What is self-expression and why it is important?
Does expressing yourself come naturally? Are you comfortable with others and your conversation, or are you awkward, blunt, and worrying about what others think?
Self-expression goes beyond how we express our thoughts and feelings, but not being able to properly express ourselves might harm our mental health.
When we have the freedom and confidence to speak what we actually believe and feel and when our actions match our values, we are more likely to have good mental health, make relationships, and feel good about ourselves.
This article explores self-expression, why it's necessary, and why it can be challenging. I provide authentic expressiveness tips as well.
How we say or don't say, dress, do our hair, behave, spend our time, associate with others, and express our thoughts, emotions, and sentiments. attitudes, all part of our individuality.
Our expressions reveal our interests and character. Similarly, others' words reveal important information about them. Why is self-expression so important?
In evolution, humans need to belong. Survival depends on group membership and cooperation to get food, housing, and protection, which gives people a sense of belonging.
Consider the family. A newborn is blessed if he is born into a safe and nurturing environment and can convey his wants through screams in hopes that his carer will respond. needs.
The baby relies on his carer for survival. He grows up to identify with the family socially and culturally. Not particularly autonomous, he must comply to social norms and participate in rituals like positive behaviour, respect for authority, and cultural festivals and celebrations to strengthen family identity.
Young children's self-expression is influenced by the family's social and cultural standing and their psychological and physical urge to belong to the family or their carer.
A youngster may be unable to express their ideas and feelings verbally if family social customs require them to be seen and not heard.
In a tight, hierarchical home, a youngster may give up their identity to fit in. This can make the child not create his own opinion and conform to others. This adaptation or conditioning can cause the youngster to lose their actual self.
Self-expression can lead to quiet, hesitancy, lack of confidence, and ambiguity about oneself or the world.
Conditioned self-expression can also take the form of control, anger, disobedience, or playing the “class clown” to make others laugh to fit in and cope with psychological strain caused by being denied real self-expression.
Children need guidance, boundaries, and emotional self-regulation, but validating their self-expression so they feel heard and understood and explaining how their behaviour can harm themselves and others helps them make better decisions.
Belonging and the need to belong extend beyond the family. From age two, toddlers are ready for social categorization.
We are born to express ourselves for survival and socialisation. We can choose who we interact with and belong to through self-expression. Here's the catch...
If we were not encouraged to express our distinctiveness as children, especially in Western society, we might easily lose sight of and disconnect from our real views, attitudes, and values.