My personal mantra has evolved into an artistic philosophy: I feel the impact of simultaneous breaking and blooming, both within myself and in the world around me. The systems we’ve built, both societal and internal, slowly erode over time. What begins as small, unnoticed cracks eventually becomes undeniable—pebbles turning into chunks of stone that threaten to crumble everything we as a people have carefully constructed over time. When the breaking becomes apparent, it’s easy to give up, to lie down in the wreckage. But if you sit with it and don’t let it be the end, you might find beauty in the ruins. Like the art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with golden lacquer, the damage becomes a part of the new whole. The scars remain, but a different, stronger beauty emerges. And before you know it, what was once a desolate place is now blooming, as you notice determined vines and flowers poking through cracks and desperately reaching toward the sun. I propose a digital storytelling workshop that uses photo, creative writing, and personal stories to explore this concept of breaking and blooming, finding or making hope in the seemingly hopeless. This workshop, which I led first with youth in the Rio Grande Valley—a region along the Texas-Mexico border where many are currently feeling justifiably fearful and despaired—helps participants find hope even in the most hopeless of times. I’d love to share this experience working with youth of the Texas borderlands, then guiding the AATE community through a condensed version of the same exercise.
