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The image Vienna – Rathus Christmas Market by charley1965 reminds me of how Christmas time feels like the most happiest time of year. I believe the best memories come from window shopping at Christmas Markets. Looking at all the different booths that are selling cute little trinkets and trying to eat all the different food stalls. The first time I attended a Christmas Market was in New York City in 2011. There were many colorful Christmas ornaments and souvenirs as far as the eye can see. Looking at this image made me think how I missed out on Germany’s Christmas Market last December.

When pairing the music Memories of Better Times by gurdonark with the image, it makes it seem like I want to slow down and relax. Enjoying the moment. Usually, around the holidays, it feels very rushed, fast paced, and busy. The calm piano playing is a nice touch to make it seem like I am actually at a real Christmas Market and this music is playing in the background while window shopping. Even though the image looks like a lot is going on and so many things to look at, I feel like the calm music helps balance it out. Also, it is a coincidence the song title Memories of Better Times fits perfectly with what I want to feel when I am listening to this music and while looking at the picture. Remembering the happier times in life.

This whimsical picture reminded me why I loved reading  “Love in the Night”, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, earlier this week.  The story completely ferried me to the southern coast of France in the spring of 1916, a year before the Russian Revolution. With Fitzgerald’s vivid imagery, it is hard not to be transported into another world.  “Love in the Night” basks in all the romantic heart-string pulling and discovery of “First Love.”  I would describe it as “Young Love” where everything feels perfect for one brief moment, resulting the desire to recapture that feeling again and again. 

I read reviews calling Fitzgerald’s love story “cheesy” and “unrealistic”.  Admittedly, I am a romantic, but I don’t devour Harlem Romance novels or “live” for the next Hallmark movie.  So, why did this love story touch me?  It is as the whimsical song represented above says, “I hope for the best”.  I chose to see the world through rose-colored glasses.  As children, we are born believing in the rosy view of life.  Little kids see the wonder all around, waking up each day to happily embrace new possibilities.  But over time, we start to remove our rose-colored glasses for periods of time.  And eventually some of us begin forgetting to pick them up from the nightstand in the morning.  Some might argue that “society is broken” and putting on those glasses blinds you to happenings in the real world.  But, rose-colored glasses aren’t blindfolds.   They don’t prevent you from seeing sadness or pain.  Choosing to wear the glasses isn’t an act of denial, but a deep belief in hope. 

In Fitzgerald’s story, a moment of true happiness was created by the couple’s love.  And reflecting that they once knew happiness, inspired them to want to feel that love again.  It was hope that crossed their paths again several years later.  Perhaps ironically,  Fitzgerald’s life was darkened by alcoholism, money problems, and the mental illness of his wife.  But I think that when Fitzgerald wrote this story, he willingly slipped on colored glasses.   Like me, he chose to see the world through rose-colored glasses deciding to hope for the best.

By Tiffany Walters (@thelaststoryguard)

Sunrise – the arriving light marks the beginning of a new day full of mystery.
Is it promising or foreboding? 

Sunset – the departing light shares a burst of color or fades from gray to black.
Does the mysterious darkness bring rest, fear or loneliness? 

This photo caught my eye for a few reasons. The curving angle of the clouds and hillside, the contrast of the sky and the silhouetted trees, and because I am unceasingly enthralled by the endless variety and beauty of sunrises and sunsets.

The audio file adds to the mystery of the dark spaces in the photo, the awe of the beautiful colors, and the quiet peacefulness of the sunrise/set moment.

Wonderland. Dangerous -or- Beautiful?

For the photo I chose “Bailey Covered Bridge” by Algorithms Riven the photo was an interesting combination of gray scale and the bright yellows, blues, and purple hues. Something seems slightly ominous with the photo but the colors are so bright that it seems too pretty to be dangerous. The composition was off kilter and one that you can’t help but look around the photo even though your eyes get drawn back into the middle.

I chose the song “Herat 7” by ERH because it was slightly eerie but also beautiful and serene. Though you can tell something isn’t quite normal, I found that it added to the composition. I named it “Wonderland?” since the verdict is still out whether it is dangerous or not. Afterall Wonderland was both magical AND dangerous.