On The Mothership

What does love mean to you? -That’s a tricky question isn’t it? Love can mean so many things to each person, but to me, I think love means great affection and admiration of someone. Love isn’t wanting someone because of the things they do for you, it’s wanting to do things for them because you want to. Not because you’re asked to. Love is giving. Are you saying you don’t love people that do things for you? -No, because it’s easy to feel love for someone when they do things for you, but that’s because when they do, you can see the kindness in their heart and then you admire them for that. And I don’t think love is something you feel for someone at certain times, but all the time. Love is also consistency, it’s always there. Now, liking someone, that’s a different thing. Love looks past shortcomings, but sometimes someone will do something that will make you like them less in that moment, but that doesn’t always mean that you love them less. If you do, then I don’t think that’s reall

The heart I wear is not purple Too many families, spouses, and mothers Lose sons and daughters in combat For unidentified cause For senseless killing, Self-sacrifice for the self The war drafts en masse We all fight the same enemy And too many brothers and sisters Lost in combat. People don’t like to talk about It Newspapers try to glorify It Undermining those who have been through It Nobody chooses to go into the trench And nobody is willing to go into the trench voluntarily, To save their brother. Those who desert think it’s the easy way out But nobody likes to talk about how they treat you when you do Some place the blame on the enemy Others speak in hush tones of abandoning the fight People don’t like to talk about suicide I didn’t ask to go to war Yet I was drafted, all the same Sent to the trenches There I sat holding breath Knowing the enemy waited at ground level Waited to put me six feet under Waited to force my hand in aid I waited in the

This year has been an extraordinary year, with extreme highs and lows, pain and difficulties, love and happiness. I want to take a while to recap each month and recount some of the highlights of this year, as well as some of the low points. January: Came in with a bang. A month in which I was still working on finding my footing as a person, as most of the year has been. I started the month off in Raleigh, fulfilling one of my goals of trying new things. I went roller-blading and visited the NC Museum of Art. This was also the month I started really getting into David Byrne and the Talking Heads -- musical and philosophical influences that would help shape the rest of my year. Kicked off the second semester at Pfeiffer University. A challenging semester, but I managed to make it through without too many hiccups. The semester in which I took the digital photography class offered at the university -- a class that would help shape me as a photographer and give me the roots to really s