I stumbled upon Koreen Odiney right before I entered college in fall of 2017. I remember finding her Instagram page, a small boiling pot of curiosity, connection, and creative endeavors. As any college freshman, I was nervous about making friends and finding community at Loyola. But as I matured in college, so did her Instagram, leading to the birth of her brainchild in 2018: “We’re Not Really Strangers”. Her page made me less fearful as I grew through college and encouraged me to utilize the greatest superpower anyone can have: vulnerability.
Koreen Odiney was born in Israel in 1995 and emigrated to the United States, where she was raised in Los Angeles. Koreen always had questions based on deep feelings throughout her childhood. As a teenager, she struggled with depression and anxiety. She’d often ask her mom questions, who’d answer in Hebrew and began asking teachers, friends, and eventually strangers. At 21, she began her career as a photojournalist and model in L.A. She described her camera as her “passport to people”, as it opened doors to connections with strangers. In 2016, she found herself having a conversation with a stranger in Central Park while on a modeling trip in NYC. At the end of their conversation, the man told her “we are not really strangers” which struck Koreen as an epiphany. Working diligently in hopes of creating a more connected world, Koreen turned to instagram where she’d post her artwork: billboards, stickers, spray painted murals of her soul-stirring questions. As her platform grew, she launched “We’re Not Really Strangers”, where she printed her questions onto glossy red cards to be shared with the world. It was the world’s first purpose-driven card game that aimed to deepen existing relationships and create new ones through open ended questions and genuine conversations.
The first game of WNRS was played with hand-written index cards in a park. Today, a quarter million "We’re Not Really Strangers" games have been sold at popular retail stores. The game consists of 3 levels: perception, connection, and reflection. Each level grows more intimate, ultimately leading to a “dig deeper” element, cultivating an experience to get to know yourself in the process of getting to know others. Amidst the pandemic, celebrities such as Hailey Bieber and Penn Badgely played the game on Instagram, making her creative product a social media sensation. In April, Koreen released a free download of the game to the two million followers on her instagram in attempts to lessen the loneliness accompanied with quarantine and the standstill of life across the world. In June, following the murder of George Floyd, Koreen released a free racial bias set that asked intrinsic questions on prejudice, encouraging “hard conversations” between friends, families, and strangers.
Koreen embodies the Life-Course Perspective described by Gardner. This perspective focuses on how discovering oneself through childhood “becomes models for later exploratory behaviors” (p.31) in adulthood. Koreen’s WNRS game was cultivated through a hodgepodge of her own feelings and interactions with strangers and loved ones throughout her life. Furthermore, Gardner notes “what may distinguish creative individuals is their ways of productively using the insights, feelings and experiences of childhood” (p. 32) which is clearly seen in her interviews with Vogue where Koreen expresses her childhood curiosity and her process of continually asking questions to people around her. This exploration of her feelings and environment in her youth led to personal discoveries that ultimately fueled her creative ventures.
I’d classify Koreen as a "Middle-C" creative. While similar card games such as "Cards Against Humanity" exist, WNRS derives from the comical manner of these games and attempts to dig deeper into forming sentimental connections. Although there are many forms of communicating pre/post-pandemic, I feel as though WNRS asks intriguing questions at random, thus sparking candid conversations that can lead to meaningful change. Her approach is rebellious against the social norms of refraining from having deep conversations with strangers upon meeting them. Especially in times like these, with racial injustices amidst us and the global pandemic keeping us from meeting one another, questioning ourselves and our beliefs encourages us to utilize our vulnerability together. This is a vital tool in instilling long-lasting change.
As I navigate my unconventional senior year and look at the uncertainty ahead of me, I find solace in Koreen’s questions. They prompt me to think deeply of the world and lightly of myself. It is enticing and scary all at once, but I know this:
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness." -Brene Brown
With that, I leave you a few of my favorite questions from Koreen’s WNRS set:
What title would you give this chapter in your life?
What lesson in love have you learned by now?
What is a dream you’ve let go of?
Feel free to answer in the comments or discuss with friends. I encourage you to follow Koreen’s Instagram: @koreen and @werenotreallystrangers and look into the card game to probe questions that make your mind swirl and your heart flutter. These are the conversations worth having now, more than ever. After all, we're not really strangers...
https://www.thenueco.com/blogs/journal/10-questions-with-koreen-odiney
https://www.vogue.com/article/koreen-were-not-really-strangers-interview
https://www.werenotreallystrangers.com
Gardner, Chapter 2
Very well put. After moving back home for quarantine and initially getting back into old, usually bad, habits, I found myself at a crossroads early on. After asking myself some hard questions, similar to the ones posed by Odiney, I leaned into a healthier lifestyle that ultimately has gotten me through quarantine and the hardships that go along with it. The main question I asked myself, after realizing I had put on some weight, was that I could either "accept the weight and ignore it" or "lean into and actively engage with a healthier lifestyle." Although working roughly 50 hours a week, I opted for the latter choice and committed extra time to exercise and cooking "right" for myself and my family. In relation to Odiney's set of questions and the ones you offer in your post, I can certainly see the benefits and am an example of the positive outcomes that may arise once you begin to examine yourself, your character, and what it is that you desire to change or retain.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Koreen or this game until this post but I'm going to get my hands on this game as soon as possible. I love the way she combined a common party game, taking a relationship building setting and used it to create a space for vulnerability and building fuller more lasting relationships. I think her work touches on an urge we all have to connect to one another and she's made this possible in a unique and fun way. It's cool to hear about the ways her work has impacted you as well. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete