It makes sense given that imitation is a large part of how we learn and the gauge by which progress is evaluated.
As
a teenager I remember trying to provoke a reaction from my father, who
studied honours in psychology before being conscripted into the army
near the end of the Vietnam War.
I grew my hair, pierced an ear and pursued various ways to appear obnoxious like wearing t-shirts with offensive slogans.
His
response was frustrating at the time of being a rebellious young adult,
as he'd opine something droll like "I see you've moved from one social
norm to another as a way of asserting your individuality."
So the idea in this post that my friend shared on Facebook reflects something of that lesson.
However,
one of the experiences that probably had a more profound effect on me
than the wisdom of my father was living with divorced parents.
On
weekends I'd be in my father's house and discovering new technology
like computers, compact discs and video tapes, then during the week I'd
live with my mother who was surviving on a government benefit.
In
some ways mum's demonstrations of being able to survive on less in an
affluent society have probably had a more profound impact on me, I
think.
I still do a lot of shopping at
secondhand stores, seek out discounted items at the supermarket and when
I took out a loan on a house I made sure I could make repayments while
on unemployment benefits, because I sooned tired of full-time work and
have never really returned.
It's the idea of a
social identity that probably underpins my creative practices, but I am
wondering whether I have a couple of identities from the modelling I saw
as a child.
