
A Year of Writing to Uncover the Authentic Self (2024)
Lesson 9: How Others See You
Have you ever stopped to think what other people think of you as a person? Whether they think you’re a good / fun / annoying / adventurous / [insert chosen adjective] person?
I definitely have.
In fact, when I was younger I think this was very very important to me. After all, mom always taught me that how people see you is how they will treat you. First impressions make a difference. If they like you makes a difference. For the most part, I must admit, I have also found this to be true.
However, with age I have also found that the most judgemental people also tend to be the most closed minded people.
I have come to appreciate that every person has a story that makes them who they are. Simply because someone says, does or promotes something that I may or may not agree with doesn’t necessarily make them a good / bad person it just makes them different.
Whereas the world was very black and white when I was younger, I see far more shades of grey now. This is also, I find, what made this specific chapter of A Year to Uncover the Authentic Self rather intriguing.
Lesson Format
Having returned to this course after quite some time way again, I noticed that the format seems to have changed slightly. Whereas previously there were different boxes to complete for different thought exercises now there are only two pages.
One page is the introduction. The second page lists the prompts that get you remembering, reflecting and writing about yourself and your experiences. A box at the bottom then captures all your thoughts.
I quite like the simplified version. I found it kept me a little more focused on the questions rather than jumping around the page to see whether I preferred the second or third box questions better.
However, I’m not sure exactly why, but I felt like the prompts seemed a little more random and disjointed than I had remembered. One moment I’m asked to think about a time I acted in a less than stellar fashion within a group situation – the next I’m asked how I might be portrayed if my life were turned into a movie. Go figure.
My Life as a Movie…?
Despite my somewhat linear brain not necessarily liking the detour, the movie question did get me thinking. If my life were to be a movie, how would I be portrayed?
When you think about it, this question is actually deeper than it appears. After all, there’s the question of how we would like to be portrayed in a movie and then the reality of how we would actually be portrayed. Who knows whether the two would in fact align.
My response was to write down how I think my life should be portrayed. Entirely based upon how I believe my life unfolded and only including the pieces I felt pivotal to tell. However, upon further reflection I really do think it would depend on who was creating the movie’s storytelling script.
It’s All About Perspective
To some people in this world I think the fact that I have lived in 8 countries, learned 10+ languages, gained two degrees, experienced richness and poverty and worked in startup to Fortune 500 companies might be intriguing.
Perhaps if one of them chose to direct the movie of my life they would create a masterfully adventurous, humorous and candid story of a young woman seeking to live life to the fullest. A beautifully crafted story of positivity that would make the world hope, dream, laugh and perhaps even cry with joy in the wakes of its splendour. (You never know – it might even win an Oscar! ;))
Take someone more interested in the emotional side of life, however, and you might find their focus being on something else entirely. Perhaps they would seek to portray a journey of emotional awakening instead.
In this case, maybe they would start with taking a look at my childhood and the innocence and joy of that era creating the positive approach I have to life to this day. Or perhaps they would feel more inclined to focus on the turmoil that followed me leaving the nest.
Going to university, finding my first love, moving across the world, experiencing unwanted sexual assaults, surviving a mental breakdown, my first heartbreak and then rebuilding a new life many miles away from home.
My Thoughts
As I reflected upon this exercise, it became clear that my life could be portrayed in infinite ways. How it would eventually be portrayed, however, would only depend on three things:
- The information I chose to share
- The information others who have met me before chose to share
- The way that information was received by the movie creators
Which really makes me believe that what our life looks like is all about perspective. How someone sees us is not necessarily reality. It is their reality, built through their experience and mindset.
It can match our own reality and vision of ourselves, or it can totally differ.
However, I think the one that will influence our life quality the most will be the reality we choose for ourselves. Be it empowering or debilitating.
And this to me is a powerful lesson to learn.
What’s Next?
I must admit that the deepness and richness of this lesson really only came to me as I was re-capturing my experience in this blog.
Sometimes it takes re-telling our experiences to really understand what it is that’s happened. I reckon that’s why we also keep evolving throughout our lives.
What would happen if we asked the same question to a person each year for a lifetime? I think it’s likely we would get a slightly or very different answer each time we asked.
And I think that’s actually one of the most interesting parts of this writing journey. I don’t know who I will be each time I answer a new week of prompts. Yet looking back at my responses, I can certainly see where I’ve been.
So with that said – on to the next week. Covering a favourite topic of mine – places!

