Countdowns are a staple of our lives for many special occasions during the year. They're the best kind of celebration, especially since no one is exempt from them. From a New Years countdown to a birthday countdown, every single person on the planet participates in both whether or not they like it.
Since I got back from India, I feel like I haven't had anything to look forward to, no specified countdowns or fun excursions and ideas. I itch for my creativity, art and writing rule to my life. I hardly feel as though I can call my self as "artist" of any kind since I don't believe I am anywhere near being "established."
While I am stuck under these fluorescent lights of reality, the only thing I can do sometimes is to count up. Count up to all the things ahead of me that will find it's fateful way to me no matter what I do or what happens.
There are at least two pieces to every slice of life: fate and determination, yin and yang, love and hate, in and out & up and down. I love that I can always count on the count ups of my life.
Going to India changed me and still continues to every single day. Being an Ambassador to show the orphans of India every ounce of love and goodness I possess was the hardest thing I have ever done. What's even harder is feeling the pain of a third world country and trying to bring back a message to everyone at home about what it's like and how we can change it all. Every day was the more intense than the day before. Up and down.
One minute I was having the time of my life playing a ridiculously fun and traditional game of bulldog, and the next minute my heart would be breaking while holding a tiny toddler the size of a newborn who was suffering from malnutrition. I was the photographer for the trip and with all this going on you would think it would be a cinch to capture a defining moment on film was a lot harder than I thought. A lot of rules surround the exposure of the children and the people involved with the orphanage for their safety.
I had been hoping to have an art show ever since I got back in March, but with some of the expenses that come along with the process of presenting pieces to the public can be expensive. Lucky for me, a great little art gallery called Buffalo Totem opened recently just down the street from my apartment. A young local couple I'm acquainted with run the store and are going to show some of my pieces at the next Paseo First Friday art walk. These are some of the prints I'm thinking of showing:
"Suns over Sooch"
The sunsets in Oklahoma are incredible, and India is the place that most closely compared to it's orange beauty. It made being homesick a lot calmer.
"Class for class"
In the morning, we would see the kids off as they traveled by bus to a nearby village to attend school.
"prayer, eat, polish"
Each morning, they would patiently polish their shoes and neatly comb their hair. They were so proud and thankful to be lucky enough to be going to school.
"House mothers"
The house mothers of this orphanage are Saints. There are a total of 20 houses on the orphanage grounds and each woman is a house mother to about 15 kids per home. They are incredible strong, immensely loving and always smiling.
"Pink in pretty"
This little girl was one of the few kids that was too young to attend school during the day, so she was incredibly fun to hang out with during the afternoons. Some of the kids had never seen a photo of themselves so the attention and curiosity of photography was very humbling.
So, my count down to my next count up celebration:
I am so excited. It's a great start to so many count ups coming up in my life.
Namaste.
Since I got back from India, I feel like I haven't had anything to look forward to, no specified countdowns or fun excursions and ideas. I itch for my creativity, art and writing rule to my life. I hardly feel as though I can call my self as "artist" of any kind since I don't believe I am anywhere near being "established."
While I am stuck under these fluorescent lights of reality, the only thing I can do sometimes is to count up. Count up to all the things ahead of me that will find it's fateful way to me no matter what I do or what happens.
There are at least two pieces to every slice of life: fate and determination, yin and yang, love and hate, in and out & up and down. I love that I can always count on the count ups of my life.
Going to India changed me and still continues to every single day. Being an Ambassador to show the orphans of India every ounce of love and goodness I possess was the hardest thing I have ever done. What's even harder is feeling the pain of a third world country and trying to bring back a message to everyone at home about what it's like and how we can change it all. Every day was the more intense than the day before. Up and down.
One minute I was having the time of my life playing a ridiculously fun and traditional game of bulldog, and the next minute my heart would be breaking while holding a tiny toddler the size of a newborn who was suffering from malnutrition. I was the photographer for the trip and with all this going on you would think it would be a cinch to capture a defining moment on film was a lot harder than I thought. A lot of rules surround the exposure of the children and the people involved with the orphanage for their safety.
I had been hoping to have an art show ever since I got back in March, but with some of the expenses that come along with the process of presenting pieces to the public can be expensive. Lucky for me, a great little art gallery called Buffalo Totem opened recently just down the street from my apartment. A young local couple I'm acquainted with run the store and are going to show some of my pieces at the next Paseo First Friday art walk. These are some of the prints I'm thinking of showing:
"Suns over Sooch"
The sunsets in Oklahoma are incredible, and India is the place that most closely compared to it's orange beauty. It made being homesick a lot calmer.
"Class for class"
In the morning, we would see the kids off as they traveled by bus to a nearby village to attend school.
"prayer, eat, polish"
Each morning, they would patiently polish their shoes and neatly comb their hair. They were so proud and thankful to be lucky enough to be going to school.
"House mothers"
The house mothers of this orphanage are Saints. There are a total of 20 houses on the orphanage grounds and each woman is a house mother to about 15 kids per home. They are incredible strong, immensely loving and always smiling.
"Pink in pretty"
This little girl was one of the few kids that was too young to attend school during the day, so she was incredibly fun to hang out with during the afternoons. Some of the kids had never seen a photo of themselves so the attention and curiosity of photography was very humbling.
So, my count down to my next count up celebration:
I am so excited. It's a great start to so many count ups coming up in my life.
Namaste.
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