New Creation

As some of you may know, six months ago I decided to do a YWAM - "Youth With A Mission" School in Herrnhut, Germany after graduating from High School.

The program was split up into two phases: 3 months of school/lecture and 3 months of the actual mission trip.
(more like two and a half months of the mission trip, and then you come back and tour around, displaying your art, speaking and sharing stories at different places and churches and then you graduate. but we won't get too technical here.)

This particular YWAM program was an art-focused school, ("The Marriage of the Arts or simply, the MOTA) where we were taught on how we can use our creativity and arts for missions, what that looks like, etc.

[if you're interested in this particular YWAM, you can surely find their website here. I'm suuuuuuupaaaaaaa biased, I know, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. I don't regret going at all. Yes, I really missed home a deathly amount, but what I learned about myself (which not all of the time was nice things to learn, either har har) others and Jesus, I feel was absolutely beautiful and worth it and so valuable and just everythinggggg]

^ That really shouldn't be in parenthesis. JESUS, YO. He's the man. Seriously. I could get into how I grew up in a Christian home, and knew who Jesus was, but who He actually BECAME to ME (and is still becoming) personally in those six months was nothing I thought He ever could be. I guess I did just get into it there. It's a relationship, not a religion is what I realized. It was awkward, yeah. Uncomfortable, holy moly. But any relationship in the beginning is, you know? I'm totally getting off track here, but then again, shouldn't life be all about Jesus, anyways? So actually, maybe I'm not so off track. See what I did there? I'm so sneaky. Anyhow, if you ever want to talk about Jesus, I'm available. Comment. E-mail, whatever. I'd much rather talk more in depth about my six months over coffee with you than write a ridiculously long novel on here. There's just no way to condense that long of a time anyways, and somehow I feel it just doesn't quite do it justice.

Back to the school aspect -

I adored it. Simply adored it. To be surrounded by so many artsy/creative people, being inspired constantly and encouraged to continue creating with Jesus and loving others and just ART EVERYWHERE AHH.

I could basically go on forever about the community aspect in general.

But I won't.

I myself chose the Photography Art Track, among an array of other arts, and I am so thankful I did so. I learned a lot about what style of photography I'd like to continue growing in/learning more about, which is some of the reason I am now writing on this blog I've just started.

The realization that I'd fallen in love with "surreal" style photography a little while back hit me while I was there, and by being challenged to explore more with our art, I decided that I wanted to take a more intentional stab at surreal photography/story-telling.

One of our final assignments for the photo track class was to take a Self Portrait, portraying ourselves, our journey, an emotion, a concept, yadda yadda and all that good stuff.

It was awesome and I loved it. Self Portraiture was something I always enjoyed when I first got into photography at age 14, and it was something that I now realize I used as a way to process and express myself during high school, too. I think it is really valuable, not in a vain sort of way, but in the fact that you can express yourself, and be IN THE ART, without having to speak or say a word. Because sometimes we simply feel something, but we don't know how to put that feeling into words until we process through it. At least, that is how it is for me at times.

(also, I'm passionate about just feeling all the feels. It's going to happen sooner or later so why not embrace it head-on? But I'm also my worst hypocrite, cause sometimes I don't like to take my own advice. Actually, more often than not. Oh well, arrest me. It is a learning process after all.)

I've always loved all styles of photography; documentation, portraits, what have you, but it was during my time taking these photos, shivering in the forests of Herrnhut, that I realized this specific style made me absolutely come alive. It really did. I can't describe how one thing can be ehh, and the other can make you feel so real, raw and living. It just does. And that is how I felt. Henceforth, the reason why I am going to dedicate this blog to a personal goal of intentionally making time for surreal portraiture/story-telling.

Because I believe it is important to make time for the things that you make you come alive.

Also, I kind of like blogging, as funny as that sounds to me that I do. But yeah, words, am I right? Sometimes they're not my thing. I think that's why I've always liked pictures and imagery so much; because when I don't know what to say, or feel as though I can't quite express, relate, or show something, then I can a little bit through the help of a photo. But then sometimes I'll randomly get a burst of words that start to jumble up inside of my head in an exploding-like manner if I don't shove them onto a keyboard or a journal.

So this will be my blog of me saying things and showing pictures and nice stuff like that. Yay.

Now for a less lengthy description of the below photos from my time in Germany:

(hooray! just think of when you were a little kid and you got so excited that the book had pictures in it. That's how I feel the majority of the time about photography and showing people and all that jazz)

New Creation.

We all carry pain, sorrow, anger and wounds within our hearts; which we often bandage up and brush them aside. But Jesus can turn even the most horribly bitter seeds into beautiful blooming flowers. We live with these seeds inside of our hearts, but God is the giver of life and is waiting for us to allow Him to make a new creation out of us. There is so much freedom in giving our pain to Jesus if we are vulnerable enough to let Him take the bandages off for us.



"He makes all things new." [Revelation 21:5]

LIES.

We all have these running tapes of negativity playing over and over and over again that we listen to. In this photo, the hands represent the lies that we hear and the ropes, the bondage that occurs when we listen.

 But God speaks truth; and what He says about us is honesty, goodness and grace.

 There will always be lies from the enemy whispered into our ears, but it is our choice to either
believe them, or to believe in the truth that Jesus has revealed to us.

thanks for stopping by, I'm excited to continue exploring more of this style that I have come to admire quite a lot.

xo, G