You're gonna make it after all.

This is courtesy of last year's ad class...a self promo piece. And since this is the first week of senior year I thought it would be an appropriate time for a throwback. The following is basically an essay on how I see myself symbolically.

It’s hard to articulate in words who I really am. I think words are very powerful but to someone who has never met me, my word is hardly a credible source. One can look through a lifetime of photo albums and still not know me but, if I had to present one word to describe myself it would be empathetic. I feel the word empathy is a very deep soulful word. Empathy is so different from sympathy in that you truly try to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes and feel what they are feeling. It is not just feeling sorry; it’s about sharing the sorrow. Empathy involves true understanding, awareness, and sensitivity. Unfortunately often times people associate this word with weakness, and weakness is far from who I am. An image that symbolizes who I am would be tied lace. In all aspects of my life I try to be strong. The knot in the lace represents my mental, emotional, and physical strength. In order to walk out the door without slipping out of your shoes you need to know how to tie a good strong knot that will last throughout your day. The two loops in the lace stand for the balance between my professional life as a student and transversely my personal life. I think it’s understandable that sometimes one loop is bigger than the other, but I always maintain my core knot-who I am. I pride myself in being a very dedicated student and friend. I love being organized and squared away. I’d sooner do too much than not enough. I’d sooner tie a double-knot just to be safe. Sometimes I plan ahead more than I should- but it's because I have high esteem for my future. I find it necessary to always re-examine where I’m at in my life and if I’m headed towards my dreams. Teach me a new way to tie my laces and I will certainly try it but I will maintain my core (knot) principles.

Sometimes laces get overlooked. I know that also holds true for me. I feel I’m a person worth getting to know, but I don’t try to force anyone to know me. I believe in being modest, and I’d sooner hang back and listen to you, than stand up and speak about me. This doesn’t mean that I don’t stand up for what I believe in or cast a vote to make a change. It means that before I make such decisions I hear all sides involved. I put myself in their shoes and exercise my word, empathy. I try to pull both loops of shoe lace to make sure the knot is tight. I draw from my personal and professional experiences when faced with a big decision or change.

The knot on your laces is not made from one side of the lace alone, it is made from a binding of the two. You must understand and except this if you wish to keep the knot tied. Keeping that knot tied is not always easy and it takes effort and practice to know how to make right. Success is a joint effort. Any success I have is not my success alone, but a collaboration of all of those who have helped me along the way. My belief in doing good for others is reflective of this; this is how I put effort into keeping my knot tied, and knowing others. I always try to stay awake in my surroundings and I love learning new things. I believe that any task, favor, or even just a kind word can make a positive impact in someone else’s life. I get enjoyment out of putting money in other people’s parking meters, and writing letters to people just to let them know I care. I really try to keep the peace in my life and in the lives of those around me. I don’t like to cause the problem, I like to solve it. I like being genuine and easy to get along with. I appreciate a really good sense of humor and I generally I listen more than I speak.

A simple shoelace my not seem like a big deal but it still matters very much and in a sense it symbolizes that the little things matter. Anyone can make an impact, even in the small accomplishment like learning how to tie your shoes. I think the problem today is that we get so caught up in our daily routines we forget the simple things in life; we forget to exercise a little understanding and empathy for the other guy. At times I can be a little bit of an uptight person, but I think it’s just because I’m so structured with myself. I don’t believe in failure, and I don’t settle for less than what I know I am capable of. I also get frustrated when I know people around me are not living up to their full potential. i I think in order to achieve greatness you have to be able to see that within yourself first. If you are content with mediocre than that may all you will ever be. Learning how to tie your laces is about not giving up. It is about facing a challenge and conquering it. With each success you build confidence in yourself and find yourself stepping up to the next challenge.

In the next five years I hope to just be a better version of who I already am. I value the person I am at present and I don’t feel like a great change is necessary. By that time I’ll have finished my degree and I hope to be working at a job I enjoy without a great deal of stress—expcept for eustress of course . I haven’t ruled out going back to school for a master’s or doctorate because I know the more knowledge one gains the more understanding they aquire. Knowledge once gained, is something that cannot be taken away and is essential in creating the change you want to see in the world.

My design employs a limited color palette and because of that is bold and easily understood. Even though I normally like to pack a lot of elements into my designs, it’s always simplicity and minimalism that works best in coveying a message that is clear, direct, and clean. I think the symbol may not be well understood at first glance, but that is exactly who I am. You need to look a little closer and find the person behind the picture; you might even need to read a little. In the design I’m using the laces as reminders. They are reminders of what it takes to be a good designer and reinforce the fact that I don’t forget who I am. I tie my laces everyday. I don’t just slip them on. If you slip your shoes on enough the knot gets weak-you forget what it is that makes up your core. I take the time to think about me and to not settle for less.

And if you can’t say it best, say it with a quote.
(give credit where credit is due)

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.
AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.

I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.
"Do all things with love."
"Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished."
-Og Mandino

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.
-James a Michener

I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.
-Leo Rosten

trippin the light fantastic.

subtitle: all bottle caps must be removed for the safety of thom yorke.


