Gathering Like a Girl

It's a stereotype and I fit it. When I throw a ball it lands with a thud a foot or two in front of my feet. I get giddy when I go shopping and spend way more than my budget. I love gossip and giggling with friends. I am a girl and I act like one.

It will come as no surprise, then, that I gather my information like a girl.

Like most people who are comfortable with the internet, I am quite reliant on Google. In my world, there is no reason to have arguments about facts anymore. "Let's just Google it" is my response to most questions that arise in conversation. I pull out my android or take out my laptop and--tada!--argument resolved.

On a deeper level, when I am gathering information from the internet to expand my understanding of a topic, person or event, I do have my own style. In addition to researching WikiLeaks for this class, I am currently in "gather" mode for a book I am co-writing. The book is about African Americans and end of life. Perfect. Two topics of which I have almost no personal knowledge and it's my job to now understand them enough to create content about them. My gathering in these circumstances takes on a specific flavor.

I usually start with Wikipedia and other links that have primarily factual content. Once I feel like I have a basic grasp of the definition of the topic and primary "issues," my gathering then becomes much more individual focused. This is where my girly gathering kicks into overdrive and I turn to YouTube.

Perhaps my method of gathering has something to do with my background as an actor and definitely has to do with my desire to understand human beings. In order to try and wrap my brain around a new perspective, I seek to slip into the skin of those who embody it. I begin listening to videos of people who hold extreme views on the topic. I jump from video to video, from one side of the issue to the other. Sometimes, I even fall asleep listening, letting the intonations of speech and passionate pleas seep into my unconscious.

Once I feel confident that I can jump from one "skin" to the other, I feel ready to write and explore my own perspective. Afer trying on the various "skins" I can feel which one feels comfortable and which ones feel too tight, too loose and too out of style. My thoughts and writing can be influenced by their perspective, like a period piece costume, but I am wearing my jeans underneath.

This process continues over and over. Reading "factual" content and listening to human speech is the best gathering method I have found for me. As a woman, as an actress and as a human; I am most inspired to learn when I am hearing it "straight from the horse's mouth."