https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-gallery daily 0.75 2017-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499969632781-XOJBHWUSKRO4V42Y55B8/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499969632781-XOJBHWUSKRO4V42Y55B8/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971102591-AATXTONEUYLSJ9B2S673/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Gallery I am not this body. I have no form underneath this skin. But I am bright and knowing and beautiful. My spirituality is living, breathing, beaming, glowing, it's the friendly exchange of energy, helping two souls grow. I've never seen my own heart, but I imagine an innocent organ that is changing shape every day. When I'm clear and happy and free, my heart is expanded and bright with each beat. When I'm cloudy, my heart lives mostly in its contraction, taking meek beats. I feel connected to the source when I'm connected to myself, coming from my heart space in all my actions and interactions.   Jamie A. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971102686-PFXT345K3Q6CPRNJO1D8/Portraits-02.jpg REVEALED Gallery       Dave B. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971104096-P6M664R83DHOZGMND4FT/Portraits-03.jpg REVEALED Gallery Listen       Jennifer B. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971104263-280T5SEDBXN29CNLGXWG/Portraits-04.jpg REVEALED Gallery I carry in life very few possessions, for I came into life with the most precious gift of all, the gift of life. My contents contain the things that have allowed me to mold myself into the woman that I am at this point in my journey.Red lipstick defines my sexuality, bold passionate sometimes shy and blushful. And sometimes red simplifies my broken heart that I carry in a place that is not obvious to the human eye but obvious to the humanity in those who have also shared in the loss of a loved one. But don't get me wrong, I do not dwell in loss for there is nothing to gain from pain, so I salute my life, my Mummy, my dog, my friends, my family, my voice, my silence, my happy, my sad, my good, my bad, my vulnerability, my words, and my body and soul, for as a great woman once said "Who I Am is a possibility, a possibility that's who I am!" Yours TRUELY Miss Tiyee. xox     Tiyee C. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971105687-QYAHUZPKI1ZG98ACC7EB/Portraits-05.jpg REVEALED Gallery Music. The core essentials at the base of my journey are, and have always been largely musical. With that perspective, the tuning fork stands to represent balance, harmony, melody, focus and a communal rhythm of life. All of us, tuning in, breathing in and sharing the creative energies of the world and the world beyond. Albeit, obvious or sublime. A pine cone, a bird, the moon and stars, are nature. The philosophy; The power of words and art to connect us to each other. To our past, present and hopefully our future. Faith in the unknown, the possibilities, and the unrealized. Music is life. Life is music. It is a constant. Natural, Internal, External, Eternal.     Ian C. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971105681-FU14ASQWZN06UUYOX2LL/Portraits-06.jpg REVEALED Gallery I chose two important items for my box to display. My phone. While I have not yet given into convergence on all levels, I need to be connected to my mobile world with voice, images, and text. My phone represents a much larger infrastructure that supports my livelihood. NOTE: It was not necessarily turned off for the session. Leaves from a plant. My physical and natural worlds have a lot to do with cycles, health, and basically air. Running, stretching, and taking time to just breathe help me to adjust my reactions on a daily basis. The leaves represent my relationship or help to acknowledge my respect for life itself – even though they had to die for this project. My commitment of time spent on this project was unexpected. I learned that I do not allow myself to think about my identity often enough. It was fun.   Brett D. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971106794-H1EWD3MC4SL4PRK7EMJE/Portraits-07.jpg REVEALED Gallery My connection to the universe is a child-like, playful feeling. Like laughter. And not a day goes by that I don't smile at God's mysteries, practical cosmic jokes, and wicked sense of humor! I feel it in my chest, as if it's been blown wide open with gratitude. It's a moving, flowing, spinning, sensation that every single thing is in simple perfection - feeling of connection to everyone, everything. And in those moments when I'm aware of my connection, I create the most unexplainable magic - helping remind me that I too am God and that anything is possible.   Stephanie M. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971107189-QQ0H26GSEA8VJFHPH2XO/Portraits-08.jpg REVEALED Gallery I’ve always classified myself as a spiritual, yet non-religious person. I have many beliefs, but they don’t neatly fit into a package that I can put a title on. I guess I could say that my religion is my family, close friends and the relationship I have with my animals. The relationships I have in my life whether current or the past have shaped who I am. They are the most important things in my life. Loving and being loved is what I care about. It’s what I believe in. The most prominent item I’ve placed in my box is my Rainbow Blanket. It was made for me as an infant by my maternal Grandmother, my Grammy. I love it as if it had a heart beat. To me, it has emotions just like you or I. I could never leave it behind or toss it aside. It’s been with me through loss, heartache, fear, joy and every emotion in between. It’s part of me. The Santa Claus doll is my elder cat Girl Girl’s favorite toy. Although my relationship with animals began the day I was born, Girl Girl is the first animal that I was ever solely responsible for. I picked her out as a Mother’s Day gift for my Grandmother when I was 12. Later she became my own. My time with her has taught me invaluable life lessons, which I continue to learn on a daily basis. Not many people can understand the love I feel for her. It is the kind of love that I can feel in every ounce of my body and that radiates from me like a warm glow whenever I am around her. She is old and bitchy, but she has been a best friend and I only hope I can take care of her as she has taken care of me. The picture of my mother has been placed in my box because I often feel like neither of us would be a complete person without the other. We’ve had each other when there was no one else. I am a product of her and she is a mirror of myself. I know we’ve been together for many lifetimes and will be together for many more. She is the mother I want to be and the person I have always strived to become. The prism was given to me by my late stepfather who was only with us for a short time before he passed away. The prism reminds me that sometimes even the relationships that touch your life for the shortest periods of time, can have the longest impact. The book was mine as a child. It is a book of art projects for children. Creativity has been an important part of who I am for as long as I can remember and this book is my first memory of being creative.     Sabine S. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971108049-NY6UQS5RFY588T6V12DN/Portraits-09.jpg REVEALED Gallery Fire An instant articulate violence: excitement and tumult. The instance of combustion, oxidation, laughter.   Rob R. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971108613-P3YX5EDN2KMVHPRK90UN/Portraits-10.jpg REVEALED Gallery My connection to the Divine is discerned as an inner presence... creation whispers and awakens in me. There is a fire that fuels me with passion for being... assuring me of my connection to the One eternal flame. There are flowing waters originating from beyond, yet actively present and moving through me. The movement impels me to know and to release the essence of my being. Living waters stirring me to remember... to reveal... and to relax into the flow. I sense the heartbeat of creation animating and connecting me to all life... to Infinite Presence and Mind. The life I AM is a bridge between heaven and earth... the seen and the unseen... spirit and substance. I AM inspiration... I am expression... I am being... I AM... singing and dancing in me.     Darlene S. Lawrence, Kansas 2006                 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971109558-OVQKESMKIBUUIRQU6LEB/Portraits-11.jpg REVEALED Gallery My crest bears the motto: I learn to succor the distressed.   Kelley M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971109669-0YW118LZI0TK6UZFUW1W/Portraits-12.jpg REVEALED Gallery I have found that there is only “one story” and it reveals itself in infinite forms and plots all of which lead to knowing “peace.”     Mike F. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971111033-RQ4Q9TY13990QL5WAYKX/Portraits-13.jpg REVEALED Gallery Flight: One who separates themselves from the physical body and enters a spiritual journey into the universe.     Staci B. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971111036-4TU07CFHDPDQOSVJGX0J/Portraits-14.jpg REVEALED Gallery The Buddha has a smile because the Buddha has just realized he already had what he had been searching for all these years.     Steve A. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971112543-IS7B49WAT7BSG8ZSCJMF/Portraits-15.jpg REVEALED Gallery Tibetan chimes sound. Sufi mantras abound. Sacred amulet found. Seated Buddha’s in town. Hourglass sand goes down. So I ask you, Grasshopper: Who is this bearded clown?   Charles G. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971112543-MS9RDLLVFU9CWJIDK1TH/Portraits-16.jpg REVEALED Gallery I am clear. I am to be a channel for compassion.   David B. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971113901-RB3Z72KV3OS6UDQ15C04/Portraits-17.jpg REVEALED Gallery I live and breathe my passion as a plant spirit alchemist, weaving the scents of heaven and earth together for empowering the divine essence that is alive within all things.   Joan C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971113915-9L00WBKS6T93PMJYSCZ5/Portraits-18.jpg REVEALED Gallery As a single guy whose only child has left the nest, Calico is my dearest companion. She came to me last September as a 5-week-old kitten when some unknown person abandoned her on the side of a busy highway. There she sat, for God knows how long until, long after dark, I came speeding by and, for a split second saw... something... in my headlights. Consider, if you will, how incredibly wise the survival instinct was in this 5-week-old kitten. If her instinct had told her to stand in the middle of the highway and cry for help, she wouldn’t have lasted a minute. If her instinct had told her to run from the hideous noises and fumes and hide in the tall grass, the coyotes would have seen to it that she wouldn’t have lasted the night. Instead, her deepest and wisest part instructed her to stay right where she was, not to succumb to fear and run—but neither to succumb to self-pity and insist on being rescued. Just sit. And trust. And so, as fearsome mechanical beast after beast bellowed death threats at her from mere inches away, she held her ground, waiting patiently for someone to pay attention and manifest compassion. When I drove back and parked near her, she came running toward me. I think her exact words as she leapt into my car were, “It’s about time you showed up!” For me, Calico is the embodiment of courage and wisdom. She challenges me to be so centered that I instinctively respond to adversity from my deepest and wisest part. She models for me the traits I most seek—beauty, passion and integrity. She lives in the moment; indeed, she knows no place but the moment. This is the place where split-second decisions are made that decide who we really are, where risks are very real, where rewards are beyond anything we had previously imagined. This is the place where Calico sits, patiently waiting for me to pay attention, manifest compassion, and come play.   Larry C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971115315-SLITX5YZT0T8W46R3UTD/Portraits-19.jpg REVEALED Gallery Growing up, I didn’t take the opportunity to learn about my heritage or the rich history of my people. As I get older, I find myself starving for new knowledge of my culture and I find the views of the Oglala fascinating. Learning the history and spirituality of the Sioux has opened my eyes to a new world and it has given me a sense of individuality. My box contains a dream catcher, my mother’s turquoise necklace and a book about the Sioux religion, Mitakuye Oyasin, meaning “We are all related.”   Melissa B. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971115361-T01XNKWNA6FQOG67EFYN/Portraits-20.jpg REVEALED Gallery Much like the objects I selected, the notion that my soul is connected to spirits beyond and yet grounded to the Earth creates a juxtaposition of elements that are real and imagined.   Rose R. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971116653-LUWAKH70D605OULKSU0V/Portraits-21.jpg REVEALED Gallery Upper shelf: my glasses and pen represent reading and writing. I honor the insights and knowledge received from the minds of others through their literary expression. I have connected deeply with family and close friends through my attempts to share my own feelings and reflections. The braided necklace with its four strands recalling the Four Directions, represents the men’s group work with which I am involved, The ManKind Project.   Bob G. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971116771-K06BBV6HTM38GRCDANGX/Portraits-22.jpg REVEALED Gallery To everyone, a fly is quite familiar. They are always around, in your house, outside, etc., but does any- one really know a fly? We can all see it fly around, land briefly, and fly off again before it can get swatted away. We think we know what a fly does, but no one really knows a fly’s true life. The fly is certainly a nuisance, but it has an agenda all its own that we know nothing about. Maybe the fly doesn’t want you to know him ... ever think about that?   Darion P. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971117715-1UT9I6VNLBAJLAR5H8ET/Portraits-23.jpg REVEALED Gallery In recognition, there is healing. My fears are hidden. Tranquility in the midst of pain.   Dona L. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971118234-7F0B50SIL24EQTNW8548/Portraits-24.jpg REVEALED Gallery I see my path as one where I am learning to balance body, spirit, emotion and thought.   Jody D. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971119301-SG69V43212BJLYSGJZFO/Portraits-25.jpg REVEALED Gallery     Joe S. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971119521-UHT5534I61ZVQ889UOB6/Portraits-26.jpg REVEALED Gallery “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.”— St. Paul I find a paradox in my life, weakness becomes strength, brokenness becomes wholeness, and inadequacies become adequacies when they pass through His grace. Those things that disqualified me become His tools for good. The broken cologne bottle symbolizes my brokenness giving off an aroma of hope and peace.   John M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971120772-QIDE9U3H0ZXANIPL0E7G/Portraits-27.jpg REVEALED Gallery Many lifetimes as a warrior have imprinted my soul with compassion for those less fortunate than myself, and a reminder to daily nurture my connection with the Great Spirit, whom I serve.   John M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971120728-7344LFPDN28WD47ATYOX/Portraits-28.jpg REVEALED Gallery Texas, Nature and Buddha—three things that keep me grounded and bring me peace and comfort.   Jon C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971123204-KT3NPM4GLF13RIZWVKUM/Portraits-29.jpg REVEALED Gallery My box is sparse and full. There are only two items, but they are uncomfortably crammed together. A child’s toy. It is ragged, a bit dirty, a little awkward. The toy is not a personal effect, it is a found and random object, but it was chosen for what it represents to me, and in me. It symbolizes vulnerability, innocence. The barbed wire encircles the toy, it signifies strength, cynicism, and boundaries. It represents the walls that I put up to keep people at a distance, to keep them away from my insides. My journey with spirituality is about duality and balance. Can opposite elements coexist peacefully forever? Strength and weakness. Insensitivity and innocence. Cynicism and happiness. Paralysis and possibility.   Kelsey M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971123146-BPC5ZG4DU3V471FH4A40/Portraits-30.jpg REVEALED Gallery The small fern inside the box represents my belief that in life, we are all one with nature, and in death, we will return to nature. The spools of thread outside the box represent my connection to those nearest me. The spools on the inside of the box represent my connection to self. All the spools of thread are knotted and pulled from the limbs of the fern... illustrating the tension involved in my need to tend and mend those around me as well as my internal struggle to understand and repair myself. The contents define my compromise between scientific reality and metaphysical existence.   Kimberly G. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971124443-U21BOZBO763OX5NZ29M8/Portraits-31.jpg REVEALED Gallery At any given moment, I am simply in between what I was and what I am about to become.   Mark Z. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971124337-CBNLH6EF1UY4T0LAUUF3/Portraits-32.jpg REVEALED Gallery I reflect your light, and like a mirror, you reflect mine. Together we connect our souls and shine a brighter light for all to see.   Marlene S. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971125557-26Q94N4VV2DR57XUN8MV/Portraits-33.jpg REVEALED Gallery The box represents my inner being which contains my heart, soul and Christ-consciousness. I am listening intently for the wisdom within.   Michelle C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971125616-CF1HANUI9RIZQ1J3QVQI/Portraits-34.jpg REVEALED Gallery I know my soul has potential. It is waiting patiently to fully manifest.     Mike F. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971126824-SJ1UYU2UKJUZKGG85OSH/Portraits-35.jpg REVEALED Gallery Harmony resides in me; my spirit is lifted and the shadows of doubt and fear are removed. I have begun my physical healing and spiritual awakening...     Shae H. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971127210-BPCQHIK9EXJQMLFDIVND/Portraits-36.jpg REVEALED Gallery I choose to live in a world that acknowledges the paradoxes but dwells on the majesty, the music, the marriage.     Susanna C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971128097-Z61D1VQKL4CL2HP9ZUCA/Portraits-37.jpg REVEALED Gallery My mother helped me grow in life, but my father hurt me when he left.     Whitney A. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971128418-H2PSLC10PHHEKPNND3UD/Portraits-38.jpg REVEALED Gallery With the birth of my daughter, my eyes were opened to see the journey of life. My mind was opened to embrace the beauty of the world. My heart was opened to the wonder of unconditional love. My spirit celebrates the Spirit for the incredible gift of Siena.     Ellen C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971129412-R6IOQCBJBXEMMRB928BY/Portraits-39.jpg REVEALED Gallery My sister and I were shopping one afternoon and we saw a shelf of beanie babies. I didn’t own a beanie babies or particularly care about them, but the pink striped tiger made me laugh so hard. My sister went back and surprised me with it the next time we saw each other. Spirituality and faith have a lot to do with pink striped tigers. Pink striped tigers are funny, unique, and a little out of character. Pink striped tigers are funny and my sense of humor has gotten me through some difficult times. Pink striped tigers are unique and spirituality is unique to everyone. I feel that talking about spirituality is a little out of character for me. It can be scary to open up about what goes on inside my head and heart. What I believe and how I feel about God seems so personal and difficult for me to share. This Rosary was given to me by another sister when I was in college. She bought it while she was in Rome. I think it is so beautiful and she doesn’t know how much I treasure it. Even talking to family about spirituality is scary. The Rosary is that little extra help to focus me in times of real challenge. The physical presence of the beads is calming to me. The Kansas University seal is to represent my passion for education and the development of the mind. I believe knowledge and religion can live quite comfortably together. The more I learn the more faith I need. Education is what made question my Catholic upbringing way back when. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that knowledge is a gift, but all needs to be balanced. Learning to balance between mind and spirit is a life long quest.   Karen F. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971131227-1JUCW1UHIUSEZQLINCJA/Portraits-41.jpg REVEALED Gallery Peace—my essence and my gift to the universe.       Debbie K. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971131353-ZSECFOC7HYF1J9L56SLX/Portraits-42.jpg REVEALED Gallery The Joy is in the Journey! The Journey from sad to happy, from fool to king, from bound to freedom, from isolation to expansion, from my heart to yours. Pack a toothbrush, take a towel and look for surprises along the way.     Richard R. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971132731-VM39DDVF015FVO697D22/Portraits-43.jpg REVEALED Gallery Nature's guiding force moves me to create good through the spirits of my youth; the Boy Scout Law and enlightenment lit by the many bulbs of the GE sign over Edison's empire. My restless spirit overflows the box, measuring the infinite.     Bill W. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971132843-1L810Y0QN3C2TRW41NB6/Portraits-44.jpg REVEALED Gallery For me, my spirituality is about finding peace within myself and happiness and harmony in my life. I’ve been raised Catholic and consider myself a “new Catholic” I believe in some fundamental teachings-but not all. The rope represents the struggle within myself to come to terms with my beliefs. I take comfort in the prayers of the Rosary and believe in the power of prayer. For me, I believe that’s in someone’s heart and soul means much more than a religion or label. The intertwined “heart” ring in my box represents a time in my life when I felt as if my heart was broken. When I saw that ring I knew it signified something important for me. I recognized that my heart was broken and if would take the time to heal. I wore that ring to remind myself that my heart would heal one day. I took it off when I felt like I reached the moment- my heart was mended and I found happiness. I keep the ring- though I don’t wear it anymore as a reminder of my journey. It makes me feel good to be where I am today. I feel beauty- represented by the dried roses. I love flowers-I love their color, their smells, their life-if you let them go –without nurturing them- they lose their petals and die-like the spirit-but if you experience their beauty at the first stage- and take steps to preserve it- you end up with lasting beauty- as dried flowers. We’re all born with our spirit, our essence, and it’s up to us if we choose to nurture it and help it grow-exist-or if we don’t pay attention and let it die. I am at a place in my life where I feel true happiness and feel like I am whole. I used to feel as if something was missing in my heart and my inner being. I don’t feel that way and haven’t for quite some time. There is a confidence in comfort that shines through when we’re in the right place in our life journey.     Nicole C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971134706-Y1UCDHXZMOEICLRUDWVZ/Portraits-45.jpg REVEALED Gallery Embrace adversity through spirituality.     Daniel F. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971134719-HG4Z0F84THCYYM3EJ955/Portraits-46.jpg REVEALED Gallery Writings, music, yarn, and cotton tethers me to the Spirit and to the many lives that entwine with mine. From these materials, I fashion who I am in this world —writer, quilter, knitter, cantor, teacher. From these materials, I knit myself to God and to you.     Judith G. Lawrence, Kansas 2006   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971136767-NV2TGHF6NXQXU3Z3F269/Portraits-47.jpg REVEALED Gallery Dreams have shown me where I’m headed.     Carol K. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971136654-57RQI7OGB3UV3YG00UQM/Portraits-48.jpg REVEALED Gallery Psalms 23 Proverbs 3:5 In my box I place my little green Bible. This Bible sits in my living room open to Psalms 23. It is extremely tiny and only has the books of Psalms and Proverbs in it. Those two books contain the most important Bible scriptures to me; I recite them every day and apply them to my day to day tasks. The above passages are very meaningful to me. Actually they are vital to my being. Psalms 23 is a passage that I have been familiar with since I could learn to pray. My Bible study class required that we memorize this passage as an activity. Of course, at the time, I did not realize the power of this scripture. 2004 was a traumatic year for me, who am I kidding? It was the MOST traumatic year of my life to date. Everything that could go wrong did just that: went wrong. I found myself feeling so low, abused and alone; the only way I could have possibly gone was up. However I was not alone, nor had I ever been; God was always with me. I just could not see or hear him because I had allowed myself to become so engulfed in the world society.     Ebony M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971138685-V42J9TBFSR2EJ49J12FC/Portraits-49.jpg REVEALED Gallery La Paloma, the dove - She is teaching me a language of love, peace, compassion, grace, imperfection and acceptance. It is a language so powerful, beautiful and expansive it creates wings in the expression and cannot be contained in a box.   Jen T. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971138857-NQ1ST54IHRHIX0VIDTIL/Portraits-50.jpg REVEALED Gallery It is in serving, forgiving, loving, that I meet Love. I experience God. I live a spirit-filled life.     Beth W. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971140052-CFAPZBD0WNRSW2KCOIXV/Portraits-51.jpg REVEALED Gallery I think of spirituality as a question, and I think everything that happens can be an answer to that question. I could’ve filled my box with one of the many things that have somehow taught me how to be a good person, but I couldn’t choose. I also think if you stop asking questions, your physical life may continue, but your soul will certainly suffer. So my box is empty because I think questions are more important than answers. And the answers are so many they wouldn’t fit in a tiny box anyway.     Sara C. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971140493-0SCI9C8Y7VJ0JRVHNQSL/Portraits-52.jpg REVEALED Gallery I wanted my box empty because my life is empty. I don’t have anything left to put in it. I wanted my box to be collapsed because I lost everyone and everything in my life that meant something to me. I have little hope. After feeling how empty the box was, I started to have some hope and I wanted to find a way to put the box together again. To refill it with new things and people in my life. After this photo shoot, I have found a new direction, a new spark. Touching the box had a profound effect on me, making me look into myself for a new person and items to fill the box with.     Elmer P. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971141374-O6EKZ9YK31QCEXXQXLX8/Portraits-53.jpg REVEALED Gallery Analog is the spirt of life. A continuous, infinite physical variable that is energy. Birth, Death, and all in between are solely the finite numerical points known as Digital. The journey to infinite is the reward, dark chocolate the balance. All, the pleasures of bitter sweet.     Robert H. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971141599-R0VFH1WUEWQ664Y4AIY0/Portraits-54.jpg REVEALED Gallery All the elements are part of earth. I am part of the earth. The earth is part of me.     Caitlin I. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971143281-ULHC47WJVH71WOFW5UV0/Portraits-55.jpg REVEALED Gallery I watch in wonder as the seeds of my being take root and grow, each containing a blue print of life and death. Some need careful cultivation and others none to fully express.     Cathy K. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971143336-6GOOIP8O3LF2KVUJIZ1J/Portraits-56.jpg REVEALED Gallery Pain is inevitable in this short amount of time we are on this earth. But in pain and suffering, there is always hope in the midst. In hope, we see ourselves in each other where we are comforted in the commonality that we are all on e with emotion. With this realization, I find the strength to shine my light for others. I am calm, strong, and have a stable foundation yet my heart screams with its own vulnerabilities…craving the same acceptance and reassurance. I wear my heart as a necklace where it bleeds easily but in silence… no more do I want to stand alone.     Elisabeth M. