Watching Toy Story for the first time was one of the definitive moments of my life. It not only introduced me to the power of good storytelling, but it also introduced me to Pixar Animation Studios. What's significant about this is that Pixar has been one of my most crucial sources of inspiration/influence, because everything about them has captivated me and my creative self. Pixar's been the face of the ideal life I would love to have: a place that was all about creating, where I could give of my ideas and skills to make a final product that could be seen by thousands and impact thousands. I've always been a kid with loads of imagination, maybe too much if you ask me; I always found myself caught in daydreams of whatever my mind was thinking of at the time, and the ideas kept coming. Since drawing was my means of translating my imagination, it was my go to medium; I still have a collection of sketchbooks and notebooks from school that are filled with the vast majority of my childhood's visual development. In these books you'll find lots of concepts about space, whether it was planets and what they would look like, alien races and their way of living, all sorts of transport ships and the like, etc. In some others you'd find lots of concepts about superheroes (you could see Marvel's influence all over these), and in a few others more designs and concepts about secret agents, Ghostbuster knockoffs, and my take on the spiritual warfare between angels and demons. When I looks back at all this stuff, it's easy to see that I invested a lot of time into every new project; 99% of the content is designs of characters, environments, resources, tools, weapons, etc. All I ever did was try and make my own versions of things I saw and was inspired by; another in depth analysis shows me that despite all my work coming up with a diverse collection of people and places, I never could give them a story to call home, a setting for them to live in. My creativity could only go so far, and before I knew it, I'd close that project and start another until I ran out of ideas for that one. Things changed for me when I was introduced to the Academy of Art University; my dad heard about these small courses being offered to high school students, and he felt like it could be a great opportunity for me to take my creativity to the next level. So for 3 years, every spring I would take my Saturday mornings and afternoons and attend these courses, where I got to learn from people that lived what they taught; it was a fountain of knowledge, and I was taking in everything I could. Before I knew it I was one semester away from being in a position where scholarships were in my grasp; I was that much closer to realizing my dream of working for the most influential studio of my life. But that's when my Father stepped in and called me back into the mission field; so instead of taking that final class I went on a 2 month mission trip to the north island of New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. There He did His thing and not only showed me a taste of the glory, saw what it tastes like, but He also introduced me to something I had never seen before: Hillsong International Leadership College. It totally caught my attention, and upon my return I had a new option in my hands; it would be a life changing decision, regardless of what direction I chose. I felt called to go to the land down under, so I did (the couple hundred posts of this blog are just some of my experiences from that), and now I'm back home with another life changing decision on my hands: what to do next. The 3 years of ministry training I finished several weeks ago gave me the kind of skills, values, and wisdom that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, but what I didn't realize was that it also gave me the spiritual strength I would need to live in our world. God showed me that HILC was His way of preparing me so that I could handle the "real world", one that God isn't the center of; if I ended up going to this art university straight out of high school, I would have been wrecked. I love how sometimes He likes to show off that His plans are higher than my own.
So where does that leave me now? Well, the time has come for me to revisit the original dream. The plan is simple: to make 2013 a year of preparation so that 2014 would mark the beginning of my new chapter of studying. My dream is the same, but thanks to my years at Hillsong, the packaging of this dream looks different. I want to study the art of creating, the ability to take an idea or concept and building a story. I believe that the world of Christian media needs to get past the stereotype, overly cheesy way of bringing a message and start making stories and movies that will reach out to the rest of the world. I want to be part of projects that share the heart of Christ, but are presented in a way that everyone can enjoy, instead of being exclusive to the church. I know that it'll be a long journey, but it will be worth it. Charles Muntz said it pretty well:
"Adventure is out there!"
And I'm pretty keen on going on a little adventure.
Valentine's Day. Oh boy. You know, this particular time of the year hasn't really been a big deal for me, in like EVER. I can only think of two times I've actually done something to celebrate this day. First time was in 8th grade, where I came up with the idea of getting a little something for every person in my class, because they weren't just classmate but family. Since I was a nerd of a lower caliber back then,I kept it nice and simple: valentines fashioned after the Incredibles (still one of my favorite movies of all time); it was a big deal for me to do that, and I'm sure it was appreciated by my peers. The other time was some years ago when I was talking to a girl and things were going well; to be honest I'm not even sure what I did, but obviously it was a bigger deal the second time around. Other than that, this day's never carried any level of significance to me. The past three years of being in college, I got to be an eyewitness to the realization of the phrase "Love is in the air." I cannot tell you how many relationship notifications I've seen, let alone the ones that evolved into engagement notification, marriage notifications, and even offspring notifications! I lost count a few months ago, but let's face it: when you're in a healthy, positive, and God-filled environment like a Bible college, it's bound to happen to people every now and then (much more common now, apparently). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a day where two people that genuinely care for each other can go above the standard to express their love and appreciation for their significant other, but when you're in a position like mine where you just don't have a reason to celebrate it, the chances of you spending your Valentine's Day with a cheesecake in one hand and in the other a remote pointing to a screen playing your favorite romantic dramadies can get pretty up there (In case you wanted to know what's on my movie list it's Definitely, Maybe, Wall-E, Up, Just Friends, and The Avengers [Marvel Studio's way of saying they love me, don't hate] #themoreyouknow). The point I'm trying to make is that even though I don't necessarily have someone overly special to celebrate Valentine's Day with, I can show love and appreciation for the people that are in my life. My family's top of the list; I wouldn't be nearly this awesome if it wasn't for them. Friends I've made that have become family, because they have shown me the true value of friendship (they would be among my first picks if I ever needed to form a Fellowship of the Ring, a superhero all-star team, or a zombie apocalypse resistance group). And of course, the true All Father. I'm glad to have a heavenly dad looking out for me as I try to figure out this thing called life; I've managed to go this far without a particular companion, but I'm certainly not in a rush to find one. For this time, He is enough to give me what I need. So for all you people in my life that might not have a significant other to share in the joy of this extremely red and pink, heart-shaped holiday, don't worry because life is good regardless of our relationship statuses. And for those in my life who do have boyfriends/girlfriends, fiancees, husbands/wives: just keep pressing on. Enjoy what you've got, and trust in the love you have; it's powerful stuff.
