Fireside Chat

The main challenge of the fireside chat, for me, was that the directions were so simple. “An interactive performance that addresses some belief.” Not only could it be any belief—intimate and profound or superficial and comedic—it could also be any type of media. For a while, I was stumped. Nothing came to mind. But I realized that was because I wanted the whole idea to just appear in my mind, finished and ready to be displayed. I needed to take steps first, so instead, I thought of what forms of media I was good at making; then I would move on to what the content of that media would be.

After some prayerful consideration, I was reminded of an art exhibit I had seen in the HFAC main hall a couple months back. The artist had assigned a color to each emotion and lined up bars of those colors to create a sort of mosaic that represented the emotions experienced throughout their day. I really liked the idea, and since I had experience with graphic design, I decided that I could create something similar using Adobe Illustrator.

What attracted me so much to the end result was its unique ability to translate two abstract concepts (time and emotion) into a visual medium. It was the most succinct, and yet still deeply personal, journal entry I’d ever seen. Much like Story Corps’ video Listening Is an Act of Love, the colored timeline I created to practice for the fireside chat was a universal story. Each color has its own variety of emotion attached to it, and in just a glance at the bars of color, you can tell how that day went.

There was also a deeper theme that emerged as I prepared my fireside presentation, one that I had been taught since childhood but only recently have come to really comprehend. “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” If every day was full of happiness and excitement, with oranges and yellows, the mosaic of our lives would be pretty plain. But when we add contrasting emotions, the blues and blacks of life, then there is real beauty. In other words, we must experience boring, sad, and angry times in order to truly understand peace, happiness, and joy.

I saw this idea reflected in the presentations of other students during the fireside chat. Many of the performances addressed painful and personal experiences, and how they have helped sculpt character and maturity. I was impressed by the bravery that many people demonstrated in opening up and sharing their struggles, whether explicitly or through symbols and metaphors.

In passing conversation, we often pretend that everything’s okay because the real answer would take too long to explain, and we feel that no one has the time to listen. On social media, we curate our lives, carefully selecting only the most exciting and flattering moments to share. As a result, we cultivate the false impression that our lives are perpetually falling short. The fireside chat was a valuable and rare opportunity to do the opposite, to reveal our trials, fears, and vulnerabilities.

I don’t consider myself an outwardly emotional person. I rarely cry, and people often tell me to smile more and stop looking so serious. I’m working on it, but I’ve also sort of decided that facial expressions are just not the best medium for me. I’m better at other things, such as film or graphic design. And like it did for me, the fireside chat gave students the ability to choose their own medium, how they would express themselves. It was a humble experience, full of charity and bonding. There was laughter, and there were tears. Two ends, made one.

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