I have been feeling so tired the last couple of weeks.
So mentally and sort of physically drained.
I have a lot of photos and little memories from the last few weeks that I want to share on the Journal… from my would-be-wedding-weekend camping trip to a fun shoot with Gabby in the jungle and experimental photos with my new prime lens… I’ll be randomly uploading as I settle back in to myself, and will try my best to get updated even though I feel so dreary.
On another note, I just watched 13th, the documentary on Netflix, and I literally cried. Learning about the injustices and the hidden targeted racism in America has opened my eyes to new perspectives on the #BlackLivesMatter movement. I’ve always been in support of active listening when it comes to stories from people of color, and it is so great to see people coming together to support and amplify them. I truly hope the world moves forward from this.
I took this photo earlier this evening of birds flying together back inland from the ocean, and thought it was pretty with the gradient of the sky and the cloud in the back peeking through.
It’s graduation season on island, and last night Gabby made a pale for her cousin whose graduation was this morning, and she (re)taught me how to make a tī ula.
And here’s Officer Scruffles, sniffing the keu Gabby made for me to take home.
Pacific Roots Open Mic #16 went virtual! Amidst the global coronavirus pandemic and attention on the troubling realities for people of color, the month of May was also mental health awareness month. Mental Health was the theme selected for PROM #16, to raise awareness of mental health issues and empower the young adults of American Samoa.
Here’s the link to the virtual PROM that premiered on YouTube on Sunday:
Traci and Ano put together a beautifully worded explanation in the YouTube description box, and I highly recommend you read it, watch the video, and listen to what each artist has to share. They were all so incredibly brave and vulnerable.
Here are some photos from the ‘watch party’, counting down to the live premiere of the first virtual PROM.
Thanks to Ano, Traci, Gabby, Ian, Jude, Sam, and Charity for a great night.
Professional headshots for my dear friend, Charity.
She recently got accepted to a new job doing Education Policy for a non-profit in the city of Memphis, Tennessee! Somehow during this crazy COVID pandemic, Charity found the job listing, applied and interviewed, and won them over. Charity is a hardworking Samoan woman who is driven to make positive change, and her new employers are lucky to have her. If you know Charity at all, you’d know that education policy is where her passion lies, and I’m so excited to see her going for it. I’ll miss our lunch dates and beach hangs when she eventually flies off to Memphis, but till then, we’ll cheers and celebrate with some aulelei headshots we did with my amateur studio setup in the living room!
Mix of phone snaps and camera photos from back in April.
This was an emotionally funky day for me. We filled a bag with blankets, books, chips and dips, fresh cold niu and a pelu to crack it open.
My bearded ex-boyfriend (chill, he’s my fiance and I love him to bits) took me on a little drive to get out of the house. I may have been stir crazy from quarantining for so long, but I think it was also because I was bottling up some sad feelings about our upcoming (at the time) anniversary, which would have been our wedding this year. But that’s okkkk…
We drove as far east as the road would take us, and on the way back, found this unassuming shoreline just beside the main road with short coconut trees lining the beach. We read and relaxed for a little bit, and watched the gray squall in the distance approaching us slowly. We jumped back in the truck and drove off just in time for the rain to pour. It was just what I needed.
