Jennifer M Lima

I also submitted a few photographs to be displayed in a gallery in Broward County….fingers crossed 🙂

As most of you know, I replied to a call for submissions for the renowned Miami Dade College’s Arts and Literature Magazine and submitted a few photographs for the 2009 issue.

Well….I just heard back and out of the 4 I submitted they choose 3 for the magazine!!! I’m soooo excited to have my work published. Don’t get me wrong, as a freelance journalist I’ve had photos published before but they always accompanied an article of some sort. This time, these photos, are my art.

They represent the way I see the world…through my looking glass.

Woo hoo, I’m officially a college graduate. I have to say, it feels awesome especially since it’s taken me FOREVER to finish my A.A. That’s besides the point now, what matters is that I’m done.

So, taking my mothers’ advice I’m applying to a few universities because maybe it is better that I have my B.A. from a university as apposed to a tech school. Either way, I’m applying to them all and lets see where I get in and weigh my options then.

I mean, given that I keep changing my mind, it may be in my best interest to just continue the plan I had INITIALLY. Which was to continue studying communications and decide later what to specialize in, especially since the School of Communications offers such a broad array of fields. I could focus on print, advertising, public relations and even marketing.

I applied already so now I sit and wait….

For the past decade or so all I’ve wanted was to be a writer. It seems that somewhere along the way being a writer meant I HAD to be a Journalist and now that I’m graduating from MDC I find that road much less desirable. Not that I don’t want to write. I’ll always write, for god sake I starting writing poems, stories and journals at age 10. That won’t change…but I’m not sooo in love with the idea of being a reporter or journalist or news for that matter.

These thoughts started around December of last year and have gotten so much more intense. Kind of like can’t breathe from the idea of being stuck in that career forever! So, I’ve decided to let that goal sink and more on to what will hopefully be greener pastures. Well…once i figure out what my next goal will be that is. Of course.

Right now, at this very moment, I’m thinking I’ll take a photography course in the summer…for fun. Maybe a design class too…graphic design that is. Work with the programs a bit. I mean, I never saw myself as a computer kind of person outside of typing on one but hey, you never know.
 
One thing is for sure, I need to submit my application to A.I. or I won’t be studying anything any time soon.

I appear within seconds,
And just like that I’m gone.
I leave destruction where ever I go,
Nothing but emptiness and debris in my trail.

In the blink of an eye,
I can uproot your houses
And shatter your worlds.
All with the whirl of my winds.

I’m more dangerous than a hurricane,
And stronger than an earthquake.
My casualties break records,
And my name strikes fear in your hearts.

I’ve always been drawn to photography, ironically more as someone who works with words, a writer. I’ve always found it intriguing to be able to tell a story though a photograph…to skip the words I see, speak and write so often and aim directly for the soul with an image. Photojournalism is a full combination of all the things I love about words and photographs cleverly intertwined.

I officially started studying photography in high school, but never took any college courses. Not because I did not want to, but because my school made it difficult to take them without changing my major and I could not bear to skip my creative writing courses 🙂

I’m still figuring out what kind of photographer I am, so for now I shoot whatever catches my eye. Below I posted a few photos I took during a recent trip to Los Angeles. These photos have also been submitted for my one of MDC’s annual Arts and Literature Magazines. **Fingers Crossed**

Bright Nights

Guitar Dreams

LA Speed

Miles Away

(I’d love some feedback)

❤ Jenn

My  Professore di Italiano made a good point in class the other day that left me thinking…He said that the world has become so hi-tech that we, as humans, have forgotten what it feels like to have basic contact with each other. You can see it in restaurants, movie theatres or even walking down the street. We tend to shy away from each other, using the "strangers" line as an excuse to avoid any kind of a connection.

If you stop and think, when was the last time you went to the movies and didn’t leave an empty seat between yourself and the unknown person next to you?

It seems that with every new development or "app" on the web on for our cell phones, the more one-on-one contact we lose with each other. Not only with people we don’t know, but with our loved ones as well. It’s like people have completely forgotten what the world was like before cellphones. How we communicated with each other.The new generation refers to that time or way of life as "living under a rock". Like anything before the early 90’s was a barbaric way of living. The horror! How could be miss a call or worse a text message!?

As we advance more and more technologically, things like newspapers are slowly losing their merits. The more onlines interaction and facility we have, the less hands on seems to matter. People don’t even buy and read books anymore…they download it directly into their iPods. Wow. Is this something we really want? To forget how to interact with each other?

Well…is it???

Faith is a knowing that resides deep in your soul. No matter what religion you believe in or what you question in life, there is always one thing that you always seem to have an endless amount of faith in. Whether it’s another persons’ love, yourself or something greater than us all. Faith is still present.

As someone who has known quite a bit of loss in her life, I’ve always found that feeling at the very deepest part of my soul to be the best comfort. My faith lies in knowing that someone is always watching over me. This is something that I’ve never lost, not even through the darkest times of my turbulent teens.

I suppose I owe this feeling to my mom, for an answer she gave a curious child who asked about death. It was around the time my Great-grandmother passed away, I asked my mom where she went and she told me that even though people die and I can’t see them anymore they are ALWAYS with you. She said that they’d watch over me as I slept. So, naturally, I believed her without doubt and took her answer literally. I used to think that their souls ACTUALLY slept on the floor next to my bed every night. This belief, made the loss I experienced in my childhood a little easier to accept.

I know that many children take answers that adults give very literal, but even as adult, I’m grateful to have had something to wrap my mind around that helped take away my tears. Now, at 22, when I lose a loved one I find comfort in knowing that a part of them is ALWAYS with me as a part of me is ALWAYS with them.

Everyone needs to find their faith, no matter what it is that comforts them. Faith can heal and give you hope. So, find your faith…you’ll know it by the feeling.

As an aspiring journalist in Miami it was only natural that I stumbled into the fashion world as a wide-eyed writer in early 2005.
Now, four years later, it’s one of my favorite times of the year. As it approaches, starting next week, I find myself day dreaming of the white tents…walking in 4 inch heals on the beach…and the new styles.

I’m doing my research on the designers I don’t recognize, as always trying to be one step ahead. So stay tuned for the updates!

People always say that throughout your life, everyone has several major changing points, milestones if you will. I’ve always heard about it, but I never felt a change in me until now.

It is the strangest thing to approach the exact same situations with a whole new outlook. It’s a new perspective in every way. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like me, I’m just different now. A bit more confident, I feel more determined and have stopped second guessing myself for the first time in my life. It’s funny too because even as my habit to question myself kicks in, I automatically reject it. No doubts.

With this new revelation within myself and my upcoming graduation from MDC, I’ve decided to go to Art School instead of a regular university. I mean, I’ll still write, after all it is something I love. But I’ve always been drawn to the arts as a whole. I have a soft spot for Photography and Interior Design so you never know. So, I figured I could get a BFA and not just a BA.

It’s nice to feel this secure with myself, to be honest I was feeling rather lost not too long ago. As if I had lost touch with myself, with the essence of me. Now, I’m ready to do with my life whatever I feel is right for me and see where it takes me.