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971144957-HHG6XLX1HTMRXIEIXDKY/Portraits-57.jpg REVEALED Gallery “It always comes back to the same necessity: go deep enough and there is a bedrock of truth, however hard.” ~ May Sarton. I have been in the process of integrating all aspects of myself: emotions, intellect, spirit and body. Participating in the Revealed project clarifies this integration experience for me by providing an outer expression of what has been going on inside for a long time. My journey through life began with a magnitude of loss, grief, disappointment and anger at the severe and unfair events of my childhood. Over time, I learned to recognize and trust my spirit, intuitively guiding me beyond my shattered and fragmented self ~ into my poet soul. Like a miner discovering veins in a gold mine, I uncovered secret treasures while in the darkness. In Sanskrit, mandala means sacred circle ~ representing something eternal ~ with no beginning and no end. A light inside my box illuminates a mandala, creating a stained- glass window effect. I painted this mandala in order to see and experience aspects of myself that I had hidden and disowned. In the end, I found a sense of self made visible, an experience of self-care and compassion; a fusing together of the fragmented parts of myself ~ restoring me toward wholeness and connection to a sense of the eternal.     Annie S. Lawrence, Kansas 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971145025-H2HJTWHALGRKT3A8TR28/Portraits-58.jpg REVEALED Gallery It is all about perspective. See it from my perspective. Some may try, others may not care or understand. My hearing impairment has made me who I am today. I was dealt this card at a young age and forced to make something abnormal, normal, in hopes that no one would notice. Maybe I would have taken a different route? Maybe not. Did I miss out on an important conversation? Maybe so. Do I know? Maybe this is what made me a perfectionist or helped me find the direction I want to go. Looking back, I do feel that a higher power, God, has guided me through this journey and provided me with such a supportive family and this is why I am where I am today. Thank you!   Kristen K. Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971147268-J29RUAMI48HSXN82DAYL/Portraits-59.jpg REVEALED Gallery My first memory as a young child was when it was time for me to go to bed. My parents would put three M&M’s on the rocking chair. I would sit with one of them and rock, and when I had eaten all three of them it was time to go to bed. Do you know how long three M&M’s can last? That’s why the three M&M’s on top of the box. Also on top of the box are my grandchildren and youngest step-daughter. There are four more step children and their husbands and wives that aren’t shown. Just didn’t have enough room to fit everyone in. But, all those children and my loving husband are my life. I married a man with five beautiful children so I have dedicated my life to their life. That’s why the serenity rock is on top of my box. Inside my box is a rose which signifies my middle name (named after my grandmother). The other is a little statue of a dachshund which I’ve always had dachshunds throughout my life. Family, friends and my dogs are what help make me who I am and they bring me the serenity and happiness in life.     Geralyn M. Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971147216-X9NJL9LULLJLJIS7S6Y2/Portraits-60.jpg REVEALED Gallery Which way should I go? Which path should I take? Too many choices! What should I do? Shhhh ... Focus. I clear my mind. Open my heart. And my inner compass leads me in the right direction.     Michelle W. Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971149368-SBHDAKIUOJ1YDVN913IJ/Portraits-61.jpg REVEALED Gallery I wanted to use symbols in my box to show that I am a man that I am strong, that my spirit endures under the worst and the best of things. I wanted to show that like my exterior, I am rough, I am wrinkling and I am worn, but I am still here. Quietly, I reflected in my meditations, as I played with fire and grounded myself on the bare earth, with bare feet. Silently I listed submerged in the water, watching the sun filter through the jewel-toned leaves of autumn. Each time I heard a voice, and as I silenced m own, the voice became clearer, and now I hear it for the first time. Now I am willing to say that beneath this shell, within me, my spirit lives. My spirit is innocent and frail. My spirit is trusting and believes in magic and miracles. My spirit wants to dance unencumbered by convention and expectation. My spirit sees each day, each moon rise, each autumn, each dragonfly as if each were the first, a gift given to me. In my box is a picture of me as a little boy. My spirit is a little boy. I am a boy. My spirit is a child, a boy who believes in love and truth and gentleness. My spirit is undamaged by the world. I am still in here. My spirit giggles and cries for those things that surprise and shock me each time. My spirit wants a glass of milk and a hug.     Buck Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971149363-8UAE8N208B0ER975U1FU/Portraits-62.jpg REVEALED Gallery Just as life burst forth from this box, our spirits burst forth. Full of life. An integral part of nature. Beautiful, Fragile, Perpetual.     Rob W. Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971151172-V8ZTTKN71C1W3340M6QB/Portraits-63.jpg REVEALED Gallery All the pleasure ... all the pain. And I have learned to embrace them both.     Martin W. Springfield, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971151227-CEAUOWATP77ENBQU1NSF/Portraits-64.jpg REVEALED Gallery I am learning your heart's desire is always with you, it is you. I have always known, at some unconscious level, who my true self is. However, I have a lifetime as a teacher, mother and wife allowing the expectations and demands of society, school, and family to shape my life, I was unconscious. I sought outside keys to unlock the many boxes in which I lived and in which I kept my heart and my heart's desires. I acknowledge I can no longer ignore or contain my true self, my creativity, my true spirit. I made a conscious decision to allow my heart's desire to come forth, not just be covered with tears while it languished just below the surface of my daily life and to open the box - to open my heart - to truly live. Creating my living space, and creating it with intention because I am worthy and deserve it, was a monumental initial step. Consciously opening my heart means it is being filled with authentic goodness, freedom, abundance, satisfaction, peace, and growth. I am learning to embrace change and understand change is good. I am committed to keeping the box open so I may give and receive freely. I am committed to following my creative heart and soul. i understand I was, and will continue to perish if I do not. I am, however, afraid that perhaps I have waited too long. I am aware time is running out. Perhaps, my consciousness is too late coming and the light - the light of my creativity will be extinguished before I can fully live my true self and spirit. I try to face these fears and remain committed to following my creative heart and soul.     Alice B. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971151917-X6SXM8DXJANYAX2CI7DN/Portraits-65.jpg REVEALED Gallery From my favorite Tibetan Mala Beads given to me from a yoga teacher I adore to my voodoo doll (my grandfather was from Louisiana), I have run the gamut of spiritual systems. The expression of spirituality requires a personal relationship with your inner self, it demands the observations of your inner world and how it reflects (or does not) your outer one. The elekes are beads from the Yoruba religion called Ifa. Anasazi or as they preferred to be called Ancestral Puebloans from the Four Corners in SW United States and Kokopelli represent a strong spiritual connections for me, as does the Dogon tribe of SW Mal. Apparently, I have enjoyed cliff dwelling, the stars (Dogon tribe knew about Sirius B before modern astronomers), and sensing I was from somewhere other than Earth. The Happy “Vagabond” Buddha probably will not fit in the box, and this fits well. This Buddha encapsulates how I feel about my life and spirituality, it cannot be easily categorized or ‘boxed in’. In the Navajo language, Anasazi means ‘ancient stranger’ or ‘ancient enemy’. As I continue to live on Earth, I feel as if I have wondered through many different representations of spirituality. Joy and the grace of heartfelt connection comprise my view of the Tao, the way.     Quan T. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971154066-NSNVU825A3GV8N7OZH7S/Portraits-66.jpg REVEALED Gallery I chose to put a small ball of clay in my box. The clay represents a visual image that I have had of my . . . soul . . . or my . . . self for as long as I can remember. The clay, while appearing unformed, has touched my fingers and palms thousands of times. When I look closely I can see a touch of finger print here and there; a dent made by my knuckle; a small ridge where the clay formed between my index and middle fingers . . . All of these light touches inform the shape of the clay. In the same way, when I imagine the spirit essence of me I see a shape that is constantly being refined and determined by the decisions that I make and the intentions that I have. I believe that the shape is much more affected by the thousands of seemingly inconsequential decisions I make every day, then the few momentous life decisions. There is also a sense in me that the more I can live my life from a place of integrity with good intention -- where my intentions, words, and actions are in alignment, the more pleasing . . . or perfect the shape of my soul becomes. I also chose to place a small prayer bowl on the box. The prayer bowl represents the mystery and joy of spirit in my life. It is also a symbol of my belief in the power of intentions . . . and the over-riding importance of good intentions. Finally, the prayer bowl was made by me . . . and the fact that I shaped it . . . with the conscious intention that, while not perfectly made, the bowl would be perfect for its use . . . represents the very joyful and creative realization of creation from spirit . . . and so it is.     James C. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971154121-C5V6VVSTPAAKT03JRFPQ/Portraits-67.jpg REVEALED Gallery I am living in the world that I have created for myself after 35 years of almost mindless wandering. Having always needed my inner compass to guide me here, I thought that since I have finally arrived, I would no longer need it. i realize now that I need it more than ever.     Michael V. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971156762-CHUYTJQF7C2RYCOPWMT8/Portraits-68.jpg REVEALED Gallery My spirituality is a journey to peace. A journey to wholeness, a journey to truth, and journey of the Spiritual being on a human path. Learning, discovering, and being free from restraints that I have learned from being human. the material objects displayed with the box are my symbols of the process I live with every day. They are religious icons in nature but are nothing more than a metaphor of my journey. I do not follow a dogma, it is not of my nature to be pigeon holed into one sect. I am free and I am whole by exploring and taking the best pieces from everything the human world has to offer at this moment. To be grounded my whole being needs to be engaged. I am grounded when I chant, smell the incense or flowers, taste the water or feel it on me, hear the drums and the sound of the transcendental conch shell being blown, dancing in ecstasy. Joy flows from me, my body lightens, and my mind disengages from all thoughts. I am connected to Spirit; I am one with the Energy that flows inside me and in every other living creature. This same Energy is present in the non-living substances, also, such as rocks, crystals, water, and soil. I connect with the Energy and become whole, for a moment in time. I am united with the Spirit (Mother, Father, God, Goddess, Krishna, Allah, and the Source) Within and I am beautiful from the glow externally.     Tracie D. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971156886-K3YG9MSAR3WMVFLXYV1L/Portraits-69.jpg REVEALED Gallery The slow steady movement of time makes the urgency hard to see. Sunshine, the ocean, family - these are the reminders of how precise time is! While I have certainly been marked by life, I only hope that in the time God gives me, I use my life wisely to leave a lasting mark on others.     Nick G. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971159340-46RH18LMTTDV90RM4A70/Portraits-70.jpg REVEALED Gallery Many have said that I am wise beyond my years. My Big Momma used to tell me that I'd been here, on this earth, before. And maybe there is some truth in that. Some times my spirit seems weathered and aged, like I've had a long journey, Like I have this connection across generations. Admittedly, I have seen a lot of things, wonderful and horrific. I've been many places, domestic and abroad. In all things, I have come a long way from the "skinny little black girl from down there in Mississippi". Yet somehow I still yearn for something as if I have not yet arrived, like I have not been fulfilled. I am still searching and this is my light. It leads me through the depths of my soul-searching. I surrender to the light, sometimes, other times not willingly or not at all. Those are the times I drift into the darkness that surrounds me, picking up scrapes and bruises, and heartache along the way. I am falling into the darkness, alone, but also knowing that the light is there, if I choose it, If I need it. It's always there. I wonder if my light will always be there waiting for me, like other things and persons in my life who are waiting patiently for me. Sometimes the bumps and bruises and heartaches I encounter in my darkness are not always my own, but ones I have cause along the way. Victims of my journey, of my soul-searching, my climbing for freedom and expression, for music, for life...Real Life...where generations gather and love and share and sing, and where there is joy and peace. No pain, no suffering, no pretending...just life...Real Life. It is in this place that I find only my Light waiting to fill me, this empty vessel so that my heart pulses red with the love of the Lamb. For me He poured out His Life...His Light and now it shines through the core of my Soul in as much of divinity as can be expressed in me...My Light.     Melissa K. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971159338-5VJ9Z5THMQBQVGGAZFVD/Portraits-71.jpg REVEALED Gallery Sometimes the journey to healing can begin only after the fire becomes so intense that one is burned. There is now a charred hole in this wooden box from the flame of my candle. Like my box, I, too, walked the path of fire, burned myself, and I am profoundly grateful for the charring.     James M. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971160791-0NKCLHGR8P9SF587XC5R/Portraits-72.jpg REVEALED Gallery New sources of life find you when you least expect them to. When I found Elvis, he had no one. now because of me he has learned again to play, to be happy, and to be himself. Together we help to remind each other that its ok to be ourselves, and that the weight of that is our own relativeties. I am who I am and Elvis loves me for and despite that. I put Elvis in my box because I see my own spirit and self essentially through his character, his innocence, and his subtle unknowing lessons to me. When I brought Elvis into my life I wasn't looking for a companion and it seems in finding me he was foreseeing the company I would shortly require. He had been ignored and mistreated, and as a result of his care became fearful and distant, hiding in a low corner of a lonely cage and doubtful of any person's good intentions. It took great patience and a lot of trust but after some time we become dear friends and eventually he came home with me. The next few months meant a lot of things, but most importantly I had to teach Elvis how to play, how to be happy, and how to trust all over again. It was all the things we encountered together that has helped me grow, and at my loneliest moments it was the presence of this little bird who reminded me that the journey was more important than the destination. In fact, he reminds me of this every time he meets someone new, gets embarrassed or nervous, laughs at our jokes--trying desperately to fit it, and gets an attitude (which happens quite often). I am reminded that we are who we are, even with our imperfections and reaching to be a better person, and demanding a change of character are two different things. He responds impulsively, he gets embarrassed, he has nervous tendencies, he laughs, he talks, he begs, he gets sleepy and grumpy and irritable. He gets fearful and becomes helpless to his surroundings--he is the product of all the things the rest of us our afraid to admit is wrong with us. He just responds...and for that, he has become a friend. When I treat myself poorly, it reflects in his demeanor, when I neglect responsibilities I feel guilty in facing him and for that he has become my conscious of sorts. When I am sick--he seems to understand and coos to try and comfort me. It all comes down to the emotions we all forget to surrender to, right when Elvis had given up someone taught him to play again. I have learned my own weight in life and my own insignificance--a balance I am reminded to maintain as times are more difficult and I'm afraid to move on. I am who I am and Elvis loves me for and despite that!     Lisa P. Kansas City, Missouri 2006       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971160728-0C5Y21GPO5DNMQJAJ9CN/Portraits-73.jpg REVEALED Gallery I submerge myself in spirituality for those I love, I strive for genuine kindness in hopes those around me are exposed to the deep levels of God.     Sonja S. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971162201-BPJY62G2SRUMWOPO0QGX/Portraits-74.jpg REVEALED Gallery My box appears empty. The emptiness can be looked at as devoid of anything, lacking or in some other way not good enough. in many was, that is how my mind thinks of this world... as wrong, needing to be fixed, going downhill, empty of enough people who care. But, in these moments (which are growing in number and intensity) where my spiritual beliefs surface into my mind and my heart, I remember that there is enough love, enough wonder, enough beauty, enough good deeds. There is enough. It is all there, waiting to be tapped into, waiting for our call. I remember to be thankful before I experience it. I remember to behold the power of mind to create exactly what it dwells on, an so to dwell on love, peace, harmony, thankfulness, health and beauty. I remember that the essence of my soul is love itself, and that the spark of the divine is resting firmly inside the essence, as it is for all of us. I imagine tapping into the invisible and manifesting the incredible. And so, the box appears empty, but is really filled with the invisible potential for love to come alive, over and over and over again.     Tiffany C. Kansas City, Missouri 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971162318-RXJ3PO53T3DLQQ16YD4J/Portraits-75.jpg REVEALED Gallery My power comes from following my heart, passion, and instincts. This can be challenging at times. However, I believe when we have the capacity to feel complete we experience great pleasure and pain. This makes me human. Blue skies, colorful flowers, and the ocean inspire me & bring me closer to my God. Serenity…they say every time you look at a Buddha’s face it transforms you…I know he's smiling back at me :).     Helene D. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971164790-E0Q3DAVW6V7A1AILXCJU/Portraits-76.jpg REVEALED Gallery I look at my box and the time period as the most profound things in life. The first is my wife Joanne, a true friend and companion. I know Joanne my whole life, we lived next door to each other growing up and spending my life with her is truly a dream come true. My Talisman was received on The New Warrior Traning Weekend. The artifacts strung on it reminds me of my journey from my first initiate weekend back in 2002 to the many staffing and workshops. The Transformational Work has helped me in my mission of service to the world. And now the Angel statue. I fell down a flight of stairs a couple years ago and on the way down I knocked off the ledge this Angel. I came to rest at the bottom of the stairs with my head just inches away from the wall. I truly believe this to be a sign that My Guardian Angel was watching over me.     Frank D. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971164909-YSMB6L52LG1J7OH1R6V9/Portraits-77.jpg REVEALED Gallery A seed is planted...life begins... it’s nurtured and fed; twigs sprout and new leaves emerge, then blooms... it produces another apple, the apple is eaten, the seeds return to the ground and the whole cycle begins again in a different spot... the past is brought to the present and moves into future fruition.     Janeen S. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971167355-VGYV0RGS0A1VDW3VOHNU/Portraits-78.jpg REVEALED Gallery I receive in order to give. In that sense, creating is receiving the energy of the Universe and giving, which for me is teaching, is a giveaway of what I have received. That means living a life of conscious balance.     Ian S. New York City, New York 2006       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971167470-0HGKVGVUNX0RVYVLYDBA/Portraits-79.jpg REVEALED Gallery     Jill W. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971168967-VR3IX7SPVYCE32IL8H0B/Portraits-80.jpg REVEALED Gallery Transformations, starting out burnt.       Jon W. New York City, New York 2006           https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971168904-S4W7D2LEJ7F4IPMUTVGM/Portraits-81.jpg REVEALED Gallery Baking. Baking and generally bread making first came to me through my Grandmother. My family lived with her. It was one of the earliest and strongest bonds that I built with anyone. Bread, in the most basic way represents my spiritual path. From working my hands through the dough and to the air bringing it to life. The creative force making itself evident. I feel the immediate connection.     Suzanne B. New York City, New York 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971171667-DQ43DH3Z0RU5RKHF59AS/Portraits-82.jpg REVEALED Gallery Life and Death The photo attached to the box is of my one and only son – he represents life. My box contains the cremated remains of my cat, Pumpkin, who came into my life when I needed her most – and I in one of her lives. She was there for me during some of the tougher parts of my life. The iron horse and straw/beaded bag represent my father who passed away when I was ten years old. Family and friends are the most important to me spiritually – hearts, minds and souls connect. Everyone and everything is born into this world for a reason. Lives cross at a time when one another is needed and when that time is over, we move on with our lives or proceed on to death. I, for one, am not afraid of death or dying. Until we meet again, Pumpkin, at the rainbow bridge………     Paula C. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971171616-LPFZSVBTUPD5NY9N135I/Portraits-83.jpg REVEALED Gallery The leaves in my box represent life; how everything is always growing. The candle in my box also represents life, but in a different way. The candle flame represents a single human's life, and how while it is lit it glows. The flame can be blown out, but, as the matches scattered in my box, show us, there is always something there waiting to re-light our flame and make it glow again.     Sarah H. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971173223-HG2F20PJPBK42E6R6FTT/Portraits-84.jpg REVEALED Gallery My box is meant to represent the chaos in my life. Sometimes I have a lot of things to think about and keep track of at once. Also, I often suffer from mood swings, and I find it difficult to understand myself—my emotions, my intentions, my relationships, etc. This is why I tried to make my box seem unorganized and cluttered. The clippings of homework and such on the walls and floor of the box represent the fact that school-related things take up a good majority of my life. The camera stands both for my love of photography, and for another one of my big time-consumers, being photo editor of my school’s yearbook. The toothbrush/paste in the back stands for how, because of my chaotic life, I sometimes overlook certain things… like hygiene. Same goes for the cell phone, buried under everything else; it represents my social life, which is pretty much non-existent. The rosary represents my faith, which is very important to me; it also symbolizes my attempt to understand myself, because I often use it during my daily meditation. The names written on paper scraps are people who are important in my life. On the edges of the box are my closest friends; on the back wall are my parents; on the interior sides are two other people, whom I chose for my box for various reasons. On top of my box is my PDA, which both represents and actually is my attempt at organizing my life.     Liam S. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971173224-PNO9L0MKD4759UQZ45J5/Portraits-85.jpg REVEALED Gallery Husband, and Father, Brother, and Son. Teacher, and Student, Laborer, and Friend. Charity and Humility. unity, and Fraternity. Loyalty, and Patriotism. Ethics, and Tolerance. Passion, and Prayer. Joy, and Sacrifice. Love "For God so loved the world He gave His only son..."     Daniel S. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971174505-JOZECUSKX4HD37LQWPTW/Portraits-86.jpg REVEALED Gallery Who am I without Christ? No one. With out him, I am just meaningless traits. He is my peace + my hope. The cross with the heart represents my relationship with Christ. The cross is made from a butterfly bush, representing new birth + life. The broken glass represents my imperfections; the human part of me. I love Christ, but I still screw up. The nails represent the pain of life. Just because I have hope doesn't mean my life is all rainbows + unicorns - its hard and will never not be hard, but now it's not bleak. Without Christ, my "spirit self" wouldn't even be worth a picture.     Harleigh U. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971174668-I0HO5D5IVZKAVG003KD3/Portraits-87.jpg REVEALED Gallery All That Is, I am. No Separation. Symbols & representations, Physical manifestations, Expressing the vibrations In joyful celebration. No separation. All That Is, I Am.     Teri W. Lawrence, Kansas 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971175750-0W32RLM2LXQEAN7IPT0U/Portraits-88.jpg REVEALED Gallery Most of my days are in the past. But maybe, just maybe... There is some real living in the future.     Everett L. East Greenwitch, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971175921-V6RHIEN9H046XT4V4M9O/Portraits-89.jpg REVEALED Gallery A flower from my garden is the symbol I chose to represent my spirituality. The dirt and the roots give me a feeling of being grounded, connected to the earth. The flower reaches up to God - opening to the radiance of love. I feel close to God when I am in my garden witnessing the miracles and the cycles of life - seeding, nurturing, growing, fading away, resting, rebirth.   Peggy L. East Greenwich, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971177293-YNMQ36PILI2CF49XC8YG/Portraits-90.jpg REVEALED Gallery - REVEALED - Claudia D. Of earth and sky- Between the spaces- In the darkness and the light Casting shadows and moving into form Seen and unseen- My body holds the mysteries And yet- Cries for transcendence... To be part of the dance- The observer and the observed- The knower and the known- Here, I use words to describe that which cannot be described, only experienced- Thus the paradox of the unfolding- The wild intercourse of the body and the spirit... The named and the unspoken Who I am.     Claudia D. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971177412-QJVNLC4KP87ECNL78JDR/Portraits-91.jpg REVEALED Gallery I am real. I exist. And at my core I am deeply and fundamentally divine, eternal, pure, and unencumbered by the stresses and confusions of mortality. I often experience the love of God that literally feels like a wonderful fire within me and I am filled with comfort, joy and peace. These moments assure me that I am and that God is, and that's sufficient for now. There are also places and states of being in which I am more likely to connect with the Divine, and I am grateful when I go there. I have not even begun to understand mortality, much less eternity. I know that I am capable of loving myself, and more of myself, more deeply than I do now. I experience fear, sadness, anger, joy and even shame and I am grateful for these emotions, the beauty in them and things I can learn from acknowledging and expressing them. I know loneliness and longing, friendship and brotherhood. I know that some things are always sacred, even when I don't treat them as such. And as I seek truth I seem to discover that there are many more questions than answers; I am grateful for the mystery.     Corey L. