" are the perfections that make me an individual who is far from ordinary.
Juanita Duque
Living unapologetically and owning our truths is what makes us unique, however, that is easier said than done. This is my unique self: in my living room, with my partner, after breastfeeding, craving sleep.
Carmen Duque
What makes me unique is the strength I acquired from difficult situations yet having dreams and ambitions to move on. What makes us different from others are our choices, whom we decide to be and where we decide to go despite the circumstances and keep moving on.
Aileen Salas
Throughout my life, there has been only one person I can say really made a significant impact on my life. My grandma has been a person I have looked up to because she has shown me that it isn’t easy to grow up with not a lot of things. Living in America has shown me that we really have it easy. She has shown me the little things that really make a difference in someone’s life and bring happiness.
Jorge Garcia
What makes us unique is our frontal sinus, a part of our anatomy that is unique to each individual.
Alexander Sierra
There is a social pressure that surrounds us that we are attempting to maintain and keep. I believe that is something we should break out of and that we all should be supporting one another.
Be true to your word, your work and yourself.