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The ritual of preparing my morning coffee and sitting outside, wherever I may be, is, according to me, a mark of a great day. The smell of coffee that fills up the entire room stimulates my senses and signals my brain to seize the day. What drew me to this image was the reminder that whether I had a huge test one day or I was on vacation somewhere, I would always prepare my cup of coffee and find a quiet spot outside to indulge in my small luxury. The way the hot liquid hits my throat on a particularly cold day would only warm my soul inside out. I would listen intently to the life around me, especially the birds, squirrels, roosters, and even leaves, as they flapped, crowed, and rustled. It was a ritual we shared in the morning as we all prepared for whatever the day had in store for us.

I think pairing the image with the sound of the birds chirping in the morning invokes nostalgia for crisp mornings and the small luxuries we indulge in. For a small while, time stops. There is nothing better than to work out problems in your head and address bottled thoughts with piping hot coffee and a little time alone in nature, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

The image and audio I chose to present are enhance and are reflective of what I desire most right now during this extremely hectic time of year: Contentment.

To me contentment is a set of clean paintbrushes, a blank canvas, paint, and the free time to just paint – no interruptions, no outside stress, no thoughts of bills or kindergarten registration or housing market or recession… the list goes on and on.

The paintbrushes are symbolic of not only the literal act of painting, but the possibilities ahead. The unknown of a blank canvas and potential it holds. It’s a reminder to find the creativity in the unknown, that no matter what mess life throws at me, I can adjust and strive to turn it into a work of art.

I came across the image I wanted quickly. At first, I searched “Painter”, but I thought the pictures of actual people painting took away from the symbolism and made it more literal. I instead chose just a picture of the paintbrushes to allow viewers to imagine their own potential art instead of having an image of someone else’s art in front of them. 

The song took a little longer to find. I searched words like “Potential” and “Happy”. “Potential” produced songs that were a little too moody, while “Happy” was too bouncy. I wanted something more neutral and peaceful. I think this song is not only beautiful but evokes the emotion of contentment. 

Happy lunar new year! A New year has come again. Have you seen a sunrise on January 1st? There is nothing as wonderful as watching the sunset in the new year (and wishing for a great year). The moment right now I’m writing this blog, it feels like December seems too far away. However, the end of the year will come back very fast as usual. Can you believe that January is almost over? I chose the Carousel of Life (Merry-go-round) by Joe Hisaishi from Howl’s Moving Castle, a Japanese animation film, for the audio. The sun rises, and the sun sets. A day comes and another day comes. Time goes fast which also means life goes fast. I think the sunrise and sunset are like a merry-go-round that never stops.

When I paired the sunrise image with the Carousel of Life by Joe Hisaishi audio, it feels somewhat profound and mysterious (and thinking, “I wish time would go slowly”). The audio here is the symphony version, but if you listen to the original piano version, it gives more of that feeling.

Almost every day at around 3 pm, the Florida summer gives us some rain. The rain gives us the chance of stillness and mindfulness as it sounds peaceful. One of the things I love to do when it is raining is to drive somewhere. I also love getting caught in the rain on my way home from work. It is a chance to take a moment to reflect on the day and think about what could happen in the future. I usually hate driving to and from work due to the inability to control the actions of others, but the rain reminds me that certain things are completely out of my control, which is okay. I have to find ways to work with them and not against them. The isolated and enclosed space that my car allows me to focus on what is ahead while appreciating the natural ambiance that the earth allows us to experience. In moments like this, I remember that I am happy to be here.

When I think of this photo paired with the image, I feel calm and enclosed in a safe space. I really like hanging out in my car. My car is nothing special, but it is a place where I can think clearly and observe people around me when I am stuck in traffic. The windshield wipers and the muddled audio fits with the distorted photo of the back side of a car. The water and filter of the photo are really calm.

What strikes me most in this image isn’t the giant dinosaur (which is a word that in my head is always pronounced the way Mr. DNA says it in Jurassic Park–dinosawr) or the cavernous room itself, but the crowd. The crowd is fascinating to me. Looking at the this group of people makes me simultaneously anxious and nostalgic for field trips to natural history museums in school. So few of them are looking at the exhibit–instead focused on where to go and which other exhibits to check out. I love how often museums will put huge fossils right at the entrance. It’s a great way of saying “if you think this is impressive, wait until you see the rest!”

I think the audio I chose to pair with the image only enhances that nostalgia for me. The overlapping and ultimately indistinct voices echo through the room, bouncing off the stone. The sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor barely cuts through the conversations. I am right back in elementary school glad that my friend’s parent decided to chaperone so I didn’t get stuck in a group without them, and we’re all excited to hit up the gift shop.