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971178507-XQ6HIPD4OU74RYYFLQPB/Portraits-92.jpg REVEALED Gallery Being a part of the “revealed” project, I was unaware of the profound experience that I was about to embark on. The “revealed” project gave me insight on how I viewed my life. I have a very close relationship with my family and not too long prior to doing the project I had lost my sister, Rasha, very tragically in an accident. The feelings associated with grief such as confusion, frustration, enraged and sorrow were trapped inside of my spiritual self all at the same time and I was lost. The order and placement of the objects in the revealed box represented the relationship I have with myself and the interests I shared with my sister Rasha. Organized and carefully placed with lots of love and colorful objects are all part of my “happy self”, but within my spiritual state there was sadness and anger. I wanted to scream, scream from all the pain that I was feeling from loosing her, but I couldn’t for whatever reason. I was fearful of letting go because that would make it real. The feeling of grief and sadness scared me so much that I felt I lost the ability to scream, talk and represent her. Once I finished the process of this project, I felt empowered. Hope and a feeling of relieve came over me. Seeing the photograph captured every essence of my spiritual and emotional state that I was experiencing. Seeing it, I felt was very exposed and that helped in healing a little part of my spiritual self. “There are many ways to define our fragile existence and many ways to give it meaning. It’s our memories that shape its purpose and gives it content. The various private assortments of images, fears, loves, regrets and losses. The cruel irony of life is that we’re destined to hold the dark with the light, the good with the evil and success with disappointments. In actuality in the end, that is what separates us and makes us human”. Kenji Miyazawa once said: “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey” The     Suhair S. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971178890-QGXT36FHFKFHJGO1LJXS/Portraits-93.jpg REVEALED Gallery What spirituality is to me – the love and the connection we have with others.     Lisa S. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971180072-RXSZ77S5ZRVHPZ76QX9M/Portraits-94.jpg REVEALED Gallery Happening is the name of the most spiritual and uplifting experience of my life. Twice a year, about twenty high schoolers sign up for a weekend conference they know nothing about. And twice a year, about twenty high schoolers leave, changed forever. In October of 2005, I was one of those changed high schoolers. I learned to believe in spirit and self and love. I entered the weekend having no expectations and no idea what I was in for; I left crying and never wanting to leave. Back in school on Monday, I seemed bubbly and better-than-ever. I wanted so much for everyone to feel a piece of what I was feeling, but whenever I tried to explain what I’d been through that weekend, people would say “Oh that’s nice,” and go back to their everyday lives. I wanted to scream and tell them that my life was changed and I was in love! But the second I started explaining that Happening was a “spiritual experience,” my friends would roll their eyes and say I was in a cult. “Lay off the blue juice,” they said. I laughed it off, but inside I was absolutely crushed. Knowing that they didn’t want to hear about the best weekend of my life hurt more than I imagined. I can honestly say that I have never laughed as much, smiled as much, and cried as much as I did those two days. When I say it out loud, it sounds so fake, like the weekend was a surreal out-of-body experience. But Happening isn’t just about the weekend, it’s about taking the weekend out into the “real world” and spreading the light that shines within you. Happening is the place where I found my light. I learned to trust. I learned to love. I learned to be myself without worrying about what other people thought. Happening is the only place where I have ever been myself completely, with no masks to hide behind. It’s the only place I’ve ever dropped my inhibitions and insecurities and let everyone around me see my “true self.” Even now, finding words to describe Happening seems impossible. It’s a melting pot of emotions and a real life-changing experience. Until that weekend, I didn’t know it was possible to feel so much feeling. I’ve never been so blinded by love about anything or anyone, but the love I feel for those people and that weekend is greater than any other kind of love I know. Because of Happening, I believe in spirit and love. Happening was my catalyst. What’s yours?   Marrissa H. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008         https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971180327-XF62H6571VCBW50QO6KV/Portraits-95.jpg REVEALED Gallery A flower from my garden is the symbol I chose to represent my spirituality. The dirt and the roots give me a feeling of being grounded, connected to the earth. The flower reaches up to God - opening to the radiance of love. I feel close to God when I am in my garden witnessing the miracles and the cycles of life - seeding, nurturing, growing, fading away, resting, rebirth.     Karen M. East Greenwich, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971181441-J01XJIRNXSPWWPRGN5KJ/Portraits-96.jpg REVEALED Gallery The ash represents the physical aspect of my being. The gold within, the light, is my spirit. My life, as I know it, is the tapestry whose weave is influenced by these two forces. My body enables me to experience and to be in relation to others. This life of mine, and all comes with it, is my birthright- all the joy, pain, desire, sadness, hope, fears, uncertainty. It’s a package deal. It is my spirit who gives this experience meaning and expands me. There is awesome power in relationship. I believe the soul grows and thrives on that. My box holds a photo of my daughter Mira, and her birth mother, Mijired. This woman who lives half a world away, a woman I’ve never met, changed our lives forever. Her choices left an indelible impression on my soul. How will I leave my mark on this Earth? In whom? My challenge in this life is to be mindful of what really matters. Can I let go of my need for security, for ambition, the desire to control outcomes and minimize risk? After I draw my last breath and my soul is free again, what will I take with me and hold dear as my body melts away to dust?     Jeff M. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971181606-BI5OGEY669998NS0EDEA/Portraits-97.jpg REVEALED Gallery The box could not hold it all, so I brought a box of my own: a Hercules Gunpowder Box, a fitting repository for my spirit. The plants are from my garden, my solace, my center, my place to connect to the bounty and wonder of the Universe. I filled my box with old wounds, many half-healed. Even as I stand under the lights, my back aches from the car crash. I question myself and my right to be here. I question my creative fire. But on top of it all is a small wooden box, carved by my brother out of a single chunk of cedar. He carved it for me when I was young and full of boundless rage – some of it directed at him. He carved it with love, as an act of contrition that I did not come to fully understand until years after he had died. It is the most precious thing I own, this box. It represents hope and compassion for the wounded parts of me.     Stephen R. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971182296-3R8R4YTFZG7ZR057HGMK/Portraits-98.jpg REVEALED Gallery I believe that life is balanced between good and evil.You can't ignore either but through intension I choose how to view life. My choice is to live life from the positive side. As a student of philosophe I choose mortificatio. By being this way I live life as centered as I can. Live in the present moment embrace what is. This is a practice that I try to live by.     Tom M. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971188755-6C52HRDEHV4MK6CN1CPA/Portraits-99.jpg REVEALED Gallery I discovered alcohol at 13. I embraced it. Disguises and masks to fit in. Self-centered, impatient and arrogant, I lied, I cheated, I stole. I was dishonest in work and relationships. I drank until I passed out. When I got out of the army and went back to college in the early ‘60s, I discovered drugs. I tried them and abused them. DWIs, marriages, as well as careers that – lacking focus and commitment – I viewed as failed. Lost and in so much pain, I would go to bed and hope that I would not wake up. Was the glass half-full or half-empty? For me, there was no glass. Because to acknowledge its existence implied that I had a basis of faith. And, I didn’t. I was raised as an Episcopalian, serving as an acolyte and later as Stewardship Chair on Vestry, but whatever I learned inside the church never became part of me. Church was all about power, exclusion and money. God seemed to be everywhere but in church. One morning I just knew that I could not go on like this. I was 61. Two friends in the AA program took me to my first meeting. It was not me that raised my hand saying that I was an alcoholic, it was God channeling through me. I felt a tremendous burden lifted from me. That was the beginning of two new relationships: one with myself and one with God. With time and commitment each has become more loving. I recently celebrated five years of sobriety. AA is my way of life. I can love and be loved. I can be of service and feel fulfilled. I can muster the courage to put myself on the firing line of life: giving my unselfish best and doing the next right thing. Is every day problem free and wonderful? I still struggle with my past, but now I have faith that everything will be OK, that as one door closes another will open. The glass half-full is an attitude, certainly. For me it is based on faith that there is a higher power, a god of my understanding. I am not alone. God is my partner in life.     Spencer B. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971188874-7GA4VKLIC4I1ACG5ZA32/Portraits-100.jpg REVEALED Gallery The yin-yang symbol is a traditional Chinese symbol. Many children use it when they are drawing doodles, thinking it symbolizes something close to the traditional peace symbol. In fact, the yin-yang symbolizes the way life works. The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which causes everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and one cannot exist without the other. The hemp is crossed all over the face of the box, because the path through life is not as straight and as smooth as everybody would like it to be. It covers the sign saying hope, meaning the road through life takes awhile to get through, and although at times it may seem like you should give up, hope is always there, all through the ways of life, hope can be found. Even in the worst of times. Hope is a light in a dark room, that one light can seem like a million stars in the pitch of night.     Cassidy W. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971190276-AZGMQHLUBHGDZCP7JU46/Portraits-101.jpg REVEALED Gallery What objects express the ethereal nature of my own spirituality? I love to dance, sing and I enjoy working with food, all of which bring an intense spiritual affinity within me. I love my soul, my body I inhabit and the souls that surround me in this universe. I love the world, this earth, the rounded ecosphere in which we all inhabit and create our lives in. I look up and see the sky, a non-ending path with shining bright stars at night and a moon which takes its various shapes throughout each month. I love the Sun, its light, color and warmth and including all that it provides for our world. There is a deep unity that underlies everything and within our own individual spirituality we can begin to see a connection that may otherwise be obscure or hidden underneath our ego disposition and manifestations in the physical form around us. In a sense beyond senses we are holding hands and our energies are being shared both productive or latent such that we co create a world of advancing ideas and destructive undeveloped casualties. I believe this cycle is of a forward evolutionary nature where we seek to create a harmony of rhythmic dynamism and one that more essentially reflects the nature of the soul. As the decades go on I notice we all become further in tune with ourselves and our ability to express that which is intangible through the sharing of experience. I believe in a deep awareness that is within every living being, animal and plant that has no connection with thought, a pure rhythmic wave, a frequency that creates it’s-self and is expressed as love. This is the harmony of souls that unites us, an energy so coherent that strengthens us. This is my tune within and my spiritual expression I embody and reveal.     Lara P. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971190230-RYURTDM7GDVMOONBQ6BZ/Portraits-102.jpg REVEALED Gallery Spirit is as individual as fingerprints. I find spiritual connection to be a sort thin layer above intellectual thinking and certainly far from anything physical. It can border on an emotional feeling and can contain elements of religion and/or belief, but I think it can also be simpler than that. I believe spirit supports a certain level of mindful awareness that requires no effort whatsoever once you have discovered it. It takes much effort to reach that point of course and it needs constant maintenance and use, but once you have found the real you and what make you “you”, you should develop and nurture your spirit so it gives you what you need. For me, I need to have balance in my life. No thing should ever be in excess and all things needs to be centered towards an inner spirit, a sort of calming happiness, and certainly a strong sense of balance. My spirit has no face, no structure, and no name. Good food is important to me as well as having fun. Maybe this is my spirit’s face. Maybe this is what make me “me”.     Heather W. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971192420-OEGIECHOKI7XLM8A6ZYV/Portraits-103.jpg REVEALED Gallery - REVEALED - Laura D. It’s been over a year since I had my photo done for this project and, for some reason, I keep putting off the essay. It occurred to me that I must be avoiding the confrontation of my own spirituality. I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with spirituality, and especially religion, for as long as I can remember. My parents raised me as a Jehovah’s Witness. The first chance I got, which was 2 days after I turned 18, I left that and never looked back. The concepts of God and spirituality were frightening and overwhelming, required too much work for too little reward. At that time, all I knew for certain was that I wouldn’t find spirituality in the Kingdom Hall. My scientific mind needed something more logical, concrete, and visible. My artistic soul needed something less restrictive, intolerant, and unrewarding. The next 10 years were spent avoiding any form of religion, which I was raised to believe was intricately and inseparably tied to spirituality. During that time my sister, to whom I was very close, died unexpectedly. The incident left me with a nagging need to know where she was, what had happened to her, and how I could be close to her again. Several years later my daughter was born. In her, I glimpsed the familiar love and radiance of my sister, along with the joy of getting to know a brand new little person. I began to understand that spirituality is the endless life cycle of energy and connection. My sister could be found in my daughter, in myself, in everything I wanted her to be in. I began to understand that life has no boundaries. I realized that spirituality is not found in a building or in a book. Nor is it what one person or group tells me it is. Spirituality is whatever I want it to be, is found wherever I want to find it. It is in people and relationships; it’s in the art we create and in the music we make. It is in the difference we made in someone’s life by the briefest interaction—a difference we often have no idea we even made. A little bit of our spirit is left behind in everyone and everything we touch, and this is spirituality. This is my youngest son at only a few weeks old. Right now I find spirituality in the warmth and love of my children, in the happiness and comfort of my family, in the satisfaction I get from taking care of them every day, and in the pleasure of their gratitude shown by a little kiss on the cheek or a barely perceptible “I love you” in baby-speak or a homemade bookmark given to me for Mother‘s Day. Later in life, this could change. The relationship I want with spirituality could become more traditional, more complicated, or more ritualistic. But for now, this is what spirituality is to me: the uncomplicated fulfillment of a deeper connection with the rhythm of life and with our Mother Earth, wherever one finds it. And right now this is all the spirituality I need.     Laura D. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971192333-WSITTIE944DVRZDY5F3D/Portraits-104.jpg REVEALED Gallery When I was asked to do this Revealed project about the deepest part of myself, I wondered " What do people not know about me?" Throughout my life I have always been a fighter. Not with violence but through my soul. I grew up in a born again christian family who was very extreme in their beliefs. I broke free from the fear, brainwashing, and depression. I became a yoga instructor, a reiki master, and angel clairvoyance because it felt right to me. These are my beliefs, and even though i do not have a family supporting my views, I know that this is what my soul wants. In my box I put thorns around the box with a flower coming out of the center. It represents never giving into what's around you just because you fear it. To break free from the maddness, growing and learning on your own.     Sarah D. Lincoln, Rhode Island 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971195565-UJYNCX8E75XANQQ0798K/Portraits-105.jpg REVEALED Gallery I believe that life is never static. It is in constant motion. As living beings we must accept this, and keep up with the perpetual movement that affects both the body and psyche. No matter what happens to us, we must continue progressing forward and stay the course. We must never stop growing and evolving, for when we do, life stops. What do we ultimately want when we die? To be remembered… to know that our life had meaning? To have lived a “successful” life? I can say that I never hesitated in my life. I never made a decision NOT to do something because of fear or uncertainty.     Jayne P. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971195672-NKN14WZ10PXXRP34O1IR/Portraits-106.jpg REVEALED Gallery - REVEALED - Erin S. I was a child who was “born under the red flag” during the Culture Revolution. From a very young age, I came to witness deaths of too many, including my own close-to-death events and the bereavement of my desolation. In China, to converse about the departed ones was totally foreign; you were simply expected to carry on with your life. Prisoner of my own despair, I became the architect of my heartache and learned to assemble walls to conceal the stubborn unyielding losses. While I sealed the poignant chapters behind, bits and pieces of my own self were buried among them. Life had to continue and there was no way I was to look back. I simply did not know how. There were times that I couldn’t help but to speculate if there was such thing as “bad Karma” or maybe that destiny was casting a joke upon me. I truly believe since I had observed so many deaths that they had shaped and defined who I am. There were, and always would be times, when seemed my late loved ones were dying all over again, especially during the toughest hours of my life. I don’t think I could stop missing them nor that I ever should. Nonetheless, I am no longer the hostage of my own everlasting grief and edgeless guilt. I rose through redemptions of self-forgiveness. My departed loved ones had transformed their compassion, wisdom, and love into me. Through that, we reincarnate in this life. My two beautiful children are their factual reflections on this earth. I am aware that every precious fleeting moment could be fragile, with the breath-taking splendor of life. I embody the connections; from death to life, struggle to triumph, and from the east to this west. There are teachings to be done. My children, they will discover and appreciate art in all its formations, they will learn to be thankful for what they have, they will try to give the best they possibly can, they will live with affection, kindness, and simplicity in their hearts.     Erin S. East Greenwich, Rhode Island 2010       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971197258-DQL8AS29EE4GUFONV60C/Portraits-107.jpg REVEALED Gallery My life is filled with spirituality every day. But it is not the spirituality most in our world think of. When I think of spirituality, and what drove me to develop the box for Revealed I think of my ability to connect with a higher feeling or higher sense of being – this to me is spiritual experience. Growing up Catholic, though not overly religious, I had a spiritual connection/ experience whenever I stepped foot in the church. That same experience/connection that I felt then is present today for me through playing the piano and the beach, the two things that occupy my box. This is what helps me think and understand the intangible. They put me in a different place, a place so much more than the physical world….difficult often to verbalize. Being part of Revealed was one of the most amazing spiritual experiences…….     Jessica G. East Greenwitch Ri. 2008 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971197098-SV86AWUOAVAHO9YL8FUR/Portraits-108.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971200089-YS72F2JSKREKZ3PGO38M/Portraits-109.jpg REVEALED Gallery The night I decided to sign up for this photography session I had a series of nightmares. I dreamt I was a vacant person and that I was not a spiritual person. I dreamt of having doubts, and an empty heart, and a loss of something concrete to call my own. My nightmares confirmed my worry that I would be judged without some label of religion, or pathway, to call my own. In truth, I have been searching, on and off, for something to hold on to. A religion to call my own. I was brought up to believe that religion meant spirituality and that you could not have one without the other. I am not so sure that is true. Here is what I know: I find my God in nature. In the sun and in the stars. I find him at the Grand Canyon and on a small pier overlooking a tiny lake in Wisconsin. I find him in the clean air, in rock formations, in the center of sunflowers. I find Oneness in yoga class. We students gather, barefoot and tired, and sit in Oneness on our mats. I feel Oneness in my classmates, who chant, and sweat, and reach to salute the sun together. We breathe together and bow to the teachings in soul, our teachers all around us, and to a divine spirit. I find Spirit in love. In weddings. In a child’s love. In a cat’s eyes. In a friend’s hugs. I feel that love connects us all and reminds us that we are a species that must connect.I find Angels and Ghosts in theaters. I have felt the presence of ghosts while performing a show and feeling a presence of an old actor in the wings. I find ancestors in personal jewelry. I have rings from my Aunt Freda and from my grandmother, who I only knew as an infant. When I look at them or wear them, I feel their energy. I have a sense of knowing that these women are watching over me and protecting me. They do not judge or interfere, they just watch. I find my Spirituality when I am alone. When I see water. When I reflect on a sunset. When I sit in meditation or in stillness. When I pray. I also find my Spirituality in angel readings, in Tarot. A higher force guides me through the selection of cards and they remind me that I am not alone on my journey. I travel with a big posse.     Ericka K. Camarillo, California 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971200032-7PJL8LRYBQ66ZKDJIX2S/Portraits-110.jpg REVEALED Gallery My motivation, my energy, my spirit, my passion and my love comes from God and Music.     Kelly B. Camarillo, California 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971200800-AQE8TPK3U0E6HAGD8XFB/Portraits-111.jpg REVEALED Gallery A journey, the quest for exploration and the seeking of what a path might bestow. Either a physical manifestation or a pondering whim, the keystones which I need to fill an existence with stories, knowledge, and strength, will be unveiled to me from my experiences on that journey. The unrelenting impulse of quest has brought forth the gifts of both touching and sensing the grace of worldly places, and the accompaniment of cultures in spaces unfamiliar. This same pulse, however, which fills me with life, has taken the lead role in deterring settlement and commitment. I believe that each soul has many journeys in which they wish to embark. They can contradict, as in the soldier striving for peace preparing to fight the war, they can endure through time, as my Grandparent's journey has through understanding and partnership for 60 years, and they can be as dreamy as wanting to extend my arms atop foreign mountain cliffs and float in every sea. Though I predict how I select my journeys will morph and become influenced by outcomes along the way, every turn of events will be that which has propelled me forward this whole time, the opening for a new journey. I simply must just dare to voyage.     Sky P. Camarillo, California 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971203591-SN25BYYTZZ4ATQIBTLKH/Portraits-112.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971203714-TN1HODGITXA5NC4IAD5U/Portraits-113.jpg REVEALED Gallery I've always had a deep connection with God. Despite being raised Catholic, my relationship with a higher being has never been tied to an organized religion. I've come to this conclusion because I've stopped going to church on a regular basis. And despite that, my spirituality has grown and has gotten better over the years. I now consider myself more of being "culturally Catholic." It's hard not to be tied to the church one way or another when you're Filipino. These days, instead of going to church, I find sanctuary in more common places or states of mind: our home's solarium in Boston, the beach where I grew up in San Francisco or just by closing my eyes and meditating. Also, I don't pray with the rosary anymore. In its place, I use prayer beads or anything close to it to be in touch with God (the non-white man with a flowing beard kind). It's liberating to not have the stereotypical image of God when you're praying, especially if you're a person of color like myself. Another incredible spiritual capability I have is my knowing that there is something else in store for us after we die. I don't know exactly what it's going to be, I am just 110% sure that it will be incredible! Believing that our time here on earth is just a "stage" makes me want to be a better/good person. I know that whatever I do here, I will carry on to whatever is NEXT.     Bren B. Providence RI 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971205242-271WW7UT8L6ZESIFOEIR/Portraits-114.jpg REVEALED Gallery The Buddha, for me, is a reminder to live in the present. It's a fairly new concept for me, but is needed to control my mind and all of the negative thoughts that have started to take it over since the birth of my children. Death, disease, disasters.... hurt feelings, bullying , all have a way polluting my mind. ~ Live in the now ~     Josh T. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971205191-6T493LFHTDXHTUGQS67F/Portraits-115.jpg REVEALED Gallery I believe in handkerchiefs. Nothing is disposable and chivalry is great. I believe in flowers on the table, a little bud vase next to the bed. I believe in flowers and there are several poets who can tell you why. They open, slowly, to the light. They are rooted in the dirt and emerge fresh. They grow. They toil not. I believe in art, sex, laughter, anything that helps us communicate our experience to each other beyond the ego. Communication is incredibly difficult between humans, though we seem to talk endlessly. I believe in contemplative spirituality: meditation, practices that reconnect us with our True Self and our direct experience of the world as co-dreamers of the world. My work is about this. Through meditation practice, it is possible to experience being in integral part of a whole living world. I believe the entire universe presents itself in each one of us. I believe in holism. I believe in treating everything as an altar and everyone as a guru, and we should bow as often as possible. We should avoid sticking out our feet toward our teachers, which means everyone. I believe in non-belief. Belief is a fixation. In my experience even the ground is not fixed. I believe we give our bodies to the world as a sacred gift. Everything we do in the world is the gift of the body.     Sarah W. Providence, Rhode Island 2010 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971207472-FC875N3WP608ST4ZBL04/Portraits-116.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971207356-RYWEHWHK0CQMHUT0VWAF/Portraits-117.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971208546-0TG2ON264BC7H6JI8RIY/Portraits-118.