January 24, 2015 - 15:22
In spite of the obstacles and hardships I have been through, the goodness, innocence, and naivety in the world continues to burn strong inside me. The reflection I see in the mirror is a living image to why I choose to be soft despite how hard life gets sometimes. I see a fragile girl who is a little lost in the light, trying to keep the fire from burning out. I want to stay strong for that girl. I want to be persistence for her.
The image I used took place during the summer of 2012 in Mancos, Colorado. This was a time when I felt most self-aware and mindful of everything around me. I had just finished a 7 day white water rafting expedition through Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico along the San Juan River. A week of backpacking in the San Juan Mountains and a 5-day Native American service project in the Hopi Nation in Arizona followed shortly after that. I traveled with a group of friends (shown in the photo) I onced called strangers. We all struggled to figure out who we were in the middle of nowhere. Having late night heavy conversations under the night sky and on the alpine meadows peppered with wildflowers of myriad colors were all it took for us to figure out who we were by figuring out who we were not. We saw a new world. We felt a new burning fire. We had found an escape through each other. I was free.
Have you ever wondered what the road would be like if you were to spontaneously hop into a vehicle?