When I look at this photo, I feel like I am using all of my senses. I can hear the breeze blowing, and the birds chirping. I can smell nature all around me, the dirt, the flowers, and the trees. Although I do not eat bamboo and I know it is editable, I know the animals are tasting it for me. I want to touch the bamboo and all the other plants below. Lastly, visually this is stunning and a very peaceful scene to me. 
I think “Bamboo Forest Canopy” by The Pug Father pairs incredibly well with Relaxing Sleeping Music: Space and Birds By NameSSs due to its calming melody and birds chirping in the background. The sound and the picture are both calming together to listen to and view. It honestly reminds me of huge bamboo plants that I pass every day to and from work. I am always amazed at how huge the bamboo grows. My memory and love of this plant are why I chose this photo.

“A Sister’s Love” by discoodoni is licensed under CC BY 2.0. 

This image utilized Creative Commons 2.0 Generic Attribution, under this attribution you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Picture this, its a crisp afternoon on the last day of summer running around the yard playing hide and seek with your favorite little sister, in the midst of playing tag your mom yells out “Hey girls pose for a picture, let’s capture the last day of summer” and so you both stop in your tracks, you hoist your little sister up a bit and smile for the camera while breathing hard, sticky hair from the heat, and sweat dripping down your backs, “10 years from now you girls will look back at this moment and smile” says mom, as you put your sister down and continue to chase each other back and forth.

When I saw this image immediately it captured my attention. I chose more of an upbeat, light, jittery song because I feel that it encapsulates the innocence of the two sisters and the love they share between them. The music almost reminds me of music you hear as a kid when you watch informative children shows that would come on PBS Kids. The image reminded me of me and my own sister and the memories we would make every summer embarking on adventures and having the most fun ever just the two of us without a care in the world. I loved having those memories and sharing them with her but I sometimes wished that we would have taken more pictures while playing but I guess we were just in the moment. Either way this image reminds me of the lighthearted fun that I used to have with my own sister and I thought it would be nice to spread the love.

I wanted to post the image above because when I saw this little dog with its sign, it reaffirmed my belief that no matter how big the opposition is, if you are standing up for what is right, you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I chose the sound of the huge crowd cheering to really drive home the point that even a single person, or in this case, a tiny chihuahua, with a profound mission, deserves all the encouragement in the world.

You shift the bags in your hands, freeing one to open the door you’re swiftly approaching. Leaning forward, you fumble into the handle, brow furrowing as you push with more force. All your effort earns you is the beginnings of a bruise on your forearm. You realize the door says “Pull”. One exasperated eye roll later and you defeat the barrier once known as door without a second thought. It takes you a second to register where you find yourself… Wait a minute, now that you think of it, doesn’t the mall have automatic doors? Where did that door take you? This is the opposite of the well-lit concrete desert of a parking lot that should exist here!

This is a taste of the eerie ambient terror that can be felt due to liminal spaces. According to Dictionary.com, liminal space can be defined as: a state or place characterized by being transitional or intermediate in some way. Liminal spaces are poised to easily become uncanny and uncomfortable the more transitional they are. For example, this image here showing an office building in transition between organizations; empty, but only briefly. You can see the lights in the building are on, but it looks dark outside, potentially during the transition from day to night, or the wee hours of the morning before daybreak. Being out and about during these times when most other humans are tucked away cozy in bed, or covering a night shift so things keep running despite it all, it can feel uncomfortable and eerie simply because it’s out of the norm.

Getting back to the image at hand, and that little yarn I was spinning about you…Can you imagine how disorienting it would be? To walk through a door and find yourself in this completely different place? And not only is it somewhere you’ve never seen, but it’s also at a weird time of day, not quite light or dark. There isn’t anyone around, at least not that you can see or hear. In the creepypasta subreddits people refer to it as “glitching out of reality” and finding yourself in “The Backrooms”. A few different video games have come out highlighting this particular brand of discomfort, if you’re looking to experience it for yourself…That is, if the audio I decided to pair with the image didn’t induce enough dread in you!

It’s the time of the year that everyone freaks out about– that’s right Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. I chose the image above because I love pop art! It’s always interesting to see how modern art remixes a well- known symbol and turns it into a pop- art icon that we all can appreciate.

So back to the elephant in the room. Valentine’s Day. Is it a holiday simply created to make us buy more chocolate? Or to show those around us that we care? I would argue a little bit of both. Jane Austen reminds us that ” there are as many forms of love as there are moments in time.” I couldn’t agree more. Friends, co-workers, parents, partners, we all share a little bit of ourselves throughout the years, which is far more important than any holiday.

I chose the track “Life is but a dream” to remind us that the time that we have on this earth is limited, and to reevaluate how we define love.

Life Is But A Dream by J.Lang (c) copyright 2022 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/65522 Ft: Kara Square