Week 17: Me & The Elements (Member Photos)
“Everybody has a little bit of the sun and moon in them. Everybody has a little bit of man, woman, and animal in them. Darks and lights in them. Everyone is part of a connected cosmic system. Part earth and sea, wind and fire, with some salt and dust swimming in them. We have a universe within ourselves that mimics the universe outside. None of us are just black or white, or never wrong and always right. No one. No one exists without polarities. Everybody has good and bad forces working with them, against them, and within them. PART SUN AND MOON by Suzy Kassem” ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
Tina Huba - I chose wind for my element. I've always felt calmed by the wind and closer to God with the wind blowing around me and through me.
Manjula Prabhu - Elemental Me | Fire | I knew I was a fire sign and when I took the quiz, the results were just what I expected. I believe in mystical powers but refuse to be tied down to "A" particular thought. Due to this I have always avoided reading up about zodiac signs or astrology or any daily predictions that keep cropping up on my computer from time to time. Today I decided to give it a shot and see what exactly are the qualities of a Fire sign. I was surprised by what I read. It described me to a "T". It said I am always on the look out for exiting things that make me light up, prone to sudden illuminating flashes of insight and bursts of enthusiasm. Like fire itself, I can flare up when inspired (or when i am upset :P), making me very passionate about life. I often feel frustrated by mundane chores and duties. Furthermore, I am known to be intuitive, and rely on gut-level instincts. I am flexible, adaptable and thrive on change. My swift changeability allows me to see life from many different perspectives. And another characteristic being my restless nature I am not sure what to make of it, except it describes this Sagittarian perfectly.
Jen Ostler - FIRE. I build them, I've fought them, I watch them for hours. As I've gotten older, my hair has darkened from age or hard water... but it used to be so red that I had some friends call me "Fuego". I can still find that color in my bathroom light.
Cai Vail - Elemental Me /// Water// I knew water was my element; I was wholly unsurprised to get ‘water’ in the quiz, and I’m a Scorpio, which is a water sign. But to be honest, I’m not sure I connected all that much to water as an element. I live on the coast, literally a stone’s throw from sea water; I grew up collecting hermit crabs in a bucket on the black marbