Gourami

Mercy

Griselda's Kindsight pieces

For the past couple of months, I have been meeting with a group of high school students at the offices of Ultimate Life Living in downtown Los Angeles. It's a small group of young women, around age fifteen, who are students of my friend, teacher Alexandra Cornell. I've introduced them to the Kindsight way of connecting with the richness of everyday life around them through photography and writing together. We also talk about life, empowerment, mindfulness and understanding. The members of the Ultimate Life Living (Real Estate) team have all shared in our workshops, especially Flo White, the mother of Jim White (one of the company partners). Flo is a very hip and caring lady who shares the wisdom of her life experience with the students. The young ladies are all wonderful and special in their own ways. They are curious, attentive, present and quite intelligent. One of them, Griselda, was at first very shy about being photographed. But then, she gradually became more comfortable with being in front of the camera, enjoying and getting into it. Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised by an email from Ms. Cornell with these two Kindsight pieces done by Griselda. I remember from my own youth the profound effect that both encouragement and discouragement can have particularly at that time in life. It is so great to see Griselda embracing this project and also feeling good about herself. I hope to stay in touch through time and sense that she will have a positive, inspiring effect on others as she goes through life.