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499971208650-7K6PXXHURW42OAATIQ5Z/Portraits-119.jpg REVEALED Gallery https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-class-gallery daily 0.75 2017-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499969978779-7ZJSRIQSBX8X90BMVBCL/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499969978779-7ZJSRIQSBX8X90BMVBCL/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery https://static1.squarespace.com/static/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/594ac50cf5e23193f4a80384/5967ba1fbe659434b30a9dba/1506797772499/ REVEALED Class Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970882464-VLGPH0S5JO7GYCWQPK3P/Portraits-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My family and friends I have a mini basketball of the Celtics because it's my favorite team. A picture of myself because I love myself. A picture of my grandpa because he passed away and I miss him. A picture of my family because they do everything for me. My iPod because I love music.     Diego A. Rhode Island 5th Grade - 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970882626-AY9OR1KDCZAR5MNA0487/Portraits-02.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Life The colors symbolize feelings. Black Darkness, blue sad, yellow happy. The tie was my uncles he just passed away. The nunbers on it mean I love you. I put the pancreatic cancer ribbon it it because he died from that cancer.     Alana G. 5th Grade, Rhode Island     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970884374-3B8MMVOYA95NLVVJ4BQ7/Portraits-03.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Party Time     Steven 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970884331-P60D4OQW90XNQFHGLESF/Portraits-04.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My Family and Friends I have a Cape Verde flag because I love my country and I have never been there before. I have a picture of me and my brother because he's the best brother in the world and he plays with me when I'm down.     Nicholas D. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970885543-JJ74L77N4QL3Y774INW8/Portraits-05.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My family is the best.     Anthony G. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970885762-D21GLFHA898R39FYD70S/Portraits-06.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery This box is dedicated to my grandpa. It is called grandpa I put Gatorade because my grandpa loved Gatorade.     Cole 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970887056-CCPELGR8HRVDGHV9WUXZ/Portraits-07.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box has a flag of Portugal, Chile, and Peru for my heritage. I also have a baseball because I love to play sports. Also, I have a picture of my family because I love them very much. The last thing I have is my iPod because I love music so much.     Gabriel M. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970887287-XBV3LPFF6S6Y0MHVJDKJ/Portraits-08.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery During the earthquake in Haiti I was really sad. My dad's parents lived there and I was worried for them. I cried a lot and wrote even more.     Tisany 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970888388-KKQ9Y10LV4QOE849U1XN/Portraits-09.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is about growing up from a seed to a flower. On it are 2 pictures of family members as babies, and on the top I have a handmade flower.     Chastity P. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970888455-A0PMPMEEA2951UZJ6BMK/Portraits-10.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery A picture when I was a baby because everybody loved me. A baseball because baseball is my favorite sport and when I'm mad if I play baseball I will feel better.     Anthony R. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970889589-L6T37UM9RRI202RB37XI/Portraits-11.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Me     Kelly R. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970889701-O0EICPYLJKHDMMVT4XA1/Portraits-12.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My Box All of those objects are truly important to me because although my parents are divorced I still love them.     Elizabeth S. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970891539-GG917P3CB95035LH6A2C/Portraits-13.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Extra Terrestrial! E.T. is a smaller alien version of me. The colors represent water, canyons, and the planet purplonia. The pandas show that they are calm and majestical. There are photos of my family to show the memories of my family.     Maryann S. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970891887-NK7C57GR1WJI8SU4AGTB/Portraits-14.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Memories My box is all about memories. The knitting needles remind me of when my friends and I had a little and knittle. The pictures symbolize fun things with my family and friends. The origami is from Maryann!     Catherine V. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970893391-Z7M33W5EZAZYH1VECBA7/Portraits-15.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My Picture I want to write about one picture. That picture is about me and my brother and a couple friends from church. It was my first performance.     Stephanie V. 5th Grade, Rhode Island https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970895295-6Q8OK8OC90LWBMC9K6ZL/Portraits-19.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I want to be famous. I made my box because I love to act. I also like to draw. I love art and acting a lot. I take acting classes over the summer.     Molly K. Friends Academy 2011 4th Grade, Massachusetts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970893009-5WP91GONJ9SN7TULWYDI/Portraits-16.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I like campfires because it reminds me of my 19-year-old brother that I don’t see a lot. I like soccer because it’s fun and I’m good at it so I can score goals and be the best and have my teammate learn from me.     Alex B. 4th Grade, Massachusetts 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970893869-Y05RTYZ2UI5M8VU6NXWP/Portraits-17.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I am Orly. I love to ride horses, play violin, and I love nature. i am Orly.     Orly G. 4th Grade, Massachusetts 2011   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970895083-3WV0TCOFN8EHILS82WXH/Portraits-18.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I am a sailor, christian, partly know the language, I play guitiar I believe in santa.     Lily H. 4th Grade, Massachusetts 2011   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970896236-8G8RPP48UVEJWBENMR9O/Portraits-20.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is about sports. I put a “Baseball” in the box because I like it. In my box, there’s a guy catching a ball.     Anthony V. Friends Academy 4th Grade, Massachusetts 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970897390-LA93RPZ8B5855BH4FZ57/Portraits-21.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I picked the Patriots box because I love the Patriots. I also like splatter paint so I put spatter paint on my box. I cut out letters spelling go Patriots and colored them. I put cool paper on the box.     Diego V. Friends Academy 4th Grade, Massachusetts 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970898509-LMBUWXDL54C8WLZINY2B/Portraits-22.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I made my box the way it is because nature is part of us and it relys on us. I made the box as a reminder to other people reminding them to protect nature.     Leah K. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970898825-9NYO69IMS2BJ8BEYE0H7/Portraits-23.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery On my box I put bright colors because I am a bright person. I put a peace sign because I believe in peace. I put a 1957 corvette because I like cars. I put a lego creation in because I like legos. I put a Ninja in because I do Karate black belt here I come. I put Popsicle sticks to make it look like a dojo. I put Mario Sports MTX because I like video games. I put a women run card because it’s my moms business and I believe in her and go to women run.com.     Camden L. 4th Grade, Massachussetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970899824-BVPANA8URMWVMH4E9OE6/Portraits-24.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Be Yourself. Writing brings out my thoughts. Resepect others. Appreciate living things (animals) around you.     Grace M. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970900276-GJ9IPXYDJ6YTTS4HKLRT/Portraits-25.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Soccer, Smurfs, glitter I believe in Smurfs playing Soccer.     Natasha Y. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970901402-UN6HILI6IUI48DVXOWAF/Portraits-26.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is about family My family is funny, loveable and caring. I have 4 people in my family, me, my brother Raymond, my dad Rich and my mom Lee. Also including our family dog Capton. I care for my family and I love my family.     Anthony B. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970901479-DWDU5WVZ8QWXL9J10HX6/Portraits-27.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery When my hands are in clay, the world disappears. One form leads to another - -shaping, firing, the possibilities of color -useful objects that make you smile.     Wendy G. 4th Grade Teacher, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970902781-AKSD1T5SVWK394CPBFFH/Portraits-28.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I put a picture in my box because I love art. I put stars in my box because I make wishes on stars. I put a mini model of my favorite book. I put a pretty rock in because it makes me happy. I believe in Gaia, mother earth. I love nature.     Charlotte G. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970902779-FKUWHQAGE9MPB3A6MV1K/Portraits-29.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I love traveling and I believe that one day natrue will be left alone and not picked or pulled. My favorite seasons are fall and spring, but winter and summer aren't bad!     River M. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970904077-Z9FK7CUUJ7PZ22AKZ6SV/Portraits-30.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box represents things I like. My box also represent me as it does have my name on it. Though I did only put some of the things I like on it.     Ethan S. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970904322-UBBQTYF8ASNMCEQFE0C5/Portraits-31.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I Love fun, Animals, the beach and Holidays. I love the beach because of shells and sea glass. I love Holidays because my dad is home and animals and fun, what’s not to like?     Emilia D. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970905704-S0H3KI6OLP59R2IS7OSY/Portraits-32.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Angel=I’m religous She has a crab pet The turtles=My favorite animal and I love disney The shells, chair, and beach thing=I love the beach and not mosquitos. Ocean back round=I love swimming and the ocean Heaven back round=because I’m religious shell under angel's hands I remember spackle my pet Sparkle.     Dryanna K. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970905739-CKYRMLMFL94PAFCV48WY/Portraits-33.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I have hulk smashing because I am strong. I have pencils because I like to draw. I have a car I like cars. I like games so I have Monopoly. I have Phineas and Pherb because I like the show.     Ean M. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970907349-0KY8787GWKEDFMQGQPNP/Portraits-34.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery The Lego guys is there to show that I like Lego’s. the shells are there to show that I like to swim. The Book is there because I love to read. The knife is there to show I love to carve.     Ethan M. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970907281-H609KNY9224WBFWLUSAN/Portraits-35.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I put singing in my box because ever since I was 3 I loved to sing. I love karaoke. I put a stage curtain because I like to act.     Julia K. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970908596-J58VXPOO4VXYWP14PJYF/Portraits-36.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Hollywood magic! This box Represents me because I Like acting!!     Trey S. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970908651-LH963U1L6KFO9D6XXGNY/Portraits-37.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery The green on the top of my box represents my favorite basketball team the Celtics. The blue on the right side represents The Patriots because they are my favorite football team. The red on the left side represents the Red Sox because that's my favorite baseball team. On the bottom, it’s purple because my favorite color is purple. My favorite sport is basketball so I put a basketball and a basketball hoop.     Jack B. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970909886-3C57MVG5QANTB77V5CGH/Portraits-38.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Fun. Love. Glitter!     Maddy P. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970909990-TO3KD3T4Z5KSIR1VTGTM/Portraits-39.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I made a box for REVEALED. I put smurfs in my box because I love Smurfs. I put an eyeball because I like making eyeballs. I also made flying pigs because they are awesome and real. I put glitter because I love it.     Sophie R. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970911343-E2OAOY4ALZTW77BYU7VL/Portraits-40.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I Like to ripstick, golf, riding My Bike, Play Basketball, cars and Drinking Arnold Palmer because I like the ripsticking and making obstacles, golf because I love it. Biking because I do a biking camp. Basketball because I'm good at it. Car’s because I like the movies called Fast and Furious. And Arnold Palmer because it lemonade and iced tea.     Peter V. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970911449-F09QLU8MT4PCBUSF2Q87/Portraits-41.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is all about Dirt bikes. Dirt bikes are my life. My Dad introduced it to me a year ago. I have three Hondas an orange one a blue one and a red one.   Frank Z. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970912645-OSRK00ELFM5IX6YNA451/Portraits-42.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box represents what I believe in. I believe in fairies, my family, my friends, and nature. I put in an owl because owls are my favorite animals. I also put in a book, a shell, a feather, and a cat because it represents what I like to do. I like to read, go to the beach, play with my cats, and the feather is because I always wanted to fly!     Hannah H. 4th Grade, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970912926-IF7BL513RO86NXGGO8LR/Portraits-43.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe in Angels. I believe that I can do anything if I really, really want to. I believe that everything happens for a reason and if you look really hard, there is always a silver lining. I believe that hope and faith can cause miracles. I believe in the importance of taking time to acknowledge and appreciate the beauty in nature and the gift of life. I have filled many roles in my life – daughter, sister, mother, friend, wife, artist, teacher, student and survivor – and would not change a thing, but I still believe the best is yet to come.     Susan C. 4th Grade Teacher, Massachusetts Friends Academy 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970916800-3ZTOQM7Q5U4EKVVWB8Q0/Portraits-49.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Dylan Roger Williams University 2016   1. If there were three things that I hold close to myself, it would be sports, family, and the ability to overcome. Sports have influenced my entire life and kept me on track. Sports in general, wrestling especially, gives me something to drive for. I am someone who sets goals and meets them the best I can. Athletics and staying active as a whole has kept me pushing forward to better myself. I fight with my family. All the time. But I would never trade them in. They mean the world to me no matter much we argue. They have supported me through thick and thin. Through the best of times and the worst of times. I know whatever happens, they will be there for me. Lastly, the ability to overcome has always played a huge role in my life. In life, there are always hard times, but I believe how someone recovers is the best way to see their true character. The way in which people get up after being knocked down reveals what they are really made of and how strong their drive is to move forward. 2. I don’t know exactly how I will convey my beliefs in a box quite yet, but I have a few ideas. I want something to show how much family and friendship means to me. To do this, I could use a gift from a friend or something me and my friends do together, such as a game board piece possibly. Also, I want to display how I expand my horizons. Traveling, opening up to new experiences, meeting new people. These are all things that I also hold close. I could use a stalactite I brought home from Bermuda or a volcanic rock from Arizona. Another thing that I would like to show is something along the lines of nature. I could use moss or a picture I have taken. But I would ideally like to show how much it means to me.     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970917932-63QGG7WWDJWX40NIDRO7/Portraits-50.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Caroline Roger Williams University 2016 There are many things I believe in, but only three that I hold close to me. Caring for others, art and family. When I was younger, I was raised in a way that I put others before myself. Not only was I taught that, but I also was taught to take care of my siblings whether if they were sad, or had a scraped knee. For me, anything medical related is interesting and important. I believe that everyone has the right to be taken care of, and treated for their illness. When it comes to art, I believe that art is a way for people to express their feelings and sometimes it’s just there to help one relax. Ever since I picked up a crayon, I had this drive to perfect my art skills; become a better painter, drawer, graphic designer, photographer. Not only did perfecting my art skills make for better art pieces, but also it made a better me over the years. I made a lot of friends from my art, I met amazing teachers who inspired me to continue with an art career as well. These people all helped in some way to make me a better person, and the person I am today. Some of these people also includes my family. My family, while it feels broken at the moment, is the most important thing to me. I don’t go a day without thinking about my parents and brothers. I treasure my brothers like nothing else. Like what I said about being raised to take care of my brothers, in a way, while they are younger than me, they take care of me too. My brothers make me go insane, but they also know how to make me sane. They make what seems like a dark time, brighter. Therefore, I believe in family. All three things are aspects in my life that make me who I am, and have contributed to help make me, me. Today, I am one thing; confused. I put together not one box, but two. Why? Because my life seems to be in two different worlds. One world where I imagine being a doctor, helping those in need, something I’m very passionate about. This has been a dream of mine, something I’d definitely have to work hard towards, but an achievable goal. The second box is the world where I take my creativity and art skills and become the best graphic designer I could be. I will create logos for huge companies and design websites for businesses. Two very drastic careers that I feel so conflicted choosing between. However, the significance of two boxes isn’t only about my love for art or dream to become a doctor, it also symbolizes the separation my family is going through. I hold these two boxes close together because while my parents are going through a divorce, these two dreams of mine are pulling me through it all. My brothers who mean the world to me, bring these two boxes together. This conflict and confusion I’m feeling probably won’t go away tomorrow, or the next day, or even in the next year, but my love for art, drive to learn more about biology, and my relationship with my brothers have helped me become who I am today.       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970918455-6TJRYYA0WFSTEMF77M64/Portraits-51.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Britney Roger Williams University 2016   In my life, I have three major beliefs. These beliefs have driven me to where I stand today as a person. My first major belief is that you only get out what you put in. I am an athlete in several sports. However, I would have to say that javelin in track and field is my main event. My first season as a thrower, I did not succeed. I could not throw far and my technique was poor. There was no way that I was going to be able to improve if I did not put in any effort. The next season, I signed up with a private coach and worked on improving my strength spending 9 hours per week in a weight room. At the end of the seasons, I progressed to the final round of the All-Division meet and placed 15th in the All-Area meet with a personal record 30 feet farther than my previous season. This was much better than anyone had expected me to do. If I did not put in the effort, I would not have progressed. My second major belief is that God does everything for a reason. I have had plenty of friends in my life. Most of which have come and gone. However, if I had remained with the same people, I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am now with the people that I have around me. God put me through some tough situations because He knew that without them, I would not have made it to this point in my life. I believe that mistakes have to be made in order to learn. If I didn’t have to deal with these frustrating times in my life, I never would have learned how to deal with them in the future. To me, making mistakes is the only way to become stronger. My third major belief is that being quiet gets you nowhere. I’ve learned through many circumstances that being tough is the best thing you can do for yourself. This is not to say I don’t have days where all I need to do is cry. But when life hits you hard, you need to retaliate 10 times harder. You’ll never be able to make something of yourself if you can’t speak your mind. For example, one of my professors works to see you struggle. She pushes you to your full extent. Most people squirm in fear. I stand tall and confident and voice my rebuttal to shut her down. In my life, I have three major beliefs. These beliefs have driven me to where I stand today as a person. My first major belief is that you only get out what you put in. I am an athlete in several sports. However, I would have to say that javelin in track and field is my main event. My first season as a thrower, I did not succeed. I could not throw far and my technique was poor. There was no way that I was going to be able to improve if I did not put in any effort. The next season, I signed up with a private coach and worked on improving my strength spending 9 hours per week in a weight room. At the end of the seasons, I progressed to the final round of the All-Division meet and placed 15th in the All-Area meet with a personal record 30 feet farther than my previous season. This was much better than anyone had expected me to do. If I did not put in the effort, I would not have progressed. My second major belief is that God does everything for a reason. I have had plenty of friends in my life. Most of which have come and gone. However, if I had remained with the same people, I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am now with the people that I have around me. God put me through some tough situations because He knew that without them, I would not have made it to this point in my life. I believe that mistakes have to be made in order to learn. If I didn’t have to deal with these frustrating times in my life, I never would have learned how to deal with them in the future. To me, making mistakes is the only way to become stronger. My third major belief is that being quiet gets you nowhere. I’ve learned through many circumstances that being tough is the best thing you can do for yourself. This is not to say I don’t have days where all I need to do is cry. But when life hits you hard, you need to retaliate 10 times harder. You’ll never be able to make something of yourself if you can’t speak your mind. For example, one of my professors works to see you struggle. She pushes you to your full extent. Most people squirm in fear. I stand tall and confident and voice my rebuttal to shut her down. The first thing I plan on doing with my box is presenting it so that it opens upwards instead of outwards. I feel like this defines me because you have to look further than what is right in front of you to truly understand me. I may even have the lid hang off slightly because sometimes it is hard for me to open up to people and show them who I truly am. I am putting a music note bandana inside my box to hold all my other objects because underneath everything, music is what really gets me through the tough times. Inside I am putting two types of artificial flowers. Some are purple and some are white with writing. The white flowers resemble my passion for journalism. I use every chance I get to further my writing abilities for my future as a journalist. The purple flowers represent me in a different way. Purple is defined as combining the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. I think this defines me because sometimes I just need to stay calm to help me overcome something and other times I need to voice my opinion so that everyone can hear it. Purple also shows pride and independence which are two important qualities in my mind. On the outside of the box, I want to decorate it with sparkly black foam because black represents the unknown. I consider myself a hard book to read because I am always pulling my mind in different directions. I also want to place a pearl letter B sticker on the outside because pearls symbolize loyalty and I am always loyal to everyone around me.     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970919639-DCHR2PS2O7MP26CZ0DPT/Portraits-53.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Rachel Roger Williams University 2016   Through the course of my life so far I have developed many beliefs. The three beliefs that are the most important to me as a person are you cannot survive in the world without friendship, you are your own worst enemy, and that people do not tell you who you are, you tell them. The first belief is something I learned early in life. As an only child I had to go through a lot of things alone in life, but having my two best friends with me since I was a child showed me that I was never truly alone. We all had similar family situations, and that made me feel that I was not alone in this world. Without their friendship and the other friends that I made throughout school, I honestly do not know if I would be here today. The next belief is something I learned when I was a Freshman in High School. Studies say that middle school is the time when children start to lose their self confidence and esteem, and this was true for me. I was so bent on straightening my hair everyday, and making sure all my clothes were from Abercrombie and Hollister, because I was so worried about what others would think of me. I do not remember the exact moment when I realized that no one is paying that much attention to what I look like or what I am wearing, it was just me. I really am my worst enemy. I am so hard on myself still to this day. I struggled a lot with this junior and senior year, and I am just now learning how to accept myself more. The final belief is something I learned Sophomore year of High School. It might sound silly but I learned this from Gossip Girl. My favorite character of all time, Blair Waldorf, is about to run away to Paris to escape the gossip surrounding her, and her best friend Serena Van Der Woodsen stops her on the tarmac, and tells her that “people don’t tell you who you are, you tell them”. That really stuck with me. People can call me a ditz, fake, or annoying, but I am none of those things. This might be my most important belief I have, and it is a belief that has helped guide me through life, and will continue to guide me. My revealed box will reflect me through objects and symbols. I have a bunch of shards of broken glass that will be hanging inside the box from strings. Glass is something that is shiny and pretty, but this glass is broken, sharp, and dangerous. Handled with care it is still beautiful.     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970920945-9ZSGJMG6L7URY3APGVD6/Portraits-54.