Best Of Week: Born Into Brothels

This week, we watched Born Into Brothels, a documentary about the children living in the Red Light District in India. I was not surprised to have been seriously moved and impacted by not only the film, but specifically the children featured in it.

Being a very big fan of documentaries, I have seen many over the past couple of years, but something about this film was different. Going into the film, I expected it to reveal the lives and daily struggles the children faced as a result of living in brothels, an overall depressing film.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, while the documentary did focus on some key aspects of the children's struggles and adversities living in the brothels, it seemed to revolve most around the positive aspect in the children's lives, the thing that made them happy and gave them an escape from the brutal lives they were living- photography.

Because of this, the audience truly got to experience what each child was like, their personality, and how they were when they were happy, away from the turmoil and troubles of the brothel. It is here that I identified with the children, where anyone identified with the children.

These children are truly an inspiration. Seeing them get so excited and happy to just take pictures and mentally escape the slums of India makes me realize the things I have and take for granted. These children have so little, the things that bring joy to them, like taking pictures and going to the beach, they utilize to the fullest potential, which to me should be a lesson in life.

Connection: Great Minds Think Alike- Andrea Barrett and Georgia O'Keeffe

         This past summer, I took a vacation to Arizona with my mom and sister to visit my family in Arizona. While there, we decided last minute to take a road trip from Scottsdale to Santa Fe, New Mexico to explore it in all of its beauty.

          One of the greatest things I did while there for those two days was visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I have always been one for the arts, and specifically enjoy museums more than the average teenager. Hadn't really knowing much about her as an artist, or as a person for that matter, I took this as an opportunity to truly delve into her life as an artist and individual.

          While there, I felt like I truly learned O'Keeffe's ways as an artist. Much like Barrett, O'Keeffe found her inspiration from the things around her. She would paint what she saw, never going into it having a vision in mind. O'Keeffe eventually traveled to Santa Fe in search of inspiration. There, she backpacked to various locations in SF, particularly desserts and mountains, taking only essentials, camping at certain spots for extended periods of time-all along the way never really having a "plan" in place. Once she would see something she liked, she would start painting. This was all for her art.

          As discussed in The Sea of Information, Barrett describes how she does not really have a sense of where a piece is headed. When she begins a piece, she just naturally lets her mind write, letting it take her wherever. Barrett shares this extremely vital characteristic with O'Keeffe.

In addition, Barrett and O'Keeffe get their inspiration from history and science. As stated, O'Keeffe traveled to nation landmarks and state parks to paint them, for example the Pedernal Mountains. Although O'Keeffe was in no way a historian, she traveled to these places to enhance her ability as an artist. Barrett, a fiction author, describes how she read a book on Tuberculosis and admits she did not know why she was even reading it, yet it inspired her to create new things. These women show how venturing out to try new things can only lead to success, even if it isn't exactly what you're looking for.

         Both these women's ability to create without a plan adds to their creative ability because it allows their imagination to expand, and fully takeover. It allows them to take any path they choose when creating their art, and encourages divergent thinking. Both have an unlimited possibility of outcomes for their projects because of their creative thinking.

       
     

Captured Thought: Noticing the Sounds

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                                  what if we could communicate without actually talking, like telepathy? 

How would that affect the world around us?

The sounds.

Without all of the noise from people talking, you could truly hear the sounds of nature, everything happening around us.

Everything you heard before, but now listen to.

Because, when you think about it, there's a difference.

With the added quiet from telepathy, your hearing would be amplified.

You would hear all of the beauty in the "*silence*".

You would take notice  in the little things.

Which really aren't so little after all.

Like your neighbor mowing their lawn

And the clitter-clatter of your dog's nails scraping the sidewalk

The silence would reveal the beauty of sound in our world

It was always there, you just didn't notice it.

Perhaps it would cause a change in us? Make use realize?                                         

-->Instead of listening to other people so much, maybe we would begin to listen to  our world.

I don't believe it takes something this extreme for us to take notice of the beauty in nature and the sounds in our world. We are so often consumed by our thoughts and communicating with other people, we don't stop and just listen. But, when you do, you'll notice that the noises all around you are infinite and euphonic. Stop and listen. I think we'd all be surprised.

:)

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