dress: mom's closet // skirt: borrowed // long socks: forever 21 // shoes: target
There are a lot of changes in the air. I can feel it every day when I wake up and go out into the chilling Oregon air and when I come back to my dorm to relax. It peeks its head into conversations over lunch and behind moss-covered trees when I'm walking on the gravel trails. Perhaps this is simply me "growing up," even though I hesitate to use those words because I don't ever really want to grow up. I guess I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I have a certain responsibility in life and I should actually take this life seriously--not in the sense that I become a serious person--but in the sense that I only have one chance to do things, and the sooner I realize that sometimes I have to buckle down and get things done, the sooner I can live the life I've always imagined.
The change is in the little things thus far. I'm keeping my room clean, I'm in tune with my school work, I'm planning things and taking care of things and just actively living and thriving instead of just surviving. I'm actually wanting to do homework and I'm excited to learn (especially in my photography class). I guess you could say I feel very adult right now (though I know even just a year from now I'll think current me was so young and immature!). At any rate, that shift into becoming a responsible adult has not gone unnoticed, though I do hope I won't lose particular childlike tendencies. There's that certain magic of childhood that I had spent years cultivating and now I'm at a point where I refuse to let go of those memories and shapings, and perhaps even create some more childish fantasies even as I enter into an adult life.
When I was little, I drew out maps of Fairyland and danced around in my backyard pretending that I was transported into that world. My very best fairy friend was a girl named Jopey and she and I fought alongside each other in the great Fairy battle. Those imaginings were fueled by stories like the Anne of Green Gables series, At the back of the North Wind, Harriet the Spy, and the Eragon Series, (books that I still read to this very today). I even wrote stories about my adventures and charted locations and made a special bracelet that allowed me to transport into that world. It was a huge part of my childhood, where everything was not as it seemed and adventure was around every corner.
Of course now I know that those things weren't reality, but that doesn't mean they weren't real. The stories from my childhood I'm turning into novels today, those little colored pencil maps have become a giant piece of artwork (one I'm still working on), and I'm still chasing the same light I did years ago.
I guess I just never want to look at anything like it's ordinary.
Well this post has taken a super personal turn (I'm sure no one's surprised by that at this point). Those things that I dreamed up have really shaped me into who I am today, and it's so interesting to look back and see what things have formed certain things in my life. Is there anything from your childhood that shaped you in some way? I would love to hear about it!
I hope you all have a really fantastic day.
Oh! And I forgot to mention some exciting news, actually. I'm now blogging for my university's new online website, where once a week I post about anything related to fashion and personal style. You can check out my first little introductory article here, and be sure to check back there every Wednesday to read a new article from yours truly!
I'm happy to announce that you can now purchase prints from me. Anything on my flickr is up for grabs, as well as never released images in my new print shop, so be sure to check it out! (details about shipping + pricing are on my print shop)
A few days before I went back to Oregon, I had the honor of hanging out with two insanely talented photographers Grace and Sarah! We were all in town at the same time and decided it was finally time to meet in person, so we all went to a coffee shop to talk and figure out where we were going to shoot. Grace took us to a really cool greenhouse, which was perfect as it was freezing outside and no one particularly wanted to spend a couple hours in the dry Alaska snow, so with the birds chirping in their giant cage and the green plants growing all around, we spent our time taking pictures of each other and playing with each other's cameras and props.
When we first arrived, a moose decided to show up, so of course we had to instagram it. Only in Alaska.
One of my new years resolutions (more of a dream, since it was something I couldn't really work toward) was going to a photo gathering, so being able to meet photographers that I had admired on the internet was a dream in of itself. The fact that it was Grace and Sarah made it even more awesome, because they are two beautiful individuals inside and out and are incredibly talented. It's awesome to be around people who are passionate about the same thing I am passionate about, and we can play off of each other's ideas and learn things about what we love. Even in just the few hours hanging out with them, I learned so many new techniques I've been able to use in my own photography. If I can learn that much in just a few hours, I can't imagine what I would learn over a week, or an entire semester. (They also made me want to update all my equipment too, haha. Why do my hobbies have to be so expensive?)
Sarah
Grace
I'm so so glad I was able to meet Sarah and Grace, and I hope, not only that we'll be able to shoot together in the future, but also that getting to meet up with photographers so early in the year is a good indication of how the rest of my year will go!
p.s. I still have photos to edit from this day.
p.s.s. You should check out the post that Sarah did!