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Carly Roger Williams University 2016   Life holds many qualities. Qualities such as happiness, sadness, tragedy, and love. At one point or another during my life, I will feel these emotions, my life circles around them. This drives me to look at my life and the struggles I have been through and all the high points I’ve experienced contributing to the person I am today. This belief originates from the idea that I believe life is not perfect, it is an intricate puzzle that gets pieced together day by day, one step at a time. After watching my great grandmother pass at the young age of six, I was introduced to this new understanding of life first hand, then again when I was diagnosed with a life changing illness at the age of nine. I want to make my life count and without going through the highs and lows of life, I thought many things. How could my life mean anything if my life is only all highs without the lows? I also believe that people are free spirits, we do what we want as we please. We have the power to shape our lives to be what we want. This contradicts the idea that I was brought up on. I was brought up to believe that God has a plan out there and preset for every person. As I have gone through life, I got dealt horrible cards from medical issues, relationship issues, and family issues. However, I built this new belief for myself that it is me in control of my own life. I chose and continue to choose who I am and who I become. Lastly, I believe that life has a beautiful fluidity to it. This was driven from my love for music, I use it to describe how I wish to live my life. Music and its fluidity mimics that of real life going on around us. I feel that I am embedded in a song that I create through the situations I find myself in. I construct myself in an outer body way, I take ideas from the outside and created them into the inner me. I am a person of faith, but faith on my own terms and beliefs. I picture my revealed box to display the life I have lived through the use of the everyday objects I have in my room and still use today. Most of these objects are directly given to me from the people who have helped to create the happiness, sadness, tragedy, and love in my life. These objects gave me the strength to keep pushing on when I thought I couldn’t. I see things hanging with in the box on a string. They may or may not swing but this will only show the fluidity on how I view life. With intricate movement or none at all. I plan to attempt to reshape the box for the photographs. This will display the free spirit. The box was given to us to be a square box. However, just because it was dealt to us like this it doesn’t need to always stay like that. Showing I have the power to change what is dealt to me, I have the power and will to change my life. The box will also be covered in sheet music with my favorite pieces of music on them. They were coping mechanisms for when I hit a hard low of being diagnosed with a life changing auto immune disease at the age of nine. The box will show the struggle I have been through, the high points I have experienced but most of all how I have the power to shape my own life and how I live it is my choice. Not the choice of the world around me.     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970921196-D6VVCVUUDYKLCPGSO36R/Portraits-55.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Isaac Martin Roger Williams University 2016   1) The first belief I hold close to myself is to not care about what other people think. I hold this close to me because I constantly remind myself of this. I found when I focus on what other people think, I lose who I am and who I want to be. I focus on what other people expect me to be. So use this belief to remind myself of who I want to be. I use this saying most when I feel as if other people are judging me. When growing up I was raised to behave in a way that would not affect how people view me. So when I came out as gay, I struggled with what others would think and tried to change. Eventually I learned it was okay to not care what other people think, as long as I was being authentic to myself. The second belief I hold close to myself is that no matter what everything gets better in someway. This comes from realizing how I survived things, that I, at the time, thought was the worst possible thing that could happen. After whatever it was at the time happened, I learned to either live with it or the situation changed and became easier. Mainly this has to do with my coming out. In high school I viewed my parents finding out that I was gay as the worst possible thing that could happen to myself. But after I was outed, I went to college and did not have to deal with them or be closeted anymore. I saw how I could live with the situation and how being outed helped my situation get somewhat better. This belief does not come with the belief that eventually everything will be perfect, but survivable. The last belief I hold is to not take life seriously and have fun. This belief does not mean not doing any work and only having fun, but to make time to relax and have fun. I remember this whenever I get bad anxiety, overreact, and make things to be more important than they really are. This belief also reminds me to not make work and school the focuses of my life because people should not live to work. 2) The REVEALED box, that we will construct     Roger Williams University 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970922252-UPZ5FMCPNU5QMF422RKK/Portraits-56.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Olivia Pelzar Roger Williams University 2016   1. Three beliefs that I hold true, and find myself living by every day are compassion for others, resilience, and honesty. I would have t describe myself as a pretty blunt person, I am the type of person that will not wait and beat around the bush when I can knowingly do something to change a situation. Many of my beliefs originate from my dad, my two older brothers, and the soccer field. As I was going to write my heritage speech on, I grew up in a hardy tomboy lifestyle and was introduced to soccer at an early age. Early years of soccer teaches you just as much about life as is does to kick the ball, and one of the first life lessons of the game is to quickly get back up and keep playing after you’re knocked down. After soccer practice I would come home to my dad who would ask me about practice, and proceed to tell me what i should be doing better. My dad is where I learned that honestly (and the occasional brutal honesty) is the best way to get something done without confusion, and it was an effective way of building resilience aswell, I was never allowed to be a kid that got a trophy just for participating. Soon after, my brothers would normally arrive home from their practices and get the same speech. As you can tell this was not only a sport, it was a 24/7 lifestyle. So I grew up a pretty tough kid, and it wasn’t until my teen years that I witnessed the importance of compassion. In 2013 I began traveling on mission trips in and out of the country a few times a year, and my largest trip was to the town of Boscobel, Jamaica. I met some of the most amazing people of my life who live in drastically worse conditions than I could ever imagine. Before my mission trips to Bridgeport CT, Logan County WV, Atlantic City NJ, etc. I lived in a tight New England bubble, and found it easy to judge others outside of my realm, but now I look towards everyone with compassion and optimism. 2. In reading my top three beliefs above, I have a few ideas as to what I should put in my box. What is not mentioned above is my love for art, which I have been told I have excelled in for all of my life. I feel that my box would not be complete without some stylistic/design elements. One thing that I know will go in my box is a gold painted rock with the number 14 (my jersey number) written on one side, and the word believe written on the other. This rock was given to me by my high school lacrosse coach, each one of us received a rock. “Believe” was our word of the season that drove our once underdog team to the state championship, the first time in a decade. I believe that it was resilience that got us there. Also, I plan to put a picture of my dog, Abby, in the box because she has been my number one fan for the last 9 years. She is also a mark of determination for me, I had been begging for a dog from the time I could speak and my family finally caved into my constant nagging. These are the definite things I want https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970922304-IG5L8TEGBVREQ5TH0G8U/Portraits-57.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Brandon Roger Williams University 2016   My Identity My life can be described in a few different ways. Many people, objects, and events have a strong influence in my life. Anything that describes my life contributes to myself concept and constructs me. The three beliefs that I hold very close to myself are family, working, and sports. Without any of these, I would not be where I am today. All these people/events are what drive my life and influence me to become a better person in this world. To start off, the most inspiring and influential people in my life is my immediate family. They are people who inspire and influence me to help describe my self-concept. To start off, my parents are the people who guide me through life. They teach me right from wrong. They are two people who tell me to make the most of everything. They inspire me to do my best in no matter what I am doing. Both of them teach me that working hard is what gets you places. They inspire me by telling me how to become the best person I can be. They drive me to fulfill my goals by keep working hard. They motivate me because they know what is best for me. As for my brothers, they motivate me to become a better person and to tell others how to be better people. Having an older brother has always put me in a position where I am being motivated to be a better overall person. Having a younger brother teaches me to help him and tell him how to become a better human. They both influence and teach me how to be a better person in different ways. The second belief that describes me is working. Without working, you cannot get anywhere in life. Working teaches people how money doesn’t fall from the sky. You have to put effort and hard work into something in order to get benefits out of it. For the summer, I work at a beach club. I carry chairs and umbrellas down to the beach for members. It is hard work by carrying these objects to and from the beach all day long. It may not be the easiest or most exciting job, but at the end of the day, it is worth it. The money is not even the best part of the job. Working shows me that without hard work you won’t get anywhere. My job has taught me how to deal with others and has influenced me to become a better person and work hard for anything that I desire which is the happiness which comes from making money. A goal in life is to become successful and make money in order to hopefully support a family of my own. Lastly, one more belief that inspires me is sports, specifically lacrosse. It influences me to work alongside with others. Same as working, I need to work hard in order to get better and get a positive outcome. Lacrosse has not only influenced me to work in a team but it also is a sense of comfort because whenever I am stressed picking up the lacrosse stick will help calm me down. Lacrosse is a sport where it teaches me to work hard to become better, but also teaches me to work with a team which is important when it comes to getting a job when I am older. The way my three beliefs will demonstrate my box are very similar. Each belief is based on one another. It is almost as if it is a domino effect. To start off my family teach me everything I need to know. They will be the front piece of my box because they teach me everything when growing up. They are the people who try to make me a better person to the outside world. They are the forefront of my life and without them then I would not be where I am today. The second row of my box will be working because learning how to work hard is from my family. Working is what makes me happy and teaches me determination and motivation. When I look at pictures of working then I realize it motivates me that I need to work to get places. To conclude, the last row of my box will be lacrosse. Lacrosse is fun but family and working teach me that becoming a better all-around and hard worker are what get me better. It is still present in my life and will be present in my box but everything is a domino effect in my life. So without my family, I would not know what working really does and how it affects me. If I didn’t know how working affected me then I would not cherish the sport of lacrosse as much as I do.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970923827-TXIAHE424QIA9M3CP1AE/Portraits-59.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Sammy Roger Williams University 2016   1. Three beliefs I hold very close to me is to be unique, to utilize creativity during everyday life, and to not let others influence your own thoughts and opinions. For my own self, being unique and having my own original ideas is very important to me. I have never been one to follow the crowd and I actually enjoy standing out from others, whether if it is with my appearance, actions or contracting beliefs. Being unique drives me to become a successful individual because when one is unique, their ideas become of interest to others which can eventually lead to their success in life, whether if it’s in a career or one’s personal life. My belief to be unique originated from my parents and older sister. Ever since I was young, my mother has imprinted in me how important it is to be yourself and to not follow the crowd. My sister similarly passed this trait down to me by telling me not to copy others because it’s the “safe” thing to do, but to wear what you want and think what you want. As well as being unique, I also hold creativity to be very important in my life. Without creativity, life is dull and not imaginative. I believe creativity is extremely useful to use in life because it creates multiple ways to approach a situation or problem and it benefits the mind by working it in a new way. I engage in my creativity because I think it can benefit me in the future by turning my hobbies into a career. My creativity originated from becoming fascinated with the arts including fashion, photography and literature. These subjects tapped into my personal creativity and made it easier for me to express who I really am and show my artistic and creative qualities. Lastly, I strongly believe that not being influenced by other's opinions and holding true to your own is an important quality to carry throughout life. If you are constantly influenced by others, you will never find yourself in control of your own beliefs and thoughts and you won't have a strong sense of self. To not be aware of your own beliefs is dangerous because you may never establish independence. The less independence one has the harder it is for them to find success in life. This belief was manifested in me by my dad because he constantly reminds me to never let anyone tell me my opinion is invalid, to always stand up for what I think is right and to not be afraid to speak my mind despite what others may think of me. These three beliefs and qualities make up my principles and the person I am today. 2. Looking at the above answer please do your best to articulate how your REVEALED box, which we will construct on Monday November 7th together, and will be photographed on Thursday November 10th, will likely (as you plan at this time, even if it doesn't turn out how you envision it now) is a reflection of this inner work you describe in part one of your writing prompt For the construction of my box, I will try to incorporate my personal beliefs and interests through the use of multiple objects and decorations. First I plan to paste several flowers in the box to symbolize my growth as a person and how I have changed from a shy girl who was sometimes nervous to share her ideas and opinions, but is now confident and always willing to speak her mind and stand up for her beliefs. The flowers may also represent my creativity and how I appreciate the beauty in art and nature based on how I perceive the world. Some of the flowers are white and I may dye the other half black to reveal the edgier side of my personality. I am edgy in my style but also my mindset because I like to think differently than others and I find myself telling the truth straight forward and speaking my mind. To add to my box, I also want to place my camera on top for a number of reasons. The camera will not only show my love for photography but also my creative and unique abilities of how I view the world around me. Photographers tend to have unique images jump out at them that others may not have noticed. To further demonstrate my creative side, I will paste images of fashion and other art forms that I find attractive. Although it’s not an internal belief, I believe my love of fashion shapes who I am because it is more than just clothes you put on every day. Your personal fashion can define who you are because of your individual taste and style and through this style you are able to communicate to the world what you are like. I utilize my creative fashions sense to fulfill my need to be unique from others, so I think it is important that I include something regarding fashion in my box.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970925030-TBOQBSX32HIGTO5HPWNJ/Portraits-60.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Devin P Roger Williams University 2016   I may not be a specifically religious person, but I find that so many religions often times have these great moral codes that people are told to follow. Without speaking about faith so much as the guidelines of a religion, you’ll see that so many major religions all hold respect for other people, and all do good by themselves and by others. These key components are prominent in almost all major religions and those who abide by these basic guides are better people for doing it, whether they’re committed to a faith or not. I, personally, have learned these attributes from my family with a Lutheran upbringing, my martial arts and my experiences at school. While I no longer identify myself as a devout Lutheran, I was raised, baptized and confirmed as one. Learning about the religion was an interesting experience; not so much because of the stories that were told or the concepts of heaven and hell, but more specifically for the way that our pastor explained how to be a decent human being and how every choice you make matters. The church always encouraged us to be polite, kind, respectful, generous and courageous people- “Good Christians” they called us. And whether or not I decided to pursue the faith past my confirmation (which was heavily influenced by my parents in the first place) or not, I took the concept of doing what’s right to heart as best I could, because it seems as though that’s the way life should be lived- maybe not in order to provide yourself with eternal life, but in order to provide yourself with better current life. Through my practice of karate over the last 11 years (which one could argue is, or had replaced my religion), I’ve learned so much about chivalry and passion for all other living beings. A key thing to remember is that in a perfect world, you should do unto others as you would have them do to you. This was ingrained in my head as I began karate, and will not leave me until I die. Additionally, respect for your elders and peers, taking pride in all that you do, and speaking with confidence, modesty, honesty, and passion have all been embedded in my by my education in karate. These help shape my beliefs of being the best person you can be to make the best world we can have. From Pre-K to senior year of high school, I have watched other, more outgoing people, criticize their teachers, peers, or even that kid with the learning disability until I feel disgusted. I’m not saying I don’t feel frustration towards other human beings. Everybody does. But the way I’ve heard people trash talk others is not something I can support. Outwardly disrespecting your colleagues and superiors is an act that shouldn’t be done for laughs or out of anger. Seeing so many people verbally tear others to shreds for the last 19 years has left me realizing that abusing people in any way is so degrading to both the target and the speaker because it shows a lack of self-discipline. This contrast that I’ve experienced my whole life has only reaffirmed my goals of being more respectful and supportive for those around me, to do my best to make the world a better place. A quote from the movie Kingsmen is a surprisingly sound representation of my goals for myself: “Being a gentleman is not about being better than anybody else. It’s about being better than the man you were yesterday.”     https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970924982-FO0DTYU6U33WUT0IL48K/Portraits-61.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Alex Roger Williams University 2016   When the question is posed to me about what I believe and hold close to me, it is often difficult to think about what I believe in. This is simply because I do not spend too much time thinking about this issue because I almost find it distracting. However, in a time where I have just entered college and the cliché idea of college is to “learn about yourself”, I find that I think more often about my future than anything. How can I get from point A to point B in an efficient way and as a result, do what I love for a career for the rest of my life? This is where my beliefs come in. My first belief that is very central to my idea of life is that you must work hard to achieve a goal. Sure, luck has a part in how you achieve a goal but I tend not to rely on luck to get to where I want to be. While this particular belief is quite vague I can relate it to real life. How did I get into college, without working extremely hard in high school? How did people who are doing the jobs they love, get to that point? They worked hard. Working hard is the only way to achieve what I want to do. That being said, what I want to do for the rest of my life is make people laugh. Whether that is through stand-up comedy, doing professional writing on television shows, or a once in a lifetime spot on SNL, the only way I’m going to get to this point is from seriously hard work. At the same time, I believe it is important not to take life so seriously. I do not mean go out and drive a car using only your feet. I mean that it is important to relax and not get to stressed out about what is occurring in your life. That being said, I often find myself stressing out about various school projects or whatever is on my mind, but I have to remind myself to step back and look at the bright side of life. With working hard, and not taking life to seriously, I believe it is most important to have a passion. Without a passion, there is no drive or ambition, and by result, nothing gets done. I know plenty of people in my life that have no passion and do not know what they love or have a backwards way of thinking about what they truly love and I feel very bad. What is the purpose of life without passion? With passion though, comes a good work ethic, and a good outlook on life. Three solid beliefs that I hold very close to me and that contribute to my own self-concept. I plan to put things in the box that I like and that attribute to me and relate to my own self-concept. I do not often like to credit myself for my own accomplishments or what I have done simply because my life is a series of influences that have resulted in what I do. Therefore, I plan to put things in my box that relate to me and have influenced what I believe and think. I plan to put my Chris Farley bobble head inside the box (as you already know the influence of that). I also plan to either put my saxophone mouth piece or harmonica into my box to showcase the influence music has on me. I want to put my phone into my box too, not to show the significance of an Apple IPhone in my life, but rather show the influence a screen (whether phone or television) has had in my life. I have a few pictures that I am planning to put in the box as well as other items. But all of these have had an influence in my passion. My passion for comedy and making others feel better. Again, through that passion come hard work and a good outlook on life. The hard work comes from these influences that tell me what to do or how to accomplish something. It is by these influences (that I plan to put in my box) that I have good work ethic. And finally, all of these objects in my box will ultimately represent what has given me a good outlook on life. What is keeping me sane in a world that wants me to be stressed out? Through my box, I hope to portray that I try my best to not take life so seriously. With a good outlook on life and a hard work ethic, that may also result in finding you passion. I hope that my box will show off these three beliefs and what has influenced me in this way. It is only with my influences that I have my self-concept.       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970926574-53F5KPTRUH2MUNGFB70E/Portraits-63.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Connor Roger Williams University 2016   1. Everyone has their own specific set of beliefs. It’s one of the many things that makes all of us unique individuals. These beliefs can be anything from religion to a favorite sports team. Personally, I believe that if you have the ability to help someone, then you are morally obligated to do so. This is something I’ve always thought to be extremely important. Throughout my entire life I’ve always been a huge fan of comic books and super heroes; and despite the fact that those characters are fictional and could never exist in the real world, I’ve always looked up to them and each day I strive to be more like them. One of the ways I do this is by helping others whenever I can, regardless of the sacrifices I have to make for them because making other people happy makes me happy in return. Another one of my strong beliefs is that one should never be mean or hurtful to others. Sure, people may have their differences, but at the end of the day, we’re all humans trying to make it in this world, so why should we make life difficult for others? As someone who has experienced a lot of bullying in the past, I feel the pain of others who are treated unfairly and believe that being disrespectful and mean to others is one of the worst things you can do to someone. In addition, I also practice Catholicism. I’m not extremely religious, but when times are tough and I feel like the world is beating down on me, I always find myself looking for help from a higher power. Religion has always been present in my life and I intend to keep it that way. These are just some of the beliefs that help define who I am. 2. Honestly, I’m still not entirely sure of what to do with my REVEALED box. However, based off of my beliefs and interests, I’m thinking of including something involving super heroes. I’ve always been extremely interested in these characters and they have helped shape my beliefs and who I am today. Super heroes stand for justice, friendship, and goodwill. Each day I strive to be like these heroes and help those in need whenever I can. Because of the major impact that comic books and their characters have had on my life, I plan on including references to them in my REVEALED box. In addition, I may include some objects that represent my Irish heritage. Family has always been extremely important to me and is a huge part of my life, so I would like to showcase that in my REVEALED box. I also may include objects referring to computers because computers have had a major impact on my life as I spend most of my free time in front of one, and I’m a computer science major and I intend to find a job working with computers in the future. These are just a few of the many things that represent who I am, and by putting objects such as these in my REVEALED box, I can show others just who I really am on the inside.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499970927208-YFU17ZTR7SJQB36TGLWN/Portraits-64.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Jenna Roger Williams University 2016   My beliefs are often deciding factors in my everyday life; they are the values in which I base my life and I find that I identify with them in many ways. I am greatly influenced by my faith, my lack of a materialism and the conscious choice to live without assumption All of these things have greatly impacted who I am as a person. On an intimate level, I don’t believe in judgment. I like to embrace others for what they believe in, the way they think, who and what they like and what makes them who they are. I do not believe that I, as some ordinary person, am qualified to evaluate the worth of another human being. I believe that there is a higher power that does that and from my perspective, as humans, we are all on the same level. Everything I do, I do for God because I find that to be what faith truly is. Contrary to the beliefs of some less spiritual people, as a person of faith, I do not live according to certain values because it’s dictated to me by my religion. I confide in my religion because of the fact that it values the ideals I find most important to my life. There are few physical items that I hold close to my heart and have a true spiritual connection with. I carry my experiences with me rather than putting them away in a box to take out and cherish when I would like to and it is evident that this factor has shaped who I am. When thinking about what to put in my box in regard to physical items, I was for the most part at a loss as there are not many trinkets or keepsakes that I find significant to who I am. Many people keep their memories close to them by storing them inside tangible things, associating their emotion and experience with visual reminders. I, however, cherish these moments in a different way. I keep them compiled within my soul and allow them to direct me and mold me into the person I will become because tomorrow and each following day we become new. On my box I want to show that I am a person of faith because it's something that I'm proud of despite ridicule I have faced in the past. I didn't always have my faith and for the majority of that time period I was miserable. When I recollect who I was back then I realize how lost I was and how much my spiritual beliefs have impacted me in such positive ways. I would not be the person I am today had I not been born again into my faith. I want my box to display my spiritual beliefs while still conveying they are not all that I am. I’m considerably open and although I have a set path that I have chosen for myself, I respect and appreciate others for having their own direction. Every individual has a unique predilection and each one should be embraced because it is part of what makes them who they are.