Something that amazes me: How this entire world is made up of small, small things, most of which we can’t see. They work together to make life what it is. (Scientifically speaking, they work together to make--matter? xD) Even our lives are made up of small, small moments--seconds--milliseconds--at a time. All of that strung together, is life. In my bible readings yesterday, I read about the eyes being the lamps of the body. We depend on our eyes to let in light. If our eyes (lamps) are bad, our body will be full of darkness. Similarly, if our eyes--our hearts--aren’t healed by God, we won’t truly appreciate the blessings he’s given us. So, I hope you enjoy this collection of Small Things I found this week. Sometimes it’s refreshing to just take a camera--or pen and paper--and record all the small blessings in all the ways you can. Thank you, Jesus! 1. ^some garden greens and a dandelion 2. ^A dandelion half hidden by grass. Things are growing! 3. ^my younger sister making a dandelion "potion". Three opportunities, one flower. The "smallness" these pictures emphasize might not be immediately apparent, but in--
1.^i appreciate how little strands of her hair blow in the wind. 2.^the perspective of a small human from a distance 3. ^one clump of branches lends an entirely different view to some children at play. Whether it's lemonade, a red composition notebook, or a penny from your birth year, what are some small things that made you smile? All those little moments make up life! Also: I think this applies to our mental health as well. We might not think that one negative thought matters--but training our minds to see the good begins a little at a time. Focus on the good. Don't complain. Be content with what you have. Until next week, 🌙priscilla
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Already, this sounds like a headline on one of those clickbait ads. Hehe. Fear not, because the answer isn't something hard or something you have to buy--just something you should remember. And it goes for creating anything--not just a photograph or drawing. And it's this: Remember the story you're telling. For the past few weeks, I’ve been extremely excited about seeing this movie called Koe No Katachi. Although I’m a writer, I’ve begun to realize recently--what’s the common factor between movies, books, songs, even photographs? What ties them together and makes them art? When I was young, I thought of art as something in museums. Recently, I’ve discovered that art means any form of human expression. Even if you put effort into taking a picture of a sunset, or coordinate an outfit, or create a playlist--that is art. So if we know that all those things are art, how do we create better art? Whether you want to take photos or write stories or draw pictures or make playlists, one thing I’ve found that ties all art together and makes it better is: --story. Think about how much art you see--maybe it’s an ad for coffee, or Koe No Katachi (I recommend) or Emma Chamberlain’s posts on your instagram feed. What kind of story does it tell? Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm going to try to tell a short story from some of these pictures: spring and a blue sky. Tiny flowers fighting their way to life--small, but strong. a family following the sunset. someone thought this was the brightest buttercup they'd ever seen, and wanted to remember it. (so now that person can look back on it and remember that a flower like this existed a year ago! Thank you, photography).
So, if you're not sure where to improve, look at your artwork again--any kind of art--and find the story. ~priscilla One of my favorite parts of this week was the sNOw!!!! You see the world differently when there's snow. What did you do on the snowy day? Also: confession. I actually didn't get to play in the snow :( I took the ACT all day in a dark room. Great ACT associations, right? That was discouraging. But...it taught me to value the small things. Here's some small parts of the snowy day I'm thankful for: 1. the drive to the school. I love backroads. Seeing the snow fall as we plowed through was beautiful. 2. even a tiny dusting of snow polished the trees with a silver gleam. 3. nothing is quite like atching snowflakes. I got to before we drove away. 4. snow was on the ground when i left. even though it was 1:30 by then! 5. i got to take pictures of snow the day before. 6. Leftover snow was enough for me to make a small snowball out of. And we put it in my scarf and played slingshot (so now I know how to use my scarf as a slingshot). I won't lie, I was discouraged when I realized I missed almost the entire snowfall. And probably the only snowfall in a year, maybe two, maybe three. But if you feel that way--if you've got FOMO like me--remember the small things you saw, like the way traffic lights glowed in the rain, the way lichen grew on the lamppost, snow on the tree by the mailbox. What I learned: If we don't appreciate the small things, great things won't amaze us. 🌙priscilla If you know me, you probably know I run cross country. (Didn’t know that? Well, now you do). I’m not good at it. And why is that? Throughout my life, I’ve had every opportunity to run--I’ve lived in nice neighborhoods, my mom supported me, I needed exercise. Opportunities existed, but-- --I didn’t feel like doing it. I was stubborn. Two years later, I learned how much that hurt me. If I practiced running even a little, I could be far better. My point? This: If you have an opportunity to do something, do it. Not everything has to be your central passion. What I am saying is God puts things in our lives for a reason, and if he provides any opportunity, trust him and try it. You never know what he might do. Two days ago, I studied physics. Do you ever have a moment when you’re in class, studying, and you mentally check out? In physics, it’s tempting to do that. For me, physics works differently than my mind. Thanks to a video on hard magic systems, though, I decided to pay attention during physics on that day. What did I discover? Basically, (you may already know this) I learned radio waves are caused by electromagnetic field frequencies. They’re called cycles per second. It’s like a heartbeat, a constant switching of positive, negative, positive, negative. The faster they go, the farther they move up the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves become microwave radiation. Microwaves become infrared light (which is impossible for us to create, because you need an antenna the size of atom). Infrared light becomes visible light. Stop here. Did you know visible light is caused by electromagnetic radiation, to a frequency, within atoms? Atoms vibrating to a pulse--a frequency--is light. Meaning that light is basically sound. Light atoms sing frequencies. They’re singing. Isn’t that incredible? The point is, you never know what you’ll discover if you pay attention. Take opportunities you have. Doors are open everywhere; you never know what you’ll find inside. What’s an opportunity in your life that you have? Opportunities surround us: whether it’s taking out the garbage, a literature essay, a stretching video, a film camera, a new book--what will you let God teach you? Often we think of opportunities as big things, like the chance to go abroad, attend a workshop or run a race. Life is filled with small opportunities, though--common as light--and our faithfulness to learn and appreciate the small increases our joy with the big. He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much. So if your mom encourages you to run tomorrow, or you have a science class, or you get to roll garbage cans to the curb--pay attention. You never know what you might learn. 🌙priscilla ^even a rainy day is an opportunity. (especially for cool raindrop photography).
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