Staying Head Strong, An Introduction to Dearley-Dyer22

Each avatar has meaning to the individual that created it. In this case, Dearley-Dyer22’s work was beautifully portrayed and truly had a heartwarming meaning behind it. It was a more complex flag, but the symbolism was strong. It consisted of mountains and a sun with sunlight soaring out around it. This was the most predominant section of the flag, and to me it stuck out like a sore thumb. Off to the side there was a big wave or as Dearley put it, “a tsunami” crashing toward the mountain. Even with all the chaos of the colors and elements, his avatar is filled with importance.

Dearley’s avatar consisted of two brown mountains with a shining yellow sun in between, and off to the side there was a blue tsunami wave rushing towards those mountains. Blue merely suggested the color of water. He made it clear that there was no symbolism on the color blue. The yellow however from the sun, as I had guessed, represented happiness. Dearley had expressed that he wanted the mountains to be white so again, the brown in the mountains doesn’t carry a meaning. It simply was a color he had in hand and used to bring everything together. When I first observed his avatar, the mountains looked as if they were blocking the sunlight in the back. An inference of a boy struggling with his happiness because of certain obstacles getting in the way came to mind. This idea was represented by the sun and mountains. The tsunami suggested a wave of emotions rushing in. At least that is how I saw it. Turns out I was pretty much spot on. Even though Dearley appreciated my interpretation of the wave, to him it symbolised the rushed feeling of life because he feels that time goes by so fast. Dearley had stated “If a tsunami is coming at you fast, you only have so much time to get to high ground or, you die,” and honestly, I felt that. That comment basically screamed you only have so much time on this Earth, so do you. Overall, his avatar carried so much importance that I never would have thought Dearley struggled with, and it was intriguing to get to know more about him. 

I managed to connect really well with Dearley’s avatar. Although my design represented something entirely different, it was still something I have dealt with in my life. My avatar was about love and commitment. I took the five rules of making a good flag very literally. Mine was a simple two colors, two shapes, and one focus point. The simplicity of my flag made it more difficult for Dearley to figure out its symbolism. The color white had no meaning to me but the color red represents confidence. The focal point of my avatar was the rings and Dearley made sure I knew he never would have guessed its true meaning, “I honestly thought you liked the Olympics or something,” let me tell you, that made me chuckle. Two circles intertwined (or rings rather) was the symbol I chose to represent the love/commitment part. If you like it then you should put a ring on it, right? I personally think love is so important and being committed to that relationship plays a big part in that. Commitment is something most of my family seems to struggle with too and that is something I don’t want for my future. 

My connection with Dearley was never a strong one but after this activity, I feel like I understand him better. Two acquaintances shared personal information which is not an easy thing to do. We both understood the symbolism of our avatars and I find that very comforting. I felt free to be myself. Our conversation was nowhere near superficial. His complexity versus my simplicity take on our avatars shows everyone interprets things differently. I think we both touched down on perturbations that run through our minds daily, and that shows courage. Dearlery-Dyer22, it was a pleasure working with you.

“Cloudy Sunrise” by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0