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019006144-O7ZLO6KVMRA9B6XICVGW/RevealedClass9thGrade-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe that there should be peace between all mankind. There is one world for all of us to live on so why do we fight? We all don’t have to agree, but we don’t have to fight. Have peace and spread it.     Christopher G. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019006262-G0QGHIHBS51O06DZIO2X/RevealedClass9thGrade-02.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe in choices, chances, changes and challenges. Find advent – where ever you go. My box is plain grey to resemble my teddy bear form childhood. The sparkles represent light and cheerfulness.     Emily S. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019007524-24S1RLCZSBC7LCJ8X5ES/RevealedClass9thGrade-03.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe that music can bring family back together.     Erik F. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019007700-SHJKI3SUE0T7OCWL1NXJ/RevealedClass9thGrade-04.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I left my box empty because I don’t know who I am yet and what I want to be and believe in. I haven’t figured that out yet. I decorated it – black and yellow paint with sparkles, because I know I am not dull. I just don’t know who I am yet.     Dasia F. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019009142-2VISF7QCUYDZMCZDDRJA/RevealedClass9thGrade-05.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I put a bow because of cheerleading – I put a belly ring because I love piercings and sparkles – I put a mirror because it is juicy couture and that is my favorite designer – AND because I love myself. I am confident. My box is crazy because I am crazy.     Anna S. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019009144-1NK7ZJUS6RM9060TOFIR/RevealedClass9thGrade-06.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe in my mom and everything she stands for. My mom has been a single mother who raised me and my siblings on her own. I appreciate my mother. I believe in my mother.     Darrien P. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019010643-GFW6GV9XJDHHA20EV3AH/RevealedClass9thGrade-07.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe in family, friends, choices and decisions. My box represents my life – how in the beginning it was perfect, we were all together. As the years went on, we grew apart and then we went as far as we could go. But as the years pass … we are growing closer again.     Joaquin G. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019010530-LEFKR9E3CUBNSB4FGWDH/RevealedClass9thGrade-08.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is black in the inside from all the dark times I’ve had in my life. I’ve had ups and downs and still manage to stay standing – stay standing like a soldier. A soldier is someone standing up for what they believe in – no matter what, they do not give up. I can fight this war all by myself.     Bryant C. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019012345-S9LJFJDQM5MWJZY6MBAZ/RevealedClass9thGrade-09.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe….. I want to look back 25 years from the moment this picture was taken and it will reflect who I am at this stage in my life. So many changes in my life at 50 years old, feeling very connected to my children and disconnected from my husband. My faith brings me close to the ocean and its calming nature. I believe in God. Healing is a word that keeps coming to me, yet I am not sure how to heal? My life is so full, yet something is missing.     Kathy G. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019012399-3GJFWGR9JN4O4F3FHXG2/RevealedClass9thGrade-10.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I chose this picture to represent my parent’s youthfulness and the care free spirit that I have endured from them. I admire my dad's strong will which he has instilled in me, my mom for her loyalty which she has instilled in me. I am a combination of my parents to whom I hold dear to my heart because without them I would not be me. This is what I believe in.     Bhryana P. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019015321-I9AIBGQSR55QZAZ5MMMW/RevealedClass9thGrade-11.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My box is a road because I believe that I need to find myself. I don’t really know myself yet. I have headphones plugged into my box because I love music. Music represents me. The road represents me finding myself a future road to success.     Sarai V. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019015320-PRGUT3K8QCJG5ZKEO0CB/RevealedClass9thGrade-12.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery This I believe the only person that you can rely on is yourself. This is why I used a mirror – to represent me relying on myself. At the end of the day the only person responsible for your well-being is yourself.     Angel A. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019017898-2TBZV4O4PRW9OJL6N2ZP/RevealedClass9thGrade-13.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe in God. I believe that good things will come to good people. Even after I lost my mother I thought good things would come. I am on a healing path. Things are only getting better. I am learning to express myself and my feelings through my art.     Yasin P. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019018009-D1AJSX560JZXQPAU0E01/RevealedClass9thGrade-14.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery Even if my jewelry box does not have a ballerina, I am free. In this box, I have a watch because it is my dads and he is important to me. It also represents that time will not stop me. The drawing represents my fate – I am an angel and I make my own path. This I believe     Jennifer G. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019020153-01IG4ABVU8SCD85NO7A7/RevealedClass9thGrade-15.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery My whole life I have had a passion for robotics. This toy is what birthed that passion.     Anthony K. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506019020330-YQ6BCMQZRHUFQDAU8AZS/RevealedClass9thGrade-16.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery I believe that everything can change. I believe in transformation. I recently started welding and I fell in love. I fell in love with the feeling of changing something that felt so definite. I always thought of metal as something strong, something difficult (almost impossible) to change. As I watched the molten metal transform from under my welding face mask, I learned … that even the things that feel the most strong, can sometimes be weak, can sometimes change, can sometimes break, be turned into something better and stronger – everything can transform. My box may just look like pieces from a junk-yard. The trinkets, the small pieces of metal – some are important to me – pieces I’ve collected, others are just parts that will some day be turned into something else. Like me, they can change, they can become stronger, they can break, they can be better than they once were …. (With a little patience and a whole lot of heat)     Megan C. The Met, Providence RI 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506020268066-IJMJ9QL03IAJ4U9XFBAQ/RevealedClass2013-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery           Boston Massachusetts 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506020268233-QF0GAO7M25NX3C9VD7XP/RevealedClass2013-02.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery         Boston Massachusetts 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506020270292-KX26JE52P4PKJOLXURWV/RevealedClass2013-04.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery         Boston Massachusetts 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506020270929-87P24GV2M75PL1RD5NRB/RevealedClass2013-05.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery         Boston Massachusetts 2013 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506020580433-BI4WQO78XILVJW11GAXU/RevealedClass2013-01.jpg REVEALED Class Gallery         Boston Massachusetts 2013 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog daily 0.75 2017-07-13 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2325 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989999544-VQQ3S5NT15XP7F6RL57Q/10687328_573168476152552_2204296325901061952_o.png Blog - Philadelphia Film Screening & Artist Discussion https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2315 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989999345-DHCKQJR9Y71FEOY5D77U/connecting_with_subjects_and_lighting_on_location___as220_shop.jpg Blog - Connecting with Subjects & Lighting On Location - 11/09/14 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2311 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989999444-ZD6S905HTUVFDXYN0RSW/logo.png Blog - West Kingston, RI Film Screening + Discussion 10/22/14 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2193 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989999144-B7PEP6IKO88CW3AMUP0B/logo.png Blog - Newburyport, MA Film Screen & Discussion 08/23/14 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2176 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989999045-9YJT6U9K63GQ099IBG40/23906_487294907967510_1652973067_n.jpg Blog - Phoenix, AZ Film Screening & Discussion 04/10/14 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2170 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989998945-3E90LEEXXONQITLB1HIB/1277434_10153306812320721_1978006208_o.jpg Blog - Flagstaff, AZ Film Screening & Discussion 04/09/14 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/2163 monthly 0.5 2017-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1499989998645-QCHT8N4F94MHIFYNGG0S/scongrational.jpg Blog - S. 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https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/adults monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/artistry monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/fine+art monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/individual monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/thirties monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/thirty-something monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/thirtyish monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/blog/tag/iceland monthly 0.5 https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-project-home daily 1.0 2017-11-05 https://www.revealedproject.com/book-film daily 0.75 2017-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504457051601-RI4TFC6H6988HMJ60ILT/image-asset.jpeg Book/Film - Fine-Art Book REVEALED: Personal Visions of Transformation and Discovery REVEALED is an exploration of self - a glimpse into the spiritual expressions and personal beliefs of the participants. Using individual portraits and short personal essays, Scott Indermaur has created a one-of-a-kind photographic series that uncovers what lies beneath the surface in each of us. n giving its subjects the time to reflect and connect with their “selves’, The REVEALED Project demonstrates both our singular uniqueness and the common thread we share with one another. The result is the intention of expression as revealed in a wooden box. REVEALED: Personal Visions of Transformation and Discovery is a fine art hard-cover book containing 123 REVEALED subjects from around the country. This book is a beautiful and insightful 9″x12″ 128 page book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504538905902-CW6WWLMMMZHKFT7G2ITU/REVEALED-Poster-CYC.jpg Book/Film - Documentary Film REVEALED: Portraits from Beneath One's Surface 11 People, 1 Photographer, 1 Box Photographer Scott Indermaur creates one-of-a-kind portraits of 11 individuals who have been given the unique challenge of symbolically capturing their beliefs, essence and spirituality in a small box.   https://www.revealedproject.com/938 daily 0.75 2017-07-13 https://www.revealedproject.com/about daily 0.75 2017-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503093120893-EBXN0ZU1AVAMTXN2SMFA/Portraits-103.jpg Welcome https://www.revealedproject.com/contact daily 0.75 2019-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504491493459-2LADPZ8WN5SE83G78CLT/Revealed-Press-Logo-34x34.png Contact https://www.revealedproject.com/faq daily 0.75 2017-09-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503089385318-E5N32ENR6Y1151X4CVDS/Portraits-65.jpg FAQ - Would you like to be REVEALED? The best way to follow REVEALED is through the Facebook Page. I post a call for subjects, and it typically fills up within a few few days. I do not screen my subjects. If you are willing to be vulnerable and trust the process, I will do the same with you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503092780447-75RPU2XYGFBQYK5TJY9C/Portraits-07.jpg FAQ - Interested in Revealing REVEALED? The REVEALED series is available for gallery representation, venue display or a film screening. REVEALED has shown in galleries, art walks, theater, churches, libraries and many other places. Please contact Scott if you are interested in having REVEALED in your space and an opening reception and presentation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503088189180-UUPSR54EM1JJS535WDTF/Portraits-06.jpg FAQ - Host a REVEALED Class REVEALED Class has grown from a children’s art class to High School students and Adult workshops. Scott has presented REVEALED integrating his work on self with communications, psychological, sociological and interpersonal theoretical explorations. Please contact Scott for more details on how he can help to bring this project to your school. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503087848642-5DY0OTAD2XLX8110YXN6/Portraits-18.jpg FAQ - Where do you see this project going in years to come? REVEALED was created in 2007 as a weekend project. At ten years, it is now moving into its new phase. Leveling up as one may label it. I am currently looking for funding to take this project around the World. Please contact me if you have any insights into funding through sponsorship or grants seize this project worldwide. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506623504431-JJLLP0DIC596R6LW5ZAJ/REVEALED-01.jpg FAQ - Can Scott Present for our group? Scott Indermaur has developed an uplifting, inspirational and insightful presentation featuring REVEALED portraits and the stories behind the REVEALED project. Whether it is for students, art directors, photographers, spiritual groups, men’s or women’s groups, Indermaur indulges every audience with insightful, courageous and inspiriting narrations…including his intuitive journey as the conduit which brought REVEALED to over 200 subjects across the nation. Please contact Scott to schedule your speaking engagement. https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-class-intro daily 0.75 2017-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503088827487-OSD9GDCLJXOZ5M9LGE4N/Portraits-07+%281%29.jpg REVEALED Class I am amazed at the meaningful insights and energy children add to the REVEALED project. I was inspired to bring this project to 4th, 5th and 9th grade classes, and found new layers of excitement to my work on REVEALED that only children could generate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504375802401-DOCNUVIW8Q1RPO3NJ26X/Portraits-53.jpg REVEALED Class REVEALED class has expanded to College classes and adult workshops. https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed daily 0.75 2017-09-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503877775462-O9PNFUTYMQ4AIGOGD6W6/REVEALED-01.jpg REVEALED Upon examining my relationship with my own spirituality, I wanted to learn how other people connect with their sense of self. https://www.revealedproject.com/this-i-believe-revealed daily 0.75 2017-09-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503091757048-ZRH9071QGSWXGQACFBQA/Portraits-07.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Rhode Island Public Radio’s (Rhode Island’s NPR) This I Believe – Rhode Island and REVEALED are two projects that have been easily merged and complement each other to create the project THIS I BELIEVE REVEALED. This collaboration makes an even greater impression and impact on Rhode Islanders through print, radio and photography that create a unique and multi-dimensional experience and personal connection for the audience. Their essays may also be heard online at Rhode Island's NPR.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504404648537-0G0T19TGVS99PC9PHFZJ/RIPR_logo.png This I Believe REVEALED https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504404668565-00UO3UD0DOOA8C6TN5T9/RISCA-50th_logo-VL.jpg This I Believe REVEALED https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-project-overview daily 0.75 2017-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504127937189-YWXWXIZM7AGLT9B9GTTL/Portraits-09.jpg REVEALED Project Overview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504127992131-5IIDGV3FWQB0WI6L4TUZ/Portraits-03.jpg REVEALED Project Overview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504127772865-KC1JPO1H7NU998PZYEPM/Portraits-08.jpg REVEALED Project Overview https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506803847448-0AS3EQIK6BEBEKAUWB4A/revealed-book.jpg REVEALED Project Overview REVEALED: Personal Visions of Transformation and Discovery REVEALED is an exploration of self - a glimpse into the spiritual expressions and personal beliefs of the participants. Using individual portraits and short personal essays, Scott Indermaur has created a one-of-a-kind photographic series that uncovers what lies beneath the surface in each of us. In giving its subjects the time to reflect and connect with their “selves’, The REVEALED Project demonstrates both our singular uniqueness and the common thread we share with one another. The result is the intention of expression as revealed in a wooden box. https://www.revealedproject.com/about-scott daily 0.75 2017-10-03 https://www.revealedproject.com/this-i-believe-revealed-gallery daily 0.75 2021-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504455674236-UX986RNTJLLVUBKJWVY5/Portraits-03.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery W-O-R-D-S by Frederic Reamer Say the word slowly; it has a soft, soothing sound. But a simple rearranging of one letter turns WORDS into SWORD, which sounds much sharper. SWORD is an onomatopoeia: the use of a word that sounds like what it means. Most of the time, I love words. I always have. Sometimes I’ll pull out my thick dictionary and flip through it – usually while I’m eating a snack – and hunt for esoteric words. I’m continually amazed and humbled by the number of words I don’t know. What I’ve learned during my life is that words matter. They really matter. We use words to connect with one another, ideally in pleasant ways. When life works well, we use words to make and keep friends, and to tell special people that we love them. During a rough patch, we use words to try to work things out with people who matter to us. Words communicate what we care about, what we feel, what we believe. I am awed by the power that words have to enrich my life and connect me with others. Most of the time ordinary words – words that are “inside the box” – work just fine. But there are those special, sometimes challenging times, when we have to think “outside the box” for the right words. Sadly, words sometimes get twisted and are used to stab, like a verbal sword. I’ve spent much of my adulthood working with prison inmates. Too often I’ve seen (and heard) how vicious, stinging words can lead to murder, rape, and strangulation. I love it when words inspire. I spend lots of my time teaching. I work hard to string words together to help my audience learn, to grasp the magic of good ideas, and to use these ideas to improve our world, one word at a time. Some of my favorite words have no sound – they’re silent. I roll them around in my mind when I’m feeling especially contemplative, like during a synagogue service or when I think about my children, or take a tranquil hike with my dear wife along the shore. Sometimes I think these are the best words, the ones that no one else hears – except maybe God. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506874656184-BVWL5VJ4DXXMJH2P96PN/Portraits-26.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Your Mother by Janine Weisman “Your mother!” Many conversations with Larry started with those two words in the first year of our marriage when my in-laws were living right over our heads while their new home in Newport was being renovated. Helen was the family matriarch. The woman whose two sons and their father looked to for approval. Her opinion, and you can count on it being a strong one, mattered to them. And it mattered a lot. But Helen also raised her sons to be independent thinkers, confident, thoughtful and kind. Even though she drove me crazy about not getting pedicures after seeing a TV news report about foot diseases spread in beauty salons, even though she surely would have won a gold medal if worrying was an Olympic sport, I knew she must had done something right. Otherwise, the man I married wouldn't be the wonderful and loving man he was. "Your mother," I cried. “She dumped a whole bottle of Thousand Island dressing over the salad I spent an hour chopping this morning.” I can still see Helen at the end of the deck reaching for the salad and me failing to reach her in time. “NOOOOOO!” She looked back at me not comprehending my horror. “What? Was I not supposed to do that?” Your mother was not a good cook. Oh, she could cook anything, so long as she cooked it in the microwave. At least she had a sense of humor about it. "Look what I'm feeding your father," she giggled when Larry's dad was out of earshot. She'd been the editor of her high school paper and was proud having a daughter-in-law who was a newspaper reporter. I thought she secretly wished she had my job. The phone would ring, "Janine, there are all these flashing lights down by First Beach. Something big is going on!" Something big could be nothing. But I knew she was always looking out for me. So it feels strange not having that extra pair of eyes around. Once I resented her unsolicited opinions. Now Larry and I are renovating our house and I need to ask her for advice. Your mother told me first she'd been to the doctor because she was having trouble swallowing and didn't like the way he patted her arm when he ordered more tests. We were on the front porch on a Monday afternoon in September. "Stop worrying," I told her, "it's just acid reflux." But on a Wednesday night in February, the last person to hold her hand while her heart was still beating turned out to be me. Your mother was astonishingly inept at tossing salads, and amazingly expert at working with building contractors. I believe your mother, like Naomi loved Ruth in the Hebrew bible, loved me like I was her own daughter. Your mother. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506799255450-8BBWY21FONQVFPZW7E2W/Portraits-20.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Cold Front by Scott Turner If a cold front ever ushered in the feeling of a fresh start, it was the one that pushed Hurricane Earl east overnight Sept. 4th. Just after dawn, I walked with Woody, our dog, into a nippy, northwest wind that transported wet leaves down the street in our Providence neighborhood. There, we all met the day’s first rays of sunlight, which burned through low milky clouds that trailed the storm. Gone was the heat and humidity that had wrapped us like a lead blanket most of the summer. Cobwebs slipped from my brain, telling my limbs to “shake it loose.” So I stretched my arms skyward. What a cap to a wild week. School had begun for Karen, a first-grade teacher, for Rachel, now in eighth grade, and for Noah in fifth. At my job, I wrapped up a nine-month project. Then, our kitchen ceiling came down after leaky pipes under the second-floor bathroom weakened 4,000 pounds of material. For now, we will use the closet-sized bathroom and shower stall on the first floor. Anyway, having two bathrooms was a luxury. Heck, more than 40 percent of the world’s population lives without access to any toilet! Back in the house, I opened every window downstairs. The cold front flushed the rooms with fresh air. My actions disturbed a Carolina wren outside. The bird shot out a Rose of Sharon and into a cavern of sticks in a backyard woodpile. When the wren popped back out, it hopped atop the pile, flicked its tail, spun around, chipped, squawked and jibber jabbered like a windup toy on caffeine. Above the wren, a squirrel, with a mouth full of leaves, climbed up the maple tree. I figured the squirrel was on its way to fortify the family nest. Winter was coming, I remembered. Cool air levitated the curtains of every open window in our home. Inhaling this freshness expanded my lungs and my world. It suggested that our existence was about making our hearts and minds roomier for those we loved. The wren was like sugar in my coffee--adding sweetness to life. After slogging through the sweltering past few months, I believe that the cold front was like the kind of do-over that we used to ask for as kids. I felt unharnessed, as if being given another chance to get things right. That night, Karen and I sipped honey vodka, a homemade gift from a friend. This syrupy, soul-warming drink was a real nectar of the Gods. The vodka sharpened our awareness and our joy. I also believe that it fueled the discussions we needed to have—about repairing our home and our lives in the coming weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504142535681-2WAZIM7VD70B1C5NK86N/Portraits-01.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Jessica Regelson The breaking of a dish once had the aura of tragedy for me, but growing up in a household of six children, toys got smashed and dishes were often broken. My mother’s reaction to a broken dish was to make light of the destruction, but I was haunted by every incident. That precious object would never be whole and perfect again, and there was nothing to be done about it, but to sweep up the shards and throw them away. When my grandmothers died, I received some of their china. Grandma’s pattern was “Martha Washington.” Nanny’s was called “Jenny Lind.” I loved using these dishes every day, loved the excuse to think of my grandmothers, but inevitably, sometimes a piece would break. I’d wash the shards and stick them on a shelf. I couldn’t throw them out. I thought to myself that someday I would make something out of them and restore them to usefulness. The pile grew bigger, and eventually I went to the library, got out some books on making mosaics, and made my first piece: a terra cotta flower pot covered with broken dishes, including a little “Martha Washington” and a little “Jenny Lind”. I went from making flower pots, to murals with kids, then commissions for private clients as well as my artwork, pieces that incorporate all manner of found and broken objects. People often leave me bags of shards to use in my projects. From Pat, I have dishes from her Aunt Kit. From Ivy, a set of plates that once belonged to her Grandma Rose. Carla gave me a hideous ceramic mermaid she’d received as a gift, in the hopes that I would break it and put it to good use. This mermaid’s left breast is now a part of the continent of Africa, in a mosaic of maps which I just completed at an elementary school in Providence. I now believe in the beauty to be found in the broken, the forgotten, and the useless things that most people throw away, or never even see. I walk with my eyes open. I pick up little doodads I find in my daily travels. A pretty rock, the earring left when its mate is lost, a wooden spool empty of thread. It’s a matter of appreciating the potential of that object to help me tell a story, and to whisper to the imaginations of others. The orphaned objects that find their way into my work are calling to the memories and associations of the viewer, evoking reactions that I cannot anticipate but hope will occur. The broken pieces contain the story of what they once were part of. Now they are part of a new story. Many things in this world are broken, or exist in a state of uselessness and neglect. I believe that when we’re able to see the beauty in the worn and torn in our lives, we can also see the possibility of transformation. I believe that these broken pieces are in a moment of transition, waiting to be made into something marvelous. