Let’s begin with some questions. How do you dress when you hang out with your friends outside? Which ice cream flavour do you like most? Do you prefer classical music or pop music? The questions don’t seem to be connected — but they are all associated with your self-expression.
Introduction to self-expression
Self-expression is about how we express ourselves to others. We are always expressing ourselves to others, even if we don’t realise it. Criss Jami wrote in his book Killosophy, “Everyone has their own ways of expression.” Therefore, there are different types of self-expression.
The two main types are verbal self-expression (e.g. talking) and non-verbal self-expression (e.g. facial expressions, body language). Other types are creative self-expression (e.g. writing, painting), emotional self-expression (e.g. crying, yelling, smiling), etc. People usually show themselves through verbal self-expression.
Some people prefer creative self-expression to convey their thoughts. A notable example is Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) — many of his works were reflecting his own life and also thoughts related to universal themes. To give an example, his award-winning novel The Old Man and the Sea described his opinions about the struggle for meaning and purpose of life. Another example is Criss Jami (1987 — present). In his book Killosophy, he expressed his thoughts on various topics, including life, love, religion, politics, and human nature. People may prefer writing as it can help them process and understand their thoughts and feelings better.
Others express themselves through music (also a type of creative self-expression). Music is described as the “language of the emotions” by researchers. Through music, people can intricately express complex emotions and generate mood states that may be difficult to be classified as positive or negative by writing. A remarkable musician is Beyoncé (1981 — present). Many of her songs explore a wide range of emotions, from regretting (“Sorry” in the album Lemonade) to forgiving (“All Night” in the album Lemonade), and from feeling alone (“Love Drought” in the album Lemonade) to feeling love (“Crazy in Love” in the album Dangerously in Love). Her songs explore a wide range of emotions, both positive and negative.
Self-expression and personality
It is a widely accepted concept in psychology that how we express ourselves forms our personality. The below scenarios will showcase examples of how self-expression affects personality and how people see you.
Let’s say Tom is an introvert and prefers staying at home. One evening, he receives a call from his classmate John, who rarely speaks to Tom. How does Tom manifest himself as an introvert to John? First, by how he acts: Tom rejects John by saying (i.e. expressing his thoughts) that he prefers not to go out. Next, by how he speaks: Tom is unenthusiastic about this conversation. He only answered with a few short sentences — he listens more than he speaks. Tom expresses himself as someone who doesn’t like to speak. John will know that Tom is an introverted person.
Now Tom wants to challenge himself to be an extrovert. He arrives at the birthday party of Max (a close friend). But Tom doesn’t know many of Max’s friends. He wants to be more outgoing, so he stands in the middle of the room. This action showcased that he is friendly and is welcome to conversations. Bob, a friend of Max, walks beside Tom. Tom starts the conversation by revealing himself as an energetic person. He also shows his excitement during their conversation, by varying the tone of his voice and maintaining a positive attitude. In this way, he expresses himself to Bob that he is talkative. Then Max also joined the conversation, which shows that Max is sociable. Tom conveys his change from an introvert to an extrovert.
Importance of self-expression in personal growth
You may still think: Why should I care about my self-expression? Self-expression is critical to your personal growth and development. With better personal growth, you can have a more fulfilling life. Therefore, you should care about your self-expression.
When you share yourself with others, they know more about your inner thoughts. According to Judith Glaser, when you reveal yourself to others, you move into a state of partnering by being open to sharing yourself with others and vice versa. By acting authentically, you trigger the prefrontal cortex in your brain, and you can access higher-level abilities like creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving.
When you repeat this process repeatedly, your communication skills can also be improved, leading to better relationships. Maintaining good relationships with others is essential as they can provide encouragement, feedback, and opportunities for your personal growth. At the same time, while expressing yourself to others, you gain self-confidence as you share your thoughts without the fear of judgement. Having self-confidence can make you communicate easier with others.
Creativity through self-expression and self-awareness
By discovering your personality, actions, emotions, and thoughts through self-expression, you can understand your own self more thoroughly and gain self-awareness: the ability to know yourself clearly and objectively. In this process, imagination can be triggered by exploring your inner thoughts. You can break from accustomed modes of expression, and explore new ways of communicating your ideas and feelings.
When you develop your self-awareness, personality and imagination, your creativity will be improved. After having a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, you can discover genres where you can express your ideas in new and unique ways. With self-awareness, you can identify and overcome mental blocks that may hinder your creativity. After recognizing your biases and fears and overcoming them, your creativity may be boosted to a new level, thus having better personal growth.
