Taylor Davidson - Latest Comments in Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Robert Blessing — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:33:31 -0000

Great idea. I have to try it also :)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:46:13 -0000

Actually, one of the airline stewards I talked to mentioned that a
couple of guys wearing face paint flew on one his flights a week
prior; thus when he saw me get on the plane, he thought "hey, another
face-painter".

Different reason in my case :). But my guess is you'll be fine.

Of course, you could always call the airport to ask, right?

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

johnomalley — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:05:27 -0000

Haha thats an awesome story man!

I'm going to a football match in 2 weeks and was going to put a bit of face paint on! Was getting worried about security but I guess its not an issue?? :)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:03:27 -0000

Well, by the end, I was looking pretty ragged / scary...

On the second flight, I ended up engaging the guy sitting next to me in a conversation about the face paint, which then led into a biz conversation. Hopefully it's a story he'll remember...

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

$33695 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:06:58 -0000

I was surprised to hear that no one commented on your face paint. If I had seen someone with face paint in an airport I may not have asked him about it, but I would definitely have said something if he sat next to me on the flight. Anyway, sounds like a great experience. In other words, everything that pushes us out of our comfort zone usually is!

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:13:14 -0000

Cause a smile would not have fit the costume. Cause I left my smile in New Orleans.

Working on it...

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

JeanOurexplorerTourGuide — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:37:00 -0000

Very interesting experience. Thanks for sharing.
Have seen people wearing peculiar clothes in the metro, but can't expect on a plane.
Think the security would be a barrier.

http://www.OurExplorer.com
local guides, local wisdom

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Sloane Davidson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:20:03 -0000

Cause zombie's are serious! Cause the face paint looks better with a straight face. But mostly, cause you don't like to smile in pictures.

Ok, so you've had fun traveling to *wherever* you are. In the words of a New Orleanian, "Come home now ok."

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:46:40 -0000

A simple, human reason: I don't like to smile in pictures (a little different from in-person).

I'm not really that serious, whatever the facial expression implies.

(and I hadn't thought of that irony!)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Nicholas — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:02:01 -0000

Just seeing the full write up of this adventure after watching it unfold live. My question, which I remember having real-time, was why you're so serious in most of the pictures?

I also love the irony (or something) of you feeling very alive while painted as the living dead.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:17:08 -0000

Just now? :)

The "for yourself and for others" is the key bit for me. It's not just about our actions and attitude impact us, but how they impact others: creating shared experiences that are greater than the sum of the parts. Interpersonal synergy, in a way.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

David Sanger — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:36:56 -0000

"instead of shying away from trying something new or standing out, embrace the opportunity for yourself and for others."

Now you are getting at the nub of creativity.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:42:49 -0000

One more reason to love New Orleans :)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

cschultz — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:02:59 -0000

Taylor, this is a great post, and was a great experiment and Halloween.

I think its interesting that no-one asked. This is one thing I love about New Orleans, people feel free to let their freak flag fly, and most have realized that no-one really cares. Or at least, people are used to it. If more people were able to let go of what they fear people are thinking about them, and just be themselves, there would be a lot more well-adjusted people.

Great post, wonderful to see you. Look forward to seeing you again soon, my man.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:03:46 -0000

Thank you. Obviously the experience couldn't have happened without you, but more than that, in writing about it, just trying to learn from your gift in creating and sharing stories that people can identify with, connect to and care about. Causes/events/experiences/awesomeness like Cause It's My Birthday are powerful ways to bring people together by using our lives as platforms and "accessible happy places" to make it easier for people to care, contribute and change.

And same here :)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:47:34 -0000

Well, I don't want to make it a commentary on society and public discourse, it's really too small of a sample to use for broad generalizations. Let's just consider it a story to remember next time we encounter a similar (or, more likely, not-so-similar) situation in our daily lives. Pay attention. Say hello. And care.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:43:15 -0000

Yep, by the time I reached SF I was looking pretty ragged. Maybe that's why nobody asked me about it :)

Personally I don't think this is something we've "lost", but something that is ingrained culturally. It would be interesting to try this in other cultures and contexts and see the response. Actually, some day perhaps I'll share stories of my random "cultural tests" in the UK, Japan and India..

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:29:56 -0000

Yes, but I'm still surprised nobody asked, not even a simple "did you have a good Halloween?"

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Tom Martin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:31:09 -0000

Interesting how scared folks are about talking to strangers... well given that you looked like a bad Kiss impression.. that might be somewhat explainable but more importantly, I think this post shows how we have lost the willingness to step outside ourselves and just start a damn conversation with a stranger. Thanks for reminding us we all should ask the crazy face painted guy -- dude, what's up?

@TomMartin

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Scott Lundgren — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:06:08 -0000

I'm really, really shocked no one engaged you. Even the obvious "how was the party?" or "what was the bet you lost?" even more so because of the dichotomy of face paint combined with nice shirt & blazer.

Since it's election day I'll extrapolate it to being a sad commentary on public discourse. When we don't engage even those that make us uncomfortable we miss a chance to learn, to find the commonalities, the edge cases and the core issues. Echo chambers and my-way or no-way seem flow from those missed opportunities.

Awesome tale though.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Sloane Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:57:48 -0000

Taylor - This is maybe my favorite blog post ever on your blog. Though every post is insightful and full of information, this was a story of YOU and you told it so incredibly well. In telling people about this, I said exactly what you did. That you're naturally an introvert so this was a big deal for you - but that the best and most wonderful and admirable thing about you is that you know who you are but are willing to push the boundaries and stretch yourself, even when it DOES make you uncomfortable.

I'm looking forward to many more adventures with you in person soon.

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:55:52 -0000

As a performer yourself, I'm guessing you'd have no problems doing the same thing :)

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

GarageSpin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:45:12 -0000

Great, great post. All I did for Halloween was paint walls...sadly, no faces...and no zombie patterns... But really, kudos doing DOING it. :D Thanks for sharing!

Re: Making Myself Uncomfortable (A Zombie’s Journey)

Jeff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:03:34 -0000

"And that was the most curious thing to me. Nobody asked me about the face paint."

It was the day...after Halloween..