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504455758215-XZRB51OPWT944U3BOUB2/Portraits-21.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Redemption by Wendy Lawton The story starts with a mistake. We all make them: Say things that are not true. Take things that are not ours. Ignore the warning label or the lump. We love to find the short cut to the easy way out. Me? Mistakes? Take your pick. Here is one: I spend money I don’t have. I have been making this particular mistake for some time, but it became clear one night not long ago when I sat down with homework from my financial planner: Go through your check book and catalogue three months of spending. All of it, every penny. And I did, yes, the bills and the groceries and the gas. But also the coffees, cute shoes, concert tickets, children’s books, children’s clothes, children’s birthday party gifts, work lunches, date dinners, Disney World. The poetry books. The beach house. The bottles of Prosecco. Carumba. To see my mistake so clearly — right there in my own cramped hand — was painful. And humbling. But here’s the deal. I want a house, someplace modest and beautiful, for me and my daughter. I’ve had houses. And they ground me. Give me pride — and a place to plant my flowers and gather my friends. Houses, however, cost money. So, to get one, I will need to stop spending and start saving. Can I do it? Yes. Because this is what I believe: I believe in redemption. Not the sinning kind. The hopeful, hardworking kind. The kind that requires an honest look at your mistakes, then a sincere effort at correcting them. It’s the Dickens kind of redemption. Every December, I haul out my video of “A Christmas Carol,” and cry and cheer as Ebenezer Scrooge sees the error of his ways and dances through London as he unburdens himself of his greed and his Grinchy old heart. It doesn’t take much to see our collective Scrooge at work in this world, to see our collective mistakes. Pollution, corruption, oppression, recession. We can’t seem to kill our oil wells, but we are killing as many as 140,000 species a year. We are changing the weather. But I look around, here in my city of Providence, and I see redemption. My daughter’s school has a new playground. Mills host farmer’s markets. Artists build offices. A grand Art Deco fountain, dry for 28 years, will flow again this fall. On Hope Street, of course. I believe that if you want a new and better life, if you want a new and better world, you have to be a new and better person. Me, I’ve got a new wallet. Inside, only cash. Outside, it’s bedecked with butterflies — those fragile, improbably beautiful reminders of redemption. You may listen to her reading this essay at WRNI - http://bit.ly/dIkwY3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506798587655-GIKUV2DIZALX1O4C6UV6/Portraits-10.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Fall Apples by Henri Flikier I do not like September, and the abrupt end of summer; as I lament the shorter days and colder nights; the garden and the Red Sox wilt away. September…Time to put the kayak and beach umbrella away; time for school to start, with multiple trips to Staples, overscheduled extracurricular activities, meetings and commitments. At home; arguments over homework, bedtime and a messy bathroom resume. By September’s end, the fatigue of early seasonal affective disorder engulfs me. Just when I feel it may last until the first crocuses; something magical happens to rescue me… the arrival of the first Macoun apples. Macoun can be pronounced McCowan but I prefer the French sounding Macoon. Every year, during the last week of September, I take my first bite of this crisp, aromatic, juicy, tart yet sweet apple. I am mindful of its snow white flesh and its vermillion skin as each bite brings a new taste sensation such as a hint of berry. A Macoun is not God’s creation but was developed in Geneva, New York, by a Canadian grower named W.T Macoun, in 1923. Nevertheless, my first bite of this succulent creation is a near spiritual experience. It is wonderful all by itself but divine with cheese, sourdough bread and red wine. A Macoun is the extraordinary result of combining two good but not exceptional apples; the McIntosh and the JerseyBlack. Like perfect babies of flawed, average and aging parents; One plus One is better than Two. And then it’s….October. Fall is not so bad after all. The sky is a brilliant blue during the day and full of stars at night. New England foliage is one of the world’s true wonders and sometimes the Sox even win the World Series! The Macoun season is short and in a few weeks, this once remarkable fruit loses its crispness and sweetness. Year after year I go through the same internal process. The arrival of the Macoun apple reminds me that there is good even in what I perceive as negative and that one has to find and hold on to the good even in bad times. This I believe. In my work as a psychotherapist, I try to do that with clients I may find challenging or unmotivated. If I can find the good and hold on, it will work out. I believe that the purpose of the Macoun is to remind me of the miracle of seasons and to be grateful for it. Like in the biblical text dating back to King Solomon, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” I will bite (a Macoun) to that! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800355327-0OLL8GZ8JUO3YVJC1877/Portraits-02.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery I believe that I cannot complain by Sonn Sam His name was Samdang; he was my brother. He died of starvation a little before his second birthday. I never met Samdang, but he’s probably the person who has most impacted my life. My mother followed the tradition of strict discipline found in most Cambodian households; In addition she shared stories of the horrific struggles she and my father endured to make it to America as she taught me right from wrong. My parents are survivors of one the most gruesome genocides known to man. Approximately two million people were brutally murdered in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime led by Pol Pot. Once Pot was in power, my parents and Samdang, like all of the other citizens, were forced into a life of slavery. They were sent to labor camps and their sole purpose was to harvest rice that fed the Pol Pot regime. My parents were led to work at sun-up and each day my brother was given to soldiers of the camp. My mother told me how she cried every waking moment, not from working like a mule in the rice fields, being whipped and/or beaten for resting because of exhaustion, or being fed one spoon of rice a day, but from the fear that she might not see her child alive when she returned to the camp. My mother spoke of how Samdang was an energetic and playful child, always smiling, even in the midst of the tragedy that unfolded. However, as time passed his playfulness dissipated because he just didn’t have the energy. One spoonful of rice does not provide nearly enough nutrition for a developing infant. Samdang grew weaker and weaker. One story in particular resonates with me. One day while working in the rice fields, my father caught a baby crab and immediately tucked it into the inner lining of his uniform pants. While secretly creeping by a camp bon fire he threw the crab in, and came back for it a few minutes later. He then gave the crab to Samdang. Its shell was burnt to a crisp but the meat was somewhat cooked enough to eat. My mother explained how indescribably painful it was for them to see their weak child slowly eat while they too were starving. Shortly after, Samdang died in my mother’s arms. Stories like Samdang’s have shaped my core beliefs about life. Through these stories I believe that life is about sacrifice, courage, and love. I believe that I have absolutely nothing to complain about and everything to appreciate. I cannot complain because complaining only focuses on the negative, and my parents taught me that their survival depended on their optimism and the fierce fighting spirit of love for their family. I believe that I cannot complain because I’ve learned that the true measure of human worthiness is not what we gain, but in the sacrifices we are willing to make for others. And most importantly, I believe that I cannot and will never complain or take anything in my life for granted because until his last moment, my brother never did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800518524-DHQU1XRA9XBISED59E4A/Portraits-05.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Telling by Kathi Kolb I believe that real breast cancer awareness doesn’t come from a color or a month. When you have breast cancer, real awareness is about learning how to simply keep going. I found out I had breast cancer just over a year ago, over the phone. I’d had a biopsy three days earlier and was due to see my doctor in a few days for the results. Instead, I came home from work to find a message from the hospital, telling me I was scheduled for an MRI. When I called back, I asked the scheduler why I was scheduled for an MRI. “Because your doctor ordered it,” she told me. Puzzled, I called my doctor. “Why am I having an MRI?” I asked. There was a pause. “I’m sorry, Kathi. This is not how I wanted you to find out. Your breast biopsy was positive.” I hung up, numb. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or even think about this impossible, unbelievable news. Instead, I knew I had to do the exact opposite, starting with my best friends. When I called the first one and told her, we were both too stunned to cry. “Why you?” she demanded. “I don’t know,” I said. I called another friend. And another.The next day, I went to work and told my boss and every colleague I could find. I didn’t care if it made anyone uncomfortable. In fact, I wanted it to be uncomfortable. I wanted each person to think, “If she could get it, then so could I.” If just one woman went out and got a mammogram after she heard my news, then it was worth telling everyone I knew. And what I discovered was that telling people was a powerful way to fight back.Their astonishment on my behalf gave me heart. So, I kept talking. I joined an online network for women with breast cancer. I added a page to my website.I drew cartoons about surgery and radiation and breast prosthetics. I took photographs, silly self portraits, with me dressed up like a bad fashion model who just happened to be lopsided.I started a blog called the Accidental Amazon. And I discovered that you can actually laugh at breast cancer, and that when you do, you cut this huge, relentless, terrifying stalker of a disease right down to size. I believe that real breast cancer awareness is not about pink merchandise or even fund-raising. It’s about ordinary women, like me, talking to each other about what we’ve learned and what’s really important. That’s how I keep going, how I’ve come to realize that I had breast cancer, but it didn’t have me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800561689-48KO1DWMPAOBLBBKKLS4/Portraits-06.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Repair by Barbara Schweitzer I believe in repair. Not just because my husband and I live in an old house in northern RI and drive cars with over 100 thousand miles each. Or because I hang onto to my cell phone so long the manufacturer no longer makes parts for it. In this world where things are replaced long before they need repair, I realize repair seems old-fashioned like darning socks or resoling shoes. But I believe it’s what we were born to do. When my daughter was two years old, she became distraught the first time she saw a crescent moon, gesturing to the night sky, crying “it’s broken, it’s broken,” as if her own heart were broken. Under less dire circumstances, she also showed us how lower case “r’s” are broken “h’s,” and that instead of Cyclops, we should name one-eyed monsters Clop’s Eye since that’s what the monsters are all about. The point is children know broken things when they see and hear them. I believe that’s because repair is our first act of life. When we feel the cold air surround us at birth, we cry. We cry and we cry, and we keep on crying until the distance between us and another human being we absolutely need is repaired. We are made up of two genetic strands. So it makes sense that we need to live like a pair of socks all our lives. Not quite right unless we’re matched up with other human beings. Re-PAIRED, just as the word says: rejoined separate things. Solitary confinement is a cruel punishment. Shunning kills people. Isolation makes us feel crazy. And we’re not the only ones on earth who do this kind of repairing. Bees do it in intricate dances, birds by singing, dogs by barking – all manners of speech and sound and acts are on our tool-belts so that we can connect with one another. We humans complicate things, of course. We invent machines. So most of the time, we don’t notice what we’re really doing when we text, Instant Message, Twitter or call one another. We just know we have to keep doing it. Now we worry about being too “intexticated” to drive. So intoxicated on our tools we forget what we’re doing. That it’s all about making relationships. Connecting. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. Even chatting about the weather in the grocery store line is a way we repair distance between us. Saying good morning. Happy Birthday. Welcome to your new home. Disagreeing is a way of re-pairing, even when we feel mismatched. Repair is really just another word for love. And, I believe, to paraphrase the Beatles, all we need is repair. Repair is all we need. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800582225-CA0UKAAWP6BDPLNY7YGK/Portraits-07.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Creative Kids by R. James Stahl The week of my Bar Mitzvah, a bomb-making prank (my idea) took my left eye. Until that moment, I was seeing the world as a typical 13-year-old boy sees it. Then, a second later, I wasn’t. The required soul-searching over what to place in Scott’s box revealed that what I believe, and the career I made of it, very likely began in that moment. I published writers, some of them famous now, when they still had curfews. They would mail me their folded thoughts about growing up, the trials of school, the death of a pet, the birth of a little brother. Most submissions I had to reject, but published or not each one received a personal response from my talented staff or from me. From our little Main Street office in East Greenwich, we published the best submissions in a magazine that we shipped all across the world. My experience taught me to believe in the practical value of listening to young people’s thinking. Publishing young writers sent a message of hope to creative kids who felt their talents were trivial or unwanted. Their creativity mattered to me. Even the briefest submissions could floor me. One 8th grader, for instance, wrote a poem called “Religion.” “On the sixth day,” it said, “He got up/and sprayed people /from an aerosol can /and then /God threw away /the exhausted container.” Such provocation -- in seven lines! Is creating humanity as casual as spraying air freshener in a guest room? Or does that “exhausted container” mean that the creative act fatigues even all-powerful God? Is God still omnipotent if he or she suffers fatigue? In hundreds of classrooms that read this poem, discussions took off -- all of them launched by the words of one creative teen! Publishing kids, I saw that the brightest ones teach their peers and their teachers. That’s why I believe in urging more teen involvement in our civic and volunteer organizations, in our schools, places of worship, and government. We need the brightest ideas from kids, their originality, their view of the world, and their view of us -- the adults in charge. Creative teens have already shaped our culture. Writers who helped define the American character -- Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes among them – were publishing as teens. A young Mozart composed melodies we still hum. When Frankenstein took his first arthritic step into our imaginations, how old was his creator, Mary Shelley? About 16. So how much higher could America fly if input from creative kids was built into the plan? I believe much higher. Maybe schools can take the first step. They can become places where innovative, creative kids feel as safe, as wanted and celebrated as their home-run hitting, touchdown-scoring peers in athletics. Rhode Island schools could lead the way. Others may follow. I believe in getting creative kids to the table now to solve our biggest problems. We can use the help! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800619950-KRX5ROXE14ZKN1VTY9QK/Portraits-08.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery September by Liz Doucette “September is the best month in Newport.” Many who live here agree. That’s not to say we don’t love July and August — summer!! — in all its crowded, event-filled glory. Of course we love summer. And we love our visitors, each and every one, traffic included. Okay, I’m exaggerating (and I can’t speak for anyone but myself). Let’s just say Newport relies on summer. Newport works hard in summer. Busy is good. Then, ahhhh, September. It’s still summer, weather-wise. The water is warm for swimming. It’s clear and breezy for sailing. Fish are biting. I might even find a parking space. Doesn’t everyone, everywhere, love September? Except perhaps the kids heading back to school? Something ends, but something else begins. Don’t we all, at every age, regard September as time to get back to … something? This year, my husband and I sent our younger child to college. We’ve just joined that very lonely-sounding demographic: Empty Nesters. But it’s not so empty. Sure, we miss the kids, but they’re doing fine — thank goodness — and there are definite upsides. We’re managing two schedules, not four; so there’s more time to do what we want. More time means more bike rides. And September afternoons, whose warm orange light lingers ‘til 7pm, are ideal. My husband and I go in different directions, as we go at different paces, then meet back home for dinner. Around Ocean Drive is my usual route: bumpy in spots, but less traffic in September. So, one afternoon verging on evening a few weeks back, I rode my bike out that way, and when I got to Brenton Point, it was just so darn beautiful that I stopped, parked my bike, wandered out onto the stone jetty, and watched: water, a few boats, imminent sunset. As I turned to go, a couple approached over the rocks, slippery in spots. And I heard myself say, like the mother I’ll always be: “Be careful.” Glancing back as I hopped on my bike — to make sure they were safe, I suppose — I saw that each of them was scattering a gray cloud of ashes into the rolling waves, one on either side of the jetty. In tears suddenly, I pedaled on. I believe in September, with all its beginnings and endings. Beautiful but sad. Clear air and clarity. I often make resolutions in September, as if it were the New Year. It is the New Year, in many respects. This year I will … what will I do?? I realize, of course, that September lies behind us, and it’s October now. October’s a great month, too. Newport’s great straight through Christmas. But in January, that other New Year? Plenty of parking spaces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800647709-EGSYZVV7PENIKEGYTER0/Portraits-09.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Architecture by Ross Cann Winston Churchill once stated “We shape our buildings, but thereafter they shape us.” To me, he was saying that although buildings are creations of their times and places, Architecture is an art that inspires the soul. I am thrilled to be part of a species that can take metal, concrete and stone and turn it into things of beauty like the Eifel Tower or the Sydney Opera House. But one need not cross oceans to see great buildings. Here in Rhode Island we are surrounded by great architecture… and no place more so than in Newport. I first discovered Newport because I decided to take a history of architecture class in college taught by a professor named Vincent Scully. Decades earlier he had co-written The Architectural Heritage of Newport Rhode Island and, naturally his course was filled with images of great Newport buildings like the Redwood Library, the Griswold House and the Newport Casino. These were designed by men like Peter Harrison, Richard Morris Hunt and Stanford White-- names I had never heard before back then… but architects who are giants to me now. When I first came to visit Newport, I was amazed to find so many old buildings still existing. Most other places have not been so lucky. Most cities were either too rich to keep old structures… or too poor to save them. Newport, by luck or by fate, fell in between these extremes and is often called the “Last Wood City.” When I had the opportunity to move to Newport to practice architecture, I seized on the chance. Working as an architect in Newport has been like being a painting curator at a great museum:… you get to study important works by some of the most important artists of the medium that you love… and sometimes you even get to work on those buildings themselves. One undertakes the task with reverence, because Architecture is important-- not just because it is the fabric of our communities or because it provides the physical clues to other times and peoples. It is important because Architecture is the art that we will all leave behind to show that we were here … and to tell future generations what our priorities, aspirations and beliefs were—not just in words, but in brick and stone, in steel and glass, in solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. Here in Newport, architects try to write the story of our culture every day, but we try to be careful not to drown out or destroy the stories told by older Newport buildings. This reverence for the stories that building can tell (both in the past and in the future) is why I believe so deeply in Architecture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800710918-PDCI3JMERM4OTSAV0VI6/Portraits-11.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Nature by Cara Murray I talk unabashedly to other living things, flora and fauna alike, although they don’t speak English per se or respond in any observable form. I encourage my plants to grow (“You’re such good growers!”); I greet the goats at the end of my street (“Good morning!“ I say.); I tell my housemate’s guinea pig to “keep on truckin’.” I’d do well on a farm, I imagine—in a community of ramblers, all babbling different languages, each baffling and arcane. I’d fit right in. But I don’t use this chatter in a flippant way, not with careless or cute intentions. I see this method of engaging with the world as a means of acknowledgment, of bewilderment, of praise. It’s acceptable to talk to your cat, your dog, your cockatoo. Why not talk to everything? To ensure environmentally sensitive expeditions in Antarctica, the guidelines adopted by members of its International Association of Tour Operators include specific directions about the wildlife: “never touch the animals; maintain a distance; do not position yourself between a marine mammal and its path.” I follow these directions at home in Narragansett, Rhode Island, this laissez-faire naturalists’ doctrine. When I meet a caterpillar halfway up a hill off Route 1A, nearly exposed to the next turn of tires, I offer politely, “you’re almost there, little fellow! I think you’d better get a move on!” Then I continue my way. Once I met a wild turkey while I was out walking and was struck by the admonition, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Well, certainly I didn’t kill him, but gosh, I must admit, I said hello. Some days I apologize aloud for everything…for human occupancy of the planet, our generally clumsy and self-serving way of doing things. I’m sure this mumbling seems anti-social from afar, or perhaps it’s strangest up close—somewhere between atypical and alarmingly odd—or maybe it’s commonplace. You tell me. I’ve witnessed a box turtle loafing toward traffic and dropped a soft hint, while it maneuvered elephantine feet through the leaves. “The woods are right there,” I whispered. “The other way, near the brook. Listen!” I believe that speaking to the natural world, in my native tongue, uncensored, creates an energetic message that is tangible and understood. Sometimes I think an unspoken phrase is as communicative as the spoken word, like focused meditation or silent prayer, but mostly I think words need execution. I know that in adulthood we should distinguish effectively between the seen and the unseen, the imagined and the real. I know I don’t have evidence that my gibberish is well-received or useful. However, I know also that the Persian poet Rumi wrote, “there are a million ways to kneel and kiss the ground”—so let this be one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800742862-Q3ZI5YG1WX2KZ5HXWDHB/Portraits-12.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Mother’s Face by Nicole Purcell I believe that living can’t be about the easy things. And I believe in my mother’s face. I remember my mother’s face the day I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1982. Confronted with the news that one of her children would encounter life-changing challenges, daily bloodsugar checks and insulin injections, and the prospect of deadly complications, my mother’s tear-streaked face told me everything. Her blue eyes, determined and bold said, “We’re going to meet this thing – head on.” Her mouth, usually smiling, tightened – her jaw, usually relaxed, set itself hard, and said, “You will be OK. We will be OK. “ Her tears, though she tried to hide them – said, “This isn’t fair.” My mother’s face told me these things on that June day, in the office of our pediatrician. There were words “needles every day, finger sticks five times daily, restricted sugar.” I listened intently, but what I heard loud and clear was the beautiful, unspoken, language of my mother’s lovely face. Many times in the past 27 years, I’ve seen that face. I saw angry lines when I was thirteen and a doctor told me that most diabetics don’t live past 30 without serious complications. I saw the easy smile that conveyed my mother’s pride as I graduated high school, then college, as I advanced in my career, as I defied those odds – making it past my 30th birthday without even a whisper of a complication. I saw the frustrated frown when I fought daily injections as an eight year old, refused to pay much attention to my disease as a teenager, and stubbornly went to work sick as an adult. Those faces taught me, and my mother’s patient, easy guidance taught me. I learned that life isn’t about how we react or behave when things are going well. I learned that life is not about the easy things. I learned that life is about how we confront our greatest challenges – whether they’re physical, mental, or emotional. I learned that life is about the strength we reap, the lessons we learn, the compassion we gain, the love we show - when things are just plain hard. Today, I see my mother’s face - in my own mirror. And I see that she’s given me my life’s greatest gift. The ability to see challenges as opportunities. The ability to understand others’ trials and to lend a hand when I can. The ability to move forward, to step past the pits of self-pity and into the land of true strength. And the ability to communicate, with a look, the love I have to share. I believe that life can’t be about the easy things. And I believe, always, in my mother’s face. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800775473-PJW5S4VUK3FCOOJROE9P/Portraits-13.