|
|||||
|
My nephew isn’t afraid of the camera. He thrives when I aim the lens at him. Everything he does is followed by an emphatic, “Like this Nino?!” He jumps, attacks, runs, smiles, flips and somersaults whenever possible. He’s a fireball of energy, bursting at the seams and emitting enough warmth for the entire world to feel. I love this kid beyond description.
I grew up in Los Angeles, CA but it’s never quite the same for me whenever I return. I have so many different LA experiences that I never know which one is the legitimate one. I was raised in the San Fernando Valley in a suburban home, with suburban parents looking for the American dream. They found it, thankfully, but it wasn’t my dream. I lived a suburban life for much of my adolescence and then moved to Westwood and West Hollywood during my UCLA years. I cultivated a loving relationship with everything over the hill during those years, but then I graduated, and a powerful force motivated me to leave. I haven’t lived in Los Angeles since then. Usually I visit for one or two weeks at a time, stay in that suburban home, with my lovely suburban parents and settle into valley-living. Most days I abstain from leaving because I can’t fathom driving 35 minutes to meet friends at a bar. Then I sulk. Yesterday I moved into luxury residences overlooking NW Los Angeles, and near Downtown. No, it’s not permanent. It’s temporary work housing that, to be clear, is completely unique in its swank. But it will be home for six weeks. Los Angeles is different from this vantage point. Everything seems so close. The mountains, ocean, Hollywood sign, skyscrapers of Century City, Santa Monica and Hollywood all appear to be within walking distance. I enjoyed the sunset from high above for the first time in a long time. The sky turned a reddish-orange with hints of brown, and clouds gravitated towards the sun as if it was time to run home. They say the smog is what gives us these gorgeous sunsets. I think 17-story apartments with balconies help too.
My day started with severe grogginess and exhaustion. Five days of workshops, brainstorming, meetings, running, laughing and eating had depleted my energy. Flying from Orlando to Los Angeles with a stop in Charlotte, NC didn’t help. In fact, I was grumpy. Really grumpy. Then we arrived in Los Angeles and thoughts of swaying palm trees, 75 degrees and sunshine were washed away by torrential downpours, news of flash floods and crazy drivers. I arrived at my temporary home, located in Downtown LA, completely out of it. I think I even fell down the stairs because my body just didn’t want to move anymore. I decided a night at my family’s home would be best. Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen any family faces in four months. That’s about 3 1/2 months longer than I usually like to go. The little tike above is my nephew who so kindly decided to roar in my face to say “hey, Nino.” My energy took a significant spike up after this shot was taken.
I heard a nugget of creative wisdom yesterday that made me smile. My coworker said – and I’m paraphrasing – “you’re at your most creative when you’re most exhausted.” She said exhaustion leads to breakthroughs and I wondered how much of that was true for me. Coming upon a breakthrough, or moment of pure and distinct progression, is an exhilarating experience, but I couldn’t think of the last time I had one. Our retreat ended yesterday with a display of odd talents, jokes, performances and skits. We all laughed and clapped for each other because we recognized that exposing one’s talents is actually really difficult, but fun to watch. My moment on stage came when I stood in front of my coworkers, jammed my finger in my eye and made “that squishy sound I always make.” No one booed, or sat silent. Instead, everyone laughed, moaned in disgust – equivalent to clapping in my book – and cheered. I didn’t hesitate to showcase my freakish gift, which led me to believe I’d arrived at a level of trust with these people. Then everyone jumped in a freezing pool with their clothes on. I’m not sure of the definitions, but I think that’s a breakthrough for all of us.
Every photograph I’ve taken for this project has been on the day of the posting. This photograph was taken at 12:03am on Wed morning. My coworkers and I decided a nighttime swim would help us get to know each other and it did. This week we’re implementing fierce discussion and debate about our goals as an organization. We’re coming up with ways to better include a large demographic of American society that is harshly ignored. We’re maneuvering towards better ways of capturing the true American voice. We’re having healthy debates, lots of chatter, throwing ideas into a cauldron and stirring. For a brief moment today, we realized being on the verge of something great and clarity was inevitable. Then there was a breakthrough. Essentially, we were creating a splash outside of the swimming pool and I think that’s why we’re here. |
|
||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Citizen Of The World Inc. - All Rights Reserved |
|||||
Feb 7, 2010
Feb 6, 2010
Feb 5, 2010
Feb 4, 2010
Feb 3, 2010
Recent Comments