Wow. Talk about trippy. Thom Yorke is an amazing guy and mirroring his vocals was an insane light show that was non-stop throughout the show. Combined with video and light panels, colors rained down on the stage while glowsticks were constantly pouring into the crowd. The audience, myself included just became entranced in the atmosphere whether it was from the hypnosis of the light show or the clouds of pot I'm not sure. probably both. It felt a lot like Woodstock...or at least how I would imagine Woodstock, but of course on a much smaller scale. My friend Nika and myself did not stray from our island of lawn blankets and gently pushed falling dancers from our space. At times I felt dopey, and dizzy; silly and serene. The ages of our new companions varied. Behind us was a girl of about fifteen with her mom and dad. To our left was couples in their mid-thirties. In front of us, some twenty-somethings, and to our right a bunch of blazed teens.

While watching the show I thought of how it compared to performance art...a happening. Could the same feeling being reproduced in a museum in an installation? No. I don't think you could ever recreate it in an identical fashion. It was once in a lifetime, never to be duplicated the same way again. This might not make sense considering that concerts are essentially a show that is practiced and performed over and over again with the same set list. But the audience, the atmosphere, the sky, the stars, will never be the same. I valued the moment while I was in it, and that's not something that happens very often. Usually it takes reflection on a experience to judge and compare it to others, and then decide how you would rate it in your mind.

Sometimes still, sometimes swaying, you didn't have to know the words to be moved by the songs. This concert fantastic and in case I didn't say it enough...a "trip."













While I'll save it for another entry I think the study of light will always be interesting to me. Some artists spend their whole lives observing and trying to make sense of it. Light can change everything and while I'm currently beginning my website I thought it interesting that for my splash page I chose my abstract light photography.

disturbia

(49 years © jenna palermo 2008)

I feel that my new undertaking warrants a post after I spoke about it a little bit with Brittni. And while my intent was to keep the "assignment" under wraps it doesn't really matter since this blog is fairly unpopular. Don't be swayed by the title of this post, it merely stands because of the fact that that Rihanna song has played about 100 times today alone and disturbia versus suburbia...I don't know go with it.

Anyway this project I'm going forth with is personal. It's about me getting to know me and what I am capable of, and me getting to know people and what they are capable of–I guess. Would you trust a random stranger, a passerby? Would you trust a stranger that wanted to take your picture? If the tables were turned on me I would definitely answer no to both of those questions....but since I'm the one asking them it's an entirely different matter. I recognize the fact that I am a non-threatening looking individual. I don't think I look abnormal or crazy or like a paparazzi out to exploit. I look like a kid taking pictures, and generally that's what I am. I don't really have any intentions other then what I said...getting to know people and getting to know myself by breaking barriers. I'm trying to talk to strangers because I know it's something that isn't easy for me. I want to learn about this big city that I have spent the past 21 years living in. I want to discover something that I didn't even realize I was looking to discover before I leave it all behind.

After one day of this adventure I was surprised at how kind people were to just let me snap a photo and to wish me well with my endeavors. Strange. Strangers. What is a stranger anyway...just someone you've never met? The word stranger has such an automatic negative connotation. A stranger is someone that gives kids candy and lures them into their truck. But that doesn't have to be the case. If you tell someone you are their neighbor you are no longer a stranger to them...yet you still do not know that person any better. However it takes away some of the threat and some of the questioning about what you're walking around aimlessly. If I said, "oh it's just a personal project with the hopes of being enlightened somehow by my surroundings" I think I'd be looked at rather oddly. But if I say "oh I just live down the block and I'm taking photos for a school assignment" the furrowed brow becomes a little more relaxed. Then again, like I said I don't look very threatening in general. It just feels awkward to take someone's picture without their knowledge. It seems invasive. It's someone's personal space. It's a part of them. Some cultures believe that taking their picture is like taking away a part of their soul. It's just something you don't do. I mean would I be mad if I found out some random person had just snapped a picture of me while I was crossing the street? I don't know but these are the questions I've asked myself before I've released the shutter.

For the most part I just see a shot that has an interesting aesthetic, a good composition, a story, and it becomes important for me to have that moment. It's about the individual but it's also about everything else. However, with this project I've decided that most of the photos will not be entirely candid. The subject will know that their picture is taken, because I'm asking their permission and whether or not they choose to pose or stay how they were is up to them. Shots that don't directly involve someone's face are a little different. I really wanted this picture of this girl running out into traffic. It was just a good photo, not something that could be thought about too much before taking the picture. Some have to be instant, spontaneous...or you miss it. As you can see I'm not exactly sure on where I'm going with this. There's not a lot of rules. There shouldn't be, because it would complicate things too much. I want this to fall into place a little bit on it's own. I want it to be a story that tells itself. I'm trying not to ask too many questions other than asking for a photo, because I find it all to interesting on what someone will just tell you willingly. I don't like asking people for their names or ages or anything like that. It's slightly more anonymous. But only as anonymous as the subject wants.

Take this for whatever you choose because like I said this is for me. This is through my eyes. Maybe one day it will be for everyone else, but as for right now just think on these things as I will. The less people you consider strangers the safer this world may be.

Learn. Explore. Grow.