地球 (Chikyū)
Q: Where are you from?
me: Chikyū!
When I was younger, I often got away with this answer, and it’s not related to a Pikachu. As a child, in the history of silly-answers-to-questions-you-will-get, I would confidently state “Earth” because it is true and a simple answer. As you get older, those answers are no longer sweet, cute, or accepted. The layers that make up our origins have so many facets and perspectives that encompass one’s cultural heritage, race and identity.
I remember when I first made friends in America I would on occasion be described as “exotic”, but I would quickly list commonalities with people they already knew. After time and discussion, it’s easy to convey that I’m not too much different than an immigrant in the US. It’s important to be aware of these misunderstandings in order to lessen the gap we create between our differences. It’s a not a big deal, but it’s also on me to speak up and not let it go to a pile of uncertainty.
I am a fan of charts, reports, and data visualization, but I’m still learning to communicate effectively with this medium, too. Here is a link to Nathan Yau’s If We All Left to “Go Back Where We Came From” and Reviving the Statistical Atlas of the United States with New Data. Yau manages to balance both truth-telling and storytelling in a way that I am still trying to understand and implement better. I also need to know how to separate my personal stories with facts. My biggest hurdle is that most data we work with is tied to a lot of details that is important to the storyteller. There are also too many raw data sources that need cleaning, validating, and better research.
So why is it so important to even share our stories? For myself, it’s so that I continue to grow outside my comfort zone. To be human, to live on earth, we are all faced with imperfections that need to be seen, acknowledged and shared so that we may be kind and respect each other. To discover what we are not and where we need to improve is part of who we all are. Rather than disregard the problems of our society, it’s important to realize that failure is part of life and is an art form we should all learn to not fear.