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery PLAY by Samuel White I believe in the power of play. You wouldn’t know this just to look at me. I'm a pretty serious person. Most of the time I wear a serious expression and have a serious outlook on the serious problems that face the world. The truth is, I haven't always thought of myself this way. I once went on a date with a woman who, when she came to my apartment and surveyed my possessions, remarked, “I think you're the most serious person I've ever met.” At first I thought she was joking, but then took it all quite seriously. Some years ago I moved from New York to an artist community in Rhode Island because I had long wanted to live among other artists and thought it was time to do it seriously. To support myself, I took a serious job and worked in a serious office during the day. But years earlier, while in school in the Midwest, I met a guy who later became my best friend, and even later became a minister in Tennessee. He rode a bus from Iowa City to San Francisco dressed head to toe in a hand-made rabbit costume. He did it to impress a girl. It was an outrageous stunt, spontaneous, public, and weirdly disarming. I realized then how important this kind of play is to my life. After settling in Providence, I started a summer event called Woolly Fair in the same spirit that moved my friend to board that bus as a rabbit. At first it was a variety show with musicians, poets, and actors taking the stage to perform for an audience, but soon the event evolved to incorporate fake nations competing in fake sporting events – Tricycle races, The Bad Date Obstacle Couse. People began showing up as outrageously costumed characters. One year we had a man who had never cut hair arrive as a barber, set up an old-fashioned barbershop, and give deranged haircuts all night. A talented seamstress I know reinvented herself as a kissing booth operator with a heavy Long Island accent. Quickly the event became a stage with people in attendance becoming actors in the show. I believe that if people are allowed to invent something out of themselves, for an occasion such as Woolly Fair where there is nothing at stake other than people at play, then new bonds are formed, the divisions that separate people are demolished, and the self expands. I believe this kind of play reinvigorates the human spirit, especially when times are tough. I’d go so far as to say that this kind of play is a vital form of citizenship in a world that shouldn't take itself too seriously. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800859423-G44LGHKOKFH5LYXFMC3B/image-asset.jpeg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Resilience by Jennifer Reis When my son was just 10 days old, my marriage fell apart. For months, as my ankles swelled and my belly protruded, I suspected there was someone else. That fateful day, holding this tiny infant in my arms, I had proof of my husband’s infidelity. What followed was a year of pain so intense I could barely breathe. Fraught with bouts of depression, insecurity and doubts, I lost an enormous amount of weight, chunks of hair from my head and any faith in love. All the while my child was learning to crawl, walk and talk. True joy interlaced with true despair. Although we tried to mend what little was left, his heart was with her and we decided to divorce. Never again could I check off the single or married box: I would forever check divorced. I had lived with this false sense of security that if I did everything right, then I would be exempt from the drama I thought only happened to others. So began a new chapter in my life. I moved back to my home state of Rhode Island after 11 years in Colorado. Starting anew was terrifying. Every decision, made alone. Childhood friends now lived in different states. I was discouraged, adrift. Then one day, I sat in my car and wept: a cry so deep, so intense that I wondered if the tears would ever stop. From that same deep, once desolate place, I made a choice: to learn from the experience, to grow and live my life in the most positive way I could. The old adage became true, that everything happens for a reason. This was mine: to become the person I want to be, to live in the way that is true for me. While the past year, I had fretted over the dream that could have been, I now was choosing to imagine the life that would be. I found a job, a place to live and set off on this path, to search for meaning in my life and peace in my heart. I believe in the human spirit; that will to endure and heal. We are all faced with circumstances that can seem insurmountable. But, we heal. It’s not about what happens to us; we all have a story, it’s about what we do with it. I’m not saying this is easy. It takes incredible patience, compassion for self and support from loved ones. But we all keep going on. Life for me, now, is good. My son is thriving, I continue on my path. And, I have fallen in love. I am taking the risk, knowing that I can handle whatever comes my way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506800897791-J3NTD0MVMQ28BVNEWUGO/Portraits-15.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Squeeze by Kenneth Chabert I believe that your personal history shapes you for the moment, but you ultimately decide who and what you will become. Hold my breath, close and open my eyes, tighten that grip, and squeeze. This was the first time I shot a gun. My heart was pounding, my body drenched in sweat, my hands trembling from the pressure of the gun blast. This was the trajectory of my life before I realized there were other ideas, goals, people to meet, and ways of life. Growing up in the inner city of the Bronx, NY is the toughest situation I've had to endure. Many days I was paranoid about last night’s shooting. I would step outside, my heart pounding. I take deep breaths while I walk to the train station. But right before I cross the street, I see gang members throwing up gang signs. My mother yells from the sixth floor window, “Kenneth you forgot your bus passes.” In those days, every trip to school was a challenge, because I wore a uniform and embraced school. Part of me knew that the acceptance from my neighborhood is more important than the acceptance of teachers and serious students in my school, because they cannot help me survive in my environment. But I also knew I’m very knowledge driven, because I want to be successful when I grow up. My teachers always said, “You’re going to go far,” and “there is something special about you.” Yet every time I was told this, their words were drowned out by the overwhelming problems and dangers in my neighborhood. Straight A’s don’t matter out here; toughness is what matters out here. The neighborhood voices used to taunt me: "You're going to school?! Boring!" I always felt like I’m too tough for the nerds, and I am too smart for the gangsters. I now believe that we ultimately control our fate in life, that our personal history shapes us for the moment, but we ultimately decide who and what we will become. Nobody can stop me from becoming what I want to become, and I've refused to let my environment or anyone stop me from being “great.” Along the way I've learned to use my past and my environment as an advantage in my academic world as a student at Providence College; I've learned to embrace my unique circumstances, and use them to propel me forward. But strangely, no matter how much success I achieve, I know that it all started from my life on the streets in the Bronx. And in my world at Providence College, often it feels like the trauma starts all over again. The first time I took an exam, I relived that moment on the streets: Take a deep breath, close and open your eyes, tighten that grip, and squeeze. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801074486-DYGKI35Q2IY27NQP560R/Portraits-25.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery BALANCE by Amelia Allard - The summer I was twenty-three, I went mad. It was like something out of a textbook. I didn't need to eat or sleep. I didn't need to stop moving. I didn't need to stop talking. I ate nothing but spoonfuls of peanut butter and the occasional apple. I drank nothing but whiskey and hangover-soothing chocolate shakes. I lost thirty pounds in six weeks. I was incredibly productive, turning out story after story, essays, letters and poems. I read dozens of books and dissected them with whoever would listen, however begrudgingly. I spent money like it came pouring from the faucet and I entangled myself in an ill-advised love affair. I was brilliant and talented and vivacious. In my occasional moments of clarity I recognized that something was gravely wrong with me, but those moments were so fleeting and I felt so good, so great, so infallible that it was simple to convince myself that I'd been wrong. In short: I fell, like Alice down the rabbit-hole, into a manic episode. I was a melancholy adolescent, a difficult teen; in college, I struggled with depression, I drank to excess, missed classes, slept for days. But there were hints of what was to come: an impulsive proposal, for example, to someone I'd known a few weeks; midnight trips to the grocery store, returning home with bags and bags of food the dining hall would've gladly provided; incredibly ambitious course selections that inevitably ended in C-minuses or dropped classes. One day in late fall I woke up and realized what damage I'd done to my life. By the following summer, I had a support system, a treatment plan, and, finally, a clear view of life after madness. It took a long time to learn to live again. To find a way to be happy without mania, to be sad without depression. To be my best self. To be sane. I believe in balance. In saying no when I need to, yes when I want to, and maybe, too. In sleeping when I am tired, in eating when I am hungry, in moving even when I'd rather not. In working hard and playing hard; in talking things out and thinking things through. In solitude without loneliness; in togetherness without overwhelm. In holding on to the good and letting go of the bad. In consciously, constantly maintaining my balance. Like Alice, I have been too-large and too-small. I have been to Wonderland; I have nearly lost my head. And like Alice, I have made it back. And I am stronger and smarter and better for the journey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801116851-HQRVQVTNVWX4T98Z5GY5/Portraits-16.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Kindness by BIll MIles People call it a funny hat. But I take no offense. Because wearing it has changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. When I sport the droopy, round brim, brown leather head piece with chin strap, strangers give me a second look. Most people assume my head cover came from Australia. Perhaps a mutant cousin of the outback hat — you know, what Crocodile Dundee sports over his chiseled visage? In fact I bought it in Puerto Rico from the hat maker himself. From professors to ghetto kids, pan handlers to train conductors, absolute strangers, people with whom I normally wouldn't converse would speak to me, thanks to the hat. Some would even call me by name because I had inked it and my phone number on the inside brim. Even I felt compelled to call Nestor in Puerto Rico to convey, through translator, the impact his hat has had on my social life. A college president once told me I was “courageous” for wearing the floppy head piece. Courageous, I wonder? In the Middle East I have experienced incoming rockets and in Oceania I communed with former cannibals. And for wearing a hat, I'm courageous? Kinda makes you think... Then disaster struck. This summer in France, I respectfully doffed my hat while visiting a cathedral. Someone — during a wedding no less — made off with it. Frantic, I searched everywhere — the pews inside, garbage bins outside. For the first time ever I even entered a confessional. For that's where I'd seen kids from the wedding party fooling around. But no funny hat. For days I fell into a bare-headed funk. And then, not long before flying back from Marseilles to Boston, my daughter Arielle called from home. "Dad," she said groggy because it was 4 am in America, "some lady just called from France. About your hat. Did you lose it or something?" Turns out that the daughter-in-law of this woman was on the tour of the cathedral just when I was there. She saw the hat on a bench, thought it belonged to someone in her group, and took it for safe keeping. Six weeks later the hat appeared at my door in a shoe box enveloped in stamps — twenty-four dollars worth, give or take a centime. I believe, from my mad cap encounters, that you can be distinctive without being provocative, attractive without being fashionable, appealing without being handsome or beautiful. But more important, I believe that the world is filled with compassionate strangers, folks who will go out of their way to remedy the loss, however trivial in the grand scheme of things, of the quirky belongings of people whom they will never lay eyes on. Even a humble hat, I believe, can provide reason for trust in humanity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801143409-IJR9CFLJINBGN9A20G2L/Portraits-17.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery I Believe in Art Saints by Ana Flores I know people who’ll make courageous innovative efforts to have art in their lives. They’ll eat peanut butter for a year in order to pay off an artist month by month for a piece they’ve bought. They believe art is necessary food for their soul. As an artist, I love these kind of people, I call them art saints and this year I’ve been lucky enough to have a few in my life. Andrew, a new friend, called last summer six weeks before his second marriage to speak to my husband and me. “Friends keep asking us about a wedding registry and Megan and I’ve decided we don’t need another blender so we’d like to list your web sites as our registry. With the funds collected we’ll commission a work by each of you. What do you think?” I paused, stunned. “We’d love to create pieces for your new home and what a great idea- registering with artists instead of pottery barn!” Over the next three months fourteen friends registered and a “village” of patrons blossomed ea- ger to see the work we’d make for the unique spaces that he and Megan had designed together. Luli is another saint. “I’d rather invest in something I love rather than the stock market,”she told me as we sat in her terraced garden. She’d spent a decade transforming this overgrown hillside along the Hudson River. “I want to see one of your pieces there”. She pointed to a space be- tween two trees. “The cost of bronze is like gold these days.” I warned. She was unfazed, excited instead by the prospect of watching the sculpture grow. Unfortunately there’s not enough saints to go around for so many artists, but an art collecting idea I learned about when we lived in New Zealand might offer a template for collecting on tight budgets. While there I met the Stitchbury club, fifteen women from Auckland whose focus was contemporary three dimensional work ranging from jewelry to outdoor sculpture. Each contributed a set amount annually to their art bank. Every month - like a book group–they gathered to learn and talk. Twice a year they traveled directly to selected artists studios then voted on works to purchase. “This year we bought one big outdoor sculpture, moving it from site to site has been a grunt. But the more challenging the piece the more we seem to love it,” one of the member’s told me with a big smile. And I sensed they were loving everything they were doing: their camaraderie, artists friendships, and last but not least – living with the art as it rotated through their homes. I believe there are many innovative models for commissioning and collecting art just waiting to be planted so they can blossom, grow and feed our souls. What’s yours? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801172214-AZO64Q8X2CEIET9SBPMA/Portraits-18.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery ALL THE WAY FULL by Rebekah Ham I knew. I knew as soon as the ER doctor pulled us to a back office that the news would be bad. “Your daughter has a brain tumor.” The airlessness of that moment haunts me still. I didn’t immediately understand this meant cancer. Our daughter Grace, our red headed, cowgirl boot wearing powerhouse, had cancer. Grace, who was born just 5 years earlier at 2 lbs and had already fought her share of health battles, had cancer. We poured ourselves into Grace’s survival. Steroids, surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, more chemotherapy, needle stick after needle stick, and prescriptions too numerous to list... all when she should have been in kindergarten. We distracted ourselves from the fear and loneliness of cancer any way we could; I’m now quite accomplished at making Udderheads out of hospital gloves and singing for smiles: “You Say Goodbye, and I Say Commode.” Grace understands optimism; she knows what it takes to be glass half full. “If I never had cancer,” she would say, “I would never have met Dr. Harrison or Phlebotomist Debbie!” During one inpatient stay, Grace said, “Mommy, you’re not just half full. You’re ALL the way full.” So… all the way full I will be . . . for Grace, for her sister Fiona, for their father, for our family. I believe in all the way full. This September, Grace will be 3 years from diagnosis. She battles numerous side effects from treatment, but her MRIs have been clear. She is one of the lucky ones. This September I will join with The St. Baldrick's Foundation and 45 other cancer moms from around the country to shave our heads on a national stage. We 46 Mommas hope to raise awareness and fund a cure for pediatric cancer. Extreme? Sort of. But everything about our lives became extreme on that night in the ER. I prefer to call it: All the way full. While I have yet to meet the other mommas, I know their stories. Some, like me, have children out of treatment, some still in. And some, like Amy, Heide, Shannon, and Mimi, have children who have died. Children are not supposed to die from cancer. Children are supposed to skin their knees and swim in the ocean, blow out birthday candles and play dress up as practice for when they will one day graduate, carry a briefcase, dance Swan Lake, or have babies of their own. Children are supposed to grow up. Will shaving my head with these brave women find a cure? Someday. The longest journey begins with a single step … or, in this case, 46. Will Grace beat cancer? Yes. I believe she will. Why? Because I am ALL the way full, and because . . . what other choice do I have? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801246213-HO7XYKAF1C9ZWH58Y52F/Portraits-19.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Parents Know by Lucy Friedmann “Daddy, my tummy hurts.” There he lay with his head under the pillow and not a care in the world. And there I was, barely five years old, with my flannel nightgown all in a bunch for I was clutching my bare, aching stomach with all my might. “Daddy, my tummy hurts!” I screamed, which awoke him, startled and dazed. “Oh, well how ‘bout you go to the bathroom,” he said. I believe in listening to your parents. I cannot believe I’m actually admitting it, but I know its true. Almost every kid in the world tries to defy their parents and not take their advice. I’m one of those kids, but in the end, parents do know best. I crept down the long hallway. I wanted to go to bed, but I couldn’t until the pain was gone. I opened the bathroom door and decided that I didn’t have to go. “Daddy, I don’t have to go!” I walked into his bedroom, sat down on the bed, and stared into his face, full of sleep and drowsiness. “Then why don’t you watch T.V. for a while.” And I did. Through the next hour I watched Dragon Tales and my pains got worse. “Daddy, my tummy really hurts!” I finally announced to my father. “Lucy, are you serious or are you exaggerating, because if you’re not exaggerating, then we’ll have to take you to the hospital.” “I’m not exaggerating! DADDY, IT REALLY HURTS!” I shouted. “Then get your coat on, honey, we’re going to have to go the hospital.” So my father and I, he in his sweatpants and T-shirt and I in my nightgown, set off to the hospital, where my physician mother, who happened to be on call that night, would meet us. When we arrived at the hospital, I was rushed into see a doctor, and I got an ultrasound. They saw that my bladder was distended and I was forced to go to the bathroom. The problem was solved. My tummy did not hurt anymore. My dad had been right all along, but I did not learn much from this experience. Why just last night I was told not to play with my friend’s exacto knife, but I did and cut my finger. The reality is that we teenagers know our parents are right, but we don’t like to show them that we do. I know this because I have lived it. When I first started fencing I didn’t want to go. My parents knew I would enjoy it so they pushed me to do it and now it is my passion. Despite my constant resistance, my parents have almost always known what is best for me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801272536-0KRGYNL6076LIM50GP4K/Portraits-22.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery Hospice by Ed Martin On an early June day, I paid a visit to a dying patient who was in the late stages of ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”). As was his wish, he was cared for by his devoted wife and daughter at home, with the help of a local hospice program where I serve as chief medical officer. During my visit, the patient’s daughter gently sat on her father’s bed, opened a Father’s Day card addressed to him, and read the most personal and heartfelt message I have ever heard. She told him in great detail what a wonderful father he had been, how she had always loved and admired him, and how much he meant to her. She thanked him for everything he had done for her and let him know what an important part of her life he had been. By the time she finished, all of us in the room were moved to tears. The patient died moments later. A career in hospice care may seem like a peculiar choice to some. For me, it has been life-changing. As a hospice physician for nearly 20 years, I know from personal experience that the moments at the end of life’s journey are often the most meaningful and precious — not just for the patient, but for the family members and healthcare providers who are there to witness and share them. I have learned far more about “living” from my patients and their families than I ever imagined possible. After my visit with that patient on that early June day, I reflected on how fortunate I was that my own parents were in good health. I then thought about the Father’s Day card I recently prepared to mail to my father, on which I had written, “Have a great day. See you soon.” That card was never mailed. Instead, my Father’s Day card conveyed all of the things I had left unsaid for too many years -- how much I loved my father, how he had played such a significant role in my life, how he influenced my career choice, and how he affected my approach to patients. Inspired by my patient’s daughter, I let my father know just how wonderful a father and teacher he had been. This story is representative of the relationships that hospice physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, grief counselors, chaplains, and volunteers form with patients and their families each day. There is great reciprocity in helping individuals at the end of life. There is something to be learned from every encounter — no matter how brief -- with every family. Indeed, these encounters have changed my life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801296613-Y8SQG8DWLXXCD6ZCV6G8/Portraits-23.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery I believe in gospel music by Fiona Yonkman It’s soul food. It eats me up like flames, permeating my skin and sinking into my heart. Gospel music is painful and unguarded. It fires me up to travel the world and sing. Sing of peace...of hope...of love...of trust...of joy...of understanding. Gospel music helped me when I went through a very dark time in my life. My parents lost their jobs. My family had no house, no family nearby. Sometimes, I just wanted to escape. I didn’t understand why we had lost our jobs. At ten years old, I felt like I had lost my own livelihood. We packed most of our stuff into a storage locker. I remember looking around a bare room. There were only dust bunnies huddling in a corner to keep me company. On December 1st, we packed our remaining possessions into two lumbering cars and trundled off to Maine, leaving my new-found friends to travel away. Away... I remember that drive. I prayed that our car wouldn’t break down on the twenty-four hour journey. I remember being so confused about going to live with my grandmother. Confused at going from populated suburbia to sparse country. Confused about the sudden changes in my life. But in the midst of all that sadness, confusion, despair and fear, I found peace. Peace in music. Gospel music, specifically. Peace deeper and more plain than I can describe. The peace that passes understanding. The peace that comes from singing gospel music. I sang when I was sad and the peace the music gave me lifted me up...up...like I was going to fly. Music put a real smile on my face as opposed to the pained grimace I had become used to wearing. One particular song helped me to push through that time. It’s called “Total Praise”: You are the source of my strength, you are the strength of my life; I lift my hands in total praise to you. These words remind me that I’ll always make it through. Now, my parents have jobs as pastors of a church in Providence. But I still sing. I sing and it makes me cry. Cry because I am here and I want to tell the world that peace is the great song the Earth sings. I believe that peace can be found in the midst of strife. And that peace, that song, is deep in my very soul. So deep, it’s hard to feel it...to see it. That peace is gospel music. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1506801367276-TGBLHMQQVDJRKMOYY2MD/Portraits-24.jpg This I Believe REVEALED Gallery No Strong Belief Nat Deacon I believe that it is okay to not have any strong beliefs. Everyone has such very different beliefs that it has come to the point where I don’t care. Why in the world does everyone feel the need to tell everyone exactly what he or she thinks about everything? What I think is, if you believe in something, you should actually do something about it. I went to the Coffee Depot the other day and guess what I saw there? Thirty people blabbing about what they believe should happen. He should do that; she should do this, Obama stinks, and Obama rules on and on and on and on. Let’s think about all bad human acts. What do they all have in common? They all happened because of beliefs. Racism is a belief, sexism is a belief, homophobia is a belief, anti-Semitism is a belief - and the list just keeps on going. Entire hate groups were formed out of beliefs. People are being killed as we speak because of beliefs. Even good beliefs are often started as a reaction to bad ones. No one would need to fight for equality if people didn’t believe in inequality. Maybe if everyone just stepped back for one second, they would realize that in the scheme of things, what they believe does not matter; it is what they do that matters. Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against people who believe strongly in their cause. It is just people who do nothing about their beliefs other than talk about them that really bother me. I also think that it is okay to have regular beliefs and do nothing about them. For example, if you believe that a team is going to win a game, fine; that’s not the kind of belief I don’t like. I do, however, think it is okay to not strongly believe in anything. If everybody just dropped all of their opinions and looked at the problems of this world then it would be a lot easier to solve them and the world would be a better place. This I believe. https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-class daily 0.75 2017-09-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503088827487-OSD9GDCLJXOZ5M9LGE4N/Portraits-07+%281%29.jpg REVEALED Class I am amazed at the meaningful insights and energy children add to the REVEALED project. I was inspired to bring this project to 4th, 5th and 9th grade classes, and found new layers of excitement to my work on REVEALED that only children could generate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504538682784-K3XLR88678MWM1BE31TD/Portraits-48.jpg REVEALED Class https://www.revealedproject.com/videos-1 daily 0.75 2017-09-02 https://www.revealedproject.com/revealed-class-qa daily 0.75 2017-09-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1503088138089-VBWXHYVQLIFKW2CKVP0S/Portraits-55.jpg REVEALED Class Q&A https://www.revealedproject.com/film daily 0.75 2019-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1548961453856-LGJYVCZMY826S14G5SSI/REVEALED+DVD+Film Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1548961660936-U603RW2GDGG8CE19BW8J/Breaking+Branches+Pictures Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1548961770661-QATRF0GBNCWTE8G4GOV5/Scott+Indermaur+Portrait Film https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1548961917908-0AEZ4AQ0ESOZ5QNQA1XT/REVEALED+Crew+in+Photo+studio Film https://www.revealedproject.com/store daily 0.75 2017-09-03 https://www.revealedproject.com/store/revealed-print monthly 0.5 2017-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504615471589-1E3H3VI11SG7XZ7EMLZJ/20061007_Revealed_Tabuas_113-edit16.jpg Store - REVEALED - Print - REVEALED - Jen T. La Paloma, the dove - She is teaching me a language of love, peace, compassion, grace, imperfection and acceptance. It is a language so powerful, beautiful and expansive it creates wings in the expression and cannot be contained in a box. https://www.revealedproject.com/store/book monthly 0.5 2021-05-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504616742662-3AH570QGKV0YQVT9I01J/revealedproduct-05.jpg Store - REVEALED Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504616740505-SWKMW1W2WSPVT2HXR008/revealedproduct-02.jpg Store - REVEALED Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504616741982-1KFMUZIV4GDMT08TNHHP/revealedproduct-03.jpg Store - REVEALED Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504616742097-995PM6Q5Z0IFBA85X72X/revealedproduct-04.jpg Store - REVEALED Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/594ab9a4725e2501485adb36/1504616740510-BY6UGSVFSNY2YC6NCINV/revealedproduct-01.jpg Store - REVEALED Book