Photo Gallery

We are merely human; yet amazingly human...

Ever since I was a young child I have been a lover of fiction not because it creates a world that does not exist but because in a grandeur way it demonstrates the immense power all of us possess deep within. In essence it amplifies reality and puts this amplification at the general public’s forefront. One of my favorite shows on television for the past few years has been The Walking Dead. On this show, based on a series of graphic novels, a disease outbreak occurs in the United States causing all higher functions of the brain to cease and for the primordial brainstem to take over. In Laymen’s terms this disease creates “zombie-ism”. It is especially compelling due to the fact that the title of the show The Walking Dead actually refers to the human survivors not the zombies. It is the living beings that in essence are the “walking dead” because it is thought ‘what is there left to live for?’ People are often baffled with why I love this show so dearly. All they see is the superficial gore and violence, but I love this television show because it personifies a frightening reality for us all. Not necessarily that the zombie infection will take place in our present world, but that the ingredients of depleting natural resources, environmental degradation on various levels, racism, misunderstanding, countries in turmoil are the key ingredients for our world to break out into chaos similar to this fictional show; however, why I truly adore this show is because of the humanity that results from the horror.

As a viewer one can see characters in fear and submerged in the most desperate of times actually find the strength to band together and keep hope alive so that they can survive this toxic world they presently find themselves inhabiting. The characters’ trajectories have been my favorite part of this show. This is the key factor that has keep me tightly latched onto my fandom for six seasons. For many of the characters the greatness that ends up pouring out of them would not have occurred if it was not for this horror and tragedy that this apocalypse has brought about. One of my most cherished characters a woman named Carol in season one when the chaos is just starting is a beaten house wife whose husband sexually assaults her daughter Sophia when he comes home too drunk. Now emerging out of season six is a strong protector of the mismatched group they now call family. She is one of the strongest most resourceful characters on this show. In the comforts of the real world she would have never accessed this strength or would have become the best form of herself. I feel as if in tragedy and in horrific times human beings have a tipping scale they process through the pain and torture and come out a better form of themselves or they simply crumble and fall apart.

Concerns of present day as previously mentioned are: depleting natural resources, environmental degradation on various levels, racism, misunderstanding, and countries in turmoil. As an undergraduate student in my environmental science classes I would get overwhelmed and scared that I would freeze up thinking that there was no point to try to fix the destroyed earth that human beings have created there just seemed to be too much water flooding the sinking ship that is the world. Immediately after this thought my late grandfather John Kelley Marine in World War II popped into my mind. He desperately fought for his life pretending to be dead floating down the Gautama Canal and because of that he gave me and over 30 other human beings life. This is when I realized life is something I have to fight for each day and it is worth it. It is worth it to try to better our planet and to try to better or human relations and interactions. I also realized that some people simply are not aware and do not know what they are fighting for or what they should be fighting for. If people are not aware of a problem then they cannot fix it.

That is why through my art of creating dances and writing I wish to bring awareness to people of the happenings of our crumbling world and let them know that they truly do have the power to make a difference. We must get up from the rubble. It takes one person, one voice, one vote, one idea to catalyze change. Mahatma Gandhi, Patrick Henry, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Rosa Parks are people society glorifies as historical higher beings when they were similar to anyone and what individuals in society are capable of being: one idea, one voice, one movement, and one stance. They were the power of one. I want to bring awareness to the general public that we can rise up, because even though alone we are the mere power of one simultaneously we are the mighty power of one. We must utilize our power of one to create a power of many. I will not give up on this world or the people in it. We must have hope and I will keep creating art and writing to peacefully bring this awareness about so through this crumbling world we find ourselves in and that we have a lot left to live for and can become the best versions of ourselves through fighting for our lives in the rubble.