**Am I really seeing people or I am only seeing their covers?**

After joining Remix - an intensive 3-day media making workshop which took place in Manila last December, I’ve asked myself whether or not I really listen to others. As I believe that there can be many surprises if I listen closely, I try to practice constantly, in my daily life. But then recently, I have been wondering to myself, “For all this time, did I only choose the stories I wanted to listen to?”.
It seems really seeing people is every bit as important as listening to them. I have experienced countless moments where I decided to close off from people before even talking to them; until I realized that my first impression of them was wrong. How we see people often gets clouded through the lenses of stereotype and emotional filters.

What‘s the story that you tell yourself about others? I forgot to see.

I joined Remix wishing to become a better storyteller, but the first thing I learnt was to stop making up stories of others. We tell people’s stories instead of making them do it. From all the stories we tell ourselves about us and others, which part of them is true? Or are they only true in our own belief? We long for something definite and rapidly close our hearts for the truth to reveal itself.

Do we really know the people we know? Or just the idea of them? As much as we don’t want others to have false images of us, it’s the same way for them. Sometimes, we are too busy creating an image of ourselves that we forget to let us be us.

Labelling others’ actions as good or bad has become something so natural that we forget to ask ourselves “What was the situation that they were in?”. We are eager to put things into boxes so that we can generate a sense of knowing. At the same time, we would only listen for things that support our assumptions. That’s how we fail to see people’s true colors: when we can’t keep our eyes, our ears and our heart wide open.

**Probably because there are no differences between us anymore. There are no moments left to surprise us that create that connection, as we know what we want to listen to.**

When did we detach from the world and each other?

I used to try really hard to be accepted by others, to feel better about myself. I used to be really good at molding myself into society’s expectation that I embraced it and started judging those around me. Most of us say and do what others want us to do instead of what we want to do, so we won’t be judged or better, we won’t judge ourselves. In this hustle and bustle world, looking back on the people I have met, the things I have done, the words I have said, I realized that there were so many moments in my life that have been forgotten. Probably because there are no differences between us anymore. There are no moments left to surprise us that create that connection, as we know what we want to listen to.

In Remix, we go out in teams to search for stories that want to be told. Everyone has a story worth listening to. Our mission is to find a participant and document the story they want to share, not the story we want to hear. We choose to be curious, to listen, then to become the instrument for the story to travel through and be heard.

Standing in front of the camera is scary. It’s like standing in front of a thousand of stares. It creates the pressure of showing up in the “right” way, or being accepted. But we have the capability to make others feel that their story is appreciated the way it is.

Seeing - Remix Manila 2017 (School of Slow media)

A Crowdfunding Project for Blue Dragon’s Emergency Appeal Fund May 2020