Furthermore, being different can also enhance your creativity. When you discover your unique traits and characteristics through self-expression and personal growth, you are differentiated from others. Your strengths, weaknesses, and interests, make you unique and different from others. You can be yourself — different from others — by embracing your quirks and individuality. Being different can also encourage you to think outside the box, thus you can think more creatively. When you think divergently, you may find a different perspective or approach to a problem, thus discovering solutions that others haven’t considered.
For instance, a company in the United States called “John’s Crazy Socks” was co-founded by John Lee Cronin. John has always been different from others because he has Down syndrome. However, being divergent is not a bad thing — through self-expression, he found that he likes socks most. Therefore, he decided to open a business with his father. By embracing his uniqueness and interests, he is now successfully operating a socks store, even though his likeness to socks is one-of-a-kind.
Self-expression portraying in Melinda Gebbie’s quote
Underground comix artist Melinda Gebbie has said, “Self-expression has to come out pure. It has to have an environment waiting for it. It has to have a garden it can plant itself in.”
In the first sentence of the quote, it is depicted that self-expression has to come out purely from your own self. What makes self-expression important and unique is that it comes from your unique, bona fide self, purely without anyone interfering or judging your opinions and thoughts. Guitarist Michael Schenker has said, “If you copy then it is not self-expression.”
Melinda Gebbie believes that creating an environment receptive to self-expression is crucial. In the quote, developing self-expression is compared with a seed in a garden. They both need an appropriate nurturing environment to grow and flourish. In other words, you need to find a suitable place to convey yourself and the right audience to listen to your own concepts and inner thoughts.
It doesn’t matter who is your audience — what matters is that your audience will not deprecate your thoughts. Without worrying that people may not like your ideas, your self-expression to others will be more authentic and honest. You won’t need to narrow down and limit your topics deliberately; instead, you can talk freely about your thoughts. To fully express yourself, you need to feel free and safe to explore your ideas and emotions without fear of judgment or criticism.
For instance, Emma Watson has been vocal for the empowerment of girls. In 2014, she was appointed as a Goodwill ambassador by the UN Women. The UN Headquarters offer a safe environment for Emma Watson to express her ideas without fearing for prevarication. In September of the same year, she delivered a speech to launch the campaign “HeForShe”, aiming for gender equality.
In the quote’s last sentence, Melinda Gebbie highlights that self-expression is not just your own action — you need to find a good environment (metaphorized as a garden) so that you can show yourself freely to others. It is influenced by the people and thoughts around you. Therefore, a supportive and open-minded community with acceptance for different views and values is needed for developing self-expression.
A positive community
An encouraging community is needed for promoting self-expression, thus nurturing creativity. By providing a free and open space for people to communicate, creativity can be fostered. When people feel that they are accepted by others, they will express themselves without prevarication, while further developing creativity.
An example is Ellen DeGeneres, the host of the world-famous The Ellen DeGeneres Show. By gaining self-awareness, she recognised herself as a lesbian in 1997. Her mother, Betty DeGeneres, became one of her strongest supporters, and also an active member of PFLAG, after knowing that her daughter came out. By gaining acceptance from the community, she now openly acknowledges herself as a lesbian, and married Portia de Rossi in 2008.
In a positive community, people are encouraged to speak freely, which makes them feel more connected to the environment. Successful communities are open to hearing opinions that diverge from the majority. Moreover, a positive community can provide people with a sense of purpose and belonging, which is a powerful motivator. When people feel connected with a group, they tend to be more motivated. With motivation, they can accomplish their common goals, and contribute their creativity to something larger and more meaningful.
In addition, when people are surrounded by others who share their personal interests and passions, they move to the state of partnering. In the state of partnering, people can offer constructive feedback, which can help them to learn and improve.
Conclusion
Self-expression is everywhere; it is an essential tool for communication. Showing yourself publicly directly affects your personality and how others think about you. It can also affect your personal growth and development, as you move to the state of partnering through sharing your opinions with others. Then, a virtuous cycle is formed: through expressing yourself more, your communication skills can also be improved, which can lead to greater relationships. Upon this, you can gain self-confidence, thus you can communicate easier with others.
In your personal growth, creativity is also essential. Through self-expression, you can discover your own strengths and weaknesses. By overcoming them, not only can you enhance your creativity, but you can also have better personal development.
Underground comix artist Melinda Gebbie has said, “Self-expression has to come out pure. It has to have an environment waiting for it. It has to have a garden it can plant itself in.” This signifies the importance of a suitable environment for manifesting yourself. What defines a suitable environment is that it should be accepting, encouraging, and supporting. With people that are willing to hear your opinions without criticizing, you will express yourself more freely and honestly.
As you can see, self-expression is very important and it is beneficial to you. We should be aware of the significance of self-expression.