Beauty of Scars

I was given a scar. Rather it was something that I was cursed with and given myself because of my own reckless decisions as a teenager. The feeling of the skin being ripped off, a red almost maroon colour oozing down my shin like a river stream, haunted me. Almost like it existed to spite me. What it would leave caused me more pain than the hurt I felt during that moment.

I pictured my scars as a constant reminder of the preventable mistakes that I made as a result of being careless with myself and my body. The feeling of having a physical imperfection...imperfections, on my sprouting body, filled me with regret and self hatred. I so desperately wanted something or someone to blame. But it was my fault. I hadn't given two flying fucks about the consequences of my dangerous actions, and the dangers that I could have put others through. My family didn't hesitate to remind me of that. This wasn't the first time I had done something like this but it was the incident that realisation hit. I realised i wasnt invincible.

As time passed, I grew to embrace it. I realised that this scar that i hated oh so much, held a memory. An adventure. A quick glance was all it took to wash those memories into my head again. The remembrance of my youth, the stories I could tell about each individual one. It was like a tattoo. An accidental, real, less artistic version of one. My own artwork.

It would be with me, stay by my side when no one else would. Comfort me with just its mere presence. Although it was rather monosyllabic, I knew that it was the only thing that truly knew me. The reason I exist, proof for my purpose.

Then a miracle happened. The scar faded. The definitive line of my left shin, discoverable on every picture from 2016, gradually became less and less noticeable and transformed into a tiny dot until finally, it vanished. Blended, bounded, became one with the skin. I was sad to see it go. But I could still feel it and that was enough for me.

Reflection Part C

My story was based on a real life event that happened to me that changed my mindset and made me realise I wasn't invincible. Voice was a story that was described in detail about a very simple topic which was what I tried to mimic. I chose a topic I was familiar with and was able to recall the exact details to effectively portray this idea. I also tried to mimic the tone of the narrative which was passionate and confident. I incorporated an experienced and reflective tone in my anecdote to show the importance of my topic as well as to also establish my own credibility. I did this through visual imagery such as “The feeling of the skin being ripped off, a red almost maroon colour oozing down my shin like a river stream, haunted me”. This again shows that I am knowledgeable of my own experiences and credible to speak on it.

I loved how specific and in detail such a simple topic was written about and the message behind the story which inspired me to do the same. It reminded me of just how important and powerful a voice is so i chose a topic that i could write in such a way that i could also persuade others of the beauty of something we often forget to cherish. Everybody has a scar and it's so natural to the point where we don't even acknowledge that it's there, blended in, which is why I wished to remind people and convey a similar message to Voice. Voice was written with so many language techniques that added to the effectiveness of the message. I used many of the same techniques in my own piece such as personification which was heavily utilised throughout Voice. This technique created a personal effect and highlighted how the scar is almost a separate entity. An example of this is the line “It would be with me, stay by my side when no one else would. Comfort me with just its mere presence.”

I believe I was very successful in effectively conveying my message and I am very proud of the work that I created. I was able to mimic the narrative Voice through the use of language techniques such as personification and visual imagery which were the main aspects of my piece. I hope that it has the intended effect on the reader and that I was able to portray my ideas clearly. In the future, I could work on the structure of the narratives I write to ensure that I do not lose the intended meaning.