Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Sprezzatura today?


My name is Carli Stone.  After discussing Sprezzatura a great deal in our class, I started to wonder if there were very many instances where Sprezzatura was used in our day.  Often time we will see people update their social media accounts to fit a specific audience.  But then we see celebrities who are able to portray themselves very similarly across several different platforms.  Is this a form of Sprezzatura? Let's find out. 







We often will get onto our social media accounts and see everyone trying to give themselves a personal brand.  Why are we all trying to be the same? Wouldn't it be a special kind of sprezzatura if we could be who wanted to be, and still be respected and liked? 


If we look at celebrities we often see little or few differences between their social media accounts.  They have an ease about life, and are able to portray themselves however they want, and if they are liked by the public that seems to be a bonus.  


Don't you sometimes wish you could post on your twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and snapchat the person that you really are in the mirror without the fear of judgement? Would it maybe a modern kind of sprezzatura if you could do this?


When I think of modern day Sprezzatura and ease in their actions, the first person that comes to mind is Ellen DeGeneres.  What is it about her?  Well... Ellen is able to portray herself in a way that is very unique, and does not have fear of asking or worrying about others say about her.  I decided to do some searching online for myself. 


The first place I went was Ellen's twitter page.  After just a few minutes of reading a few of her funny thoughts and watching some of the links she had posted I was hooked, and decided to follow her.  I was happy reading what she had to say, and loved the attitude and ease that she has with life.


After reading through some tweets and being hooked, I went to Ellen's Instagram.  This was interesting to me because this was still VERY "Ellen", however; it was almost a little more open than I had seen on other social media accounts of hers.  She was able to open up a little more about her personal life, but still kept this "Sprezzatura" attitude with her. I ended up following her Instagram account as well. 


I was drawn in by her other social media platforms that I ended up going to her YouTube page to see what I could find.  Ellen knows how to be charitable and give.  There is something special about her that draws people in.  She does not care what other's thinking about her and is so good at being true to who she is no matter where you find her. 


The TED talk I watched talked about the positive effects of social media, and how to use it to our benefit.  One key point that was hit was that, "Social Media is a very level playing field".  As you start to join different social media platforms, you being with nothing. Zero followers or friends. Zero posts.  You start at the bottom, and for that reason...we all have the ability to start somewhere, and BE who we want to BE. 


I went to another source that I thought would be helpful for me to use.  This was a book written by Dale Carnegie.  The main purpose of this book it how to fit in with others, and be well liked.  A lot of the information found in this book is self-explanitory; however, there a few things we could all do to have a very "Sprezzatura" attitude, and ease for life.  So don't worry about what other people think.  Be who YOU want to be. Do what YOU want to do. Let the "Sprezzatura" inside you come out! 

1 comment:

  1. Great topic. And I LOVE How To Win Friends And Influence People. The images you display are very well done and add a lot to your presentation. One thing that I thought was lacking was the historical element. You have it in their through Sprezzatura, but it is not explained or defined. Especially when this starts to go to an outside of class audience, I think it will be very important to give some background in to sprezzatura and this will add to your historical aspect. Well Done!

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