The Sun

I love the sun because it melts away all of my popsicle-cold worries, turning them into a puddle of nonsense.

The Nature of Silence

As I've grown older, my view of silence and the idea of it has changed from thinkin of it as a harbinger of awkwardness that must be avoided at all costs, to now realizing that it is a multifaceted entity. Silence takes many forms and fits a number of unique situations. There is a serene side to silence that is most often experienced in the woods or whilst sitting at the edge of a lake. There is an uncomfortable, slightly agitating type of silence as well. The type that you may find looming at the center of a group of people at a party. There is also a silence that bursts at the seams with tension and echoes with the harsh words exchanged several moments prior. Perhaps the most luxurious and sought-after form of silence is that which resides between an elderly couple who have loved each other for a lifetime and know one another so very well that they don't even need to exchange sentences to know what the other is thinking. 

On Connecting and Networking with Others

Well it's official. I have been living in a college dorm for one week now, and I have learned a myriad of things about myself, my roommate, the people on my floor, and the world around me. One particular lesson that has surfaced since I've been here at Rochester Institute of Technology is the importance of networking and connecting with others both intentionally and actively. I almost feel that the previous statement is redundant, because to be an effective social being requires effort (and sometimes a lot of it). Once you have established a solid posse, then you can relax a little. But until that point, one must focus a lot of energy into meeting people who share common interests and have at least somewhat similar worldviews and paradigms. And even when you have a solid group of friends, you can't simply sit back passively and watch. You must get engaged and delve into your life, not sit back and wait for good things to approach you.

One idea that I have been constantly reminding myself of is the fact that for every minute I spend alone, I am subtracting an entire minute that could have been spent making new friends or rekindling old friendships. While I do think that some alone time each day is important, I also know that too much is not only unhealthy but also unproductive. Humans are relational creatures, made to connect with others and be in community with loved ones. With that said, I am proud to say that I have made the most of this past week, seizing every potential opportunity to make a new friend. And my hard work has paid off already. I am looking forward to many, many more weeks of intentionality and networking. Cheers to starting college off right!

The Zenith of Existence

As I was just going through my Facebook friends and inviting them to my birthday party, I would see their thumbnail photo scroll up my screen, and my mind would replay a recurring memory for each person. Interestingly, all of the memories that went through my head were of my friends at their best, brightest moment - in pure, energetic laughter. And that got me thinking, maybe when we laugh we are doing what we were created to do. We are reaching the zenith of our existence when we laugh uncontrollably. To be fully human is to let down all of the walls, worries, and concerns and just belt out in uninhibited, mirth-filled, blissful laughter. We are not, therefore, defined by our darkest moments but by our brightest. And since joy is communal, our character is molded and shaped in the presence of others. And those people who are present and attentive during those transformative moments of light oft become our closest companions. One thing I've been learning recently as I've started a new hobby (knife-throwing), is that if I don't feel fulfilled while partaking of an activity, or am not truly enjoying something on an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual level, then perhaps I wasn't meant to invest my time in that particular activity. Oh, and yes, I did say that knife throwing is my new hobby :)

Shoot What You Fear

Art is possibly the most remedial and healing hobby in existence. And yet it can also be the means by which a man's sanity is abolished. An obsession, if you will, that parasitically torments the host, while simultaneously outputting marvelous work. The artist ultimately determines whether his tool - be it a paintbrush or a camera - is a flower or a handgun.

On a personal level, the camera is a hammer with which I chisel out a trophy of courage. In other words, I take photographs of things - animate and inanimate alike - that make me feel uncomfortable. I used to be tense and maladroit around people and in social settings. Now that I have been photographing people and social gatherings for 2 years, I can proudly say that I enjoy being with people more than anything, and have boldly conquered my trepidation. That's one significant reason for my exclusive interest in photography over other forms of art such as drawing or painting; from past experience I can say that many art mediums isolate the artist from community, from other people, while photography is capable of just the opposite.

Once one discovers this freeing aspect of photography, it truly becomes a lifestyle of sorts; it becomes a journey within the realms of your innermost being. If you are daunted by spiders, then grab a macro lens and a camera and shoot spiders, all different types, colors, shapes, and sizes. If you fear being alone in the dark, go outside at midnight with a camera and a tripod, and let the creative impulse cast out all fear. Just as the sensor of a camera absorbs light particles, it is also capable of enveloping the entities that frighten you most.