MOA Exhibit

This week I got to go see the art exhibit of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs in the basement of the MOA. Seriously, I wish the whole world could go see that exhibit. It was so touching and profound that connected my emotions to my own personal experiences while connecting me to tragic events I have never imagined experiencing. I honestly just wept while I walked through the stories and faces of each picture. It was stunning. Media can be so powerful in connecting people and documenting rare and fleeting moments of human life.

Live Art

This week I attended a dance concert to watch my friend perform. As a dancer myself, watching dance is a very interesting and regular form of my personal entertainment, but I have never quite viewed it as a form of entertainment. It is interesting to think about how dance uses the whole being of a person to create an experience, that visual, physical and often audible. It is definitely unique in the art form because you have to engage every part of your inner being and your outer being (your body) to participate. I think there is power in being the creator of media and the viewer and being able to understand both roles. I'd like to spend more time in my life welcoming in live forms of media.

Music Purge

I love music. It is a very powerful influence in my life and is a huge part of my identity. Since starting this class, I have become more aware of how much music I listen to on a regular basis. It is always on in my car, my headphones are always in whenever I am walking or studying, and my laptop plays music anytime I am home in my bedroom. It is a constant. I realized how I often isolate myself into my own world through my music. I am comfortable in my musical space and am alone and honestly, would rather be there than meeting more people or thinking about my schedule and other stresses that constantly ruminate in my mind. I desire to be more connected to God, myself and others and to listen and slow down. As a part of this, I am going to experiment never using headphones while walking in between classes on campus. I hope this will help me recognize the feelings, the smells, the sights, and experiences of my external world and those around me a bit more keenly. We shall see!

Return to Reading

Evgeny Onegin

This week I started to read literature again for the first time in a long time. In my Russian Literature class we began reading the Pushkin masterpiece, "Evgeny Onegin". I was reminded very quickly how enlightening reading can be to inspire change. As I read and try to understand characters, experiences, I inevitably start to rub the layered, complex smudges off my own mirror. The content of the first two chapters was positive as it sparked enlightenment. I believe it can have potential to be bad, if I get so wrapped up in the content that I use it as justification for egotistically building my own intellectual repertoire, or for the sake of isolating myself from the present and real characters, or situations at hand in my present life. I am excited to continue to read and better understand and analyze the effects of reading more literature on a consistent basis in my life.