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“I will write in words of fire.

I will write them on your skin.

I will write about desire.body making a clinbed a tree

Write beginnings, write of sin.

You’re the book I love the best,

your skin only holds my truth.”

Neil Gaiman

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Ok. I love what young people <tweens & teens> are doing these days with using their bodies to make a statement – writing messages on their skin.

To be clear <part 1>. This is not about tattoos. This is not even about temporary tattoos. This is about temporary messages being artistically delivered on their skin. Everywhere and anywhere on their bodies, from hands to feet to back and front.

It isn’t a fake tattoo.

body making a brain painMaybe it is just body writing <like sky writing?>. And it is frickin’ awesome.

To be clear <part 2>. I do not believe this idea is anti-tattoo or young actually listening to older people suggesting that committing to something like a tattoo is for life. I actually believe what they are doing is attitudinal, as in, a reflection of a generational attitude. Now. This attitude even has a name. Trendwatching <a trend futurist group> calls this type of attitude ‘transumerism.’ And boy oh boy does it embody our younger generation.

At the foundation of this generational attitude is a fact that in today’s world we are putting a higher and higher value on the temporary and the transient.

Uh oh. A lot of older people find this extremely uncomfortable. They wonder why no one can be consistent any longer. Or make a long term commitment. Or relax on one idea or opinion or thought anymore. Too bad. The young are embracing many opinions and thoughts. They appear to have learned to embrace a thought of the day and to feel free and express what they think now — express an opinion in the here & now.

Their view? <part 1> We are being topical.

We dare to make a statement in the moment when we believe it is most impactful.

In older media terms this is ‘recency’ what was, and is, still considered a viable strategy>. They recognize impact increases closer to the moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people may bitch they are being too reactive and that they should be more thoughtfully patient. I call ‘Bullshit.’ They are our youth and part of their job is to make us adults sit up and pay attention a little more to some shit we may not be paying attention to.

Their view <part 2> This is part of experiencing me – “experience is being part of what I know/think/believe.”

I would suggest this is a personal, inward focused, version of The Experience Economy in which people are selling experience as, well, themself. I am not suggesting ‘selling’ as in economic value, but rather ‘selling’ as extension of experience of being with me, part of me, or maybe – in brand terms – this is my promise I will deliver if you walk through the front door of my Life.   While Joe Pine brought the concept of “The Experience Economy” to life in 2000, experiences are starting to out-value ‘things’ and the intangible and the temporary are building a higher value than many fixed unchanging tangible items, young people have extended ‘experience’ to embody, well, themselves.

Fixed items are losing value by becoming synonymous with boredom, with hassle or with being quickly-out-of-date <all things young people abhor when associated with self>.That loss of value, combined with increased ‘experience value’ has created this entire generation of ‘transumers’ (Trendwatching). They embody an experiential based economy and culture and self.

Therefore, driven by experiences instead of the ‘fixed’, by sensory entertainment, by discovery, by fighting boredom, they are starting to make fixed/unfixed statements as part of self expression – “experience me, experience my thoughts.”

body making a backLong term repercussions?

My guess is this means, as adults, they will increasingly live a transient lifestyle, freeing themselves from the hassles, and attitudes, of permanence  <ownership and possessions>.

The risk?

In the inexperience <I hesitate to say immaturity> of youth it can become an obsession. By that I mean the fixed can be replaced by an obsession with the here and now, an ever-shorter satisfaction span, and a lust to collect as many experiences and stories as possible.

It is an attitude of: “hey, the past is … well … over … and the future is uncertain … so all that remains is the present. So what the hell … I am going live and make a stand in the ‘now’.

At its best, this means that attitudinally the young are finding more and more status not from ownership of products & things, but from an ability to change and make statements in a variety of ways, which change and evolve and adapt – permanently unpermanent.

I would suggest there is a tectonic shift in many of the traditional status cues in what is important in appearance <or how one looks> in the young. From a larger perspective we need to take note that this means they are gaining more status not from traditional labels <geeks, jocks, preppies, etc.>, but status based on attitudes and beliefs. The young are demanding self expression and, maybe more importantly, demanding status from self expression.

They are figuring out how to make their own mark in the world with everchanging experiences by not being silent about what they feel or believe.

As one professional body writer suggests:

“… I think that when we write a message in a part of our body, we touch the hope that this message is stronger than a simple piece of paper or other material When we use our bodies courier, we speak from the heart ..” .

<note: There is even a website for how to do a ‘sharpie tattoo’>

Regardless. Digging deeper in transumerism.

This thing they are doing is representative of ‘temporary freedom’ or ‘fractional ownership’ of an idea or thought. It permits them to try out new things and escape unescapable commitment and obligations, dropping formality and offering endless new experiences.

I would suggest we should celebrate this. It represents curiosity and a slightly less judgmental, set in stone, view because expression changes and varies <it is more difficult to be judgmental on a moving target than a stagnant target>.body making a real men

Me? I love how the young are figuring out how to make an impression and remain silent.  It reminded me of a quote I saw attributed to the Dalai Lama:

“Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.”

Dalai Lama

I am certainly not suggesting today’s high school youth embody the Dalai Lama. But they are figuring out ways to express themselves in powerful ways.

I love this trend of type of body writing.

I love how our young are learning how to not only express themselves but show how to express thinking … real thinking.

I love the attitude <and behavior>.

And I think we older folk should start learning how to accept an entire generation of ‘transumers’ built upon an attitude of ‘loving the transient and temporary.’ I say this because our tendency will be to slow them down and suggest that they are missing something in their constant shifting. We may focus on what I referred to as ‘fractional ownership of an idea’ as a bad thing. Instead we should be encouraging them and teaching them how to maximize that which they are and invest in making fractions wholes <like bricks in a foundation>.

That is an attitude that will need some strength on the part of us old folk in order to change.

And change is hard.

Oh.

body making a loveUnless you are young. Because they are seemingly embracing some ongoing aspects of change <but still holding on to a very strong moral compass at their core>. But, most importantly, they are not just embracing change, they are addressing cultural attitudes and societal ‘misbehavior’ by taking a stand. They speak out on things that they believe need saying.

Silent, but powerful communication.

In the end?

“If you want to experience me, you need to experience what I believe.” This is the new experience economy.

“You’re the book I love the best, your skin only holds my truth.”

 

The skin of our youth may be holding truth up before our eyes. We just make damn well sure we see it.

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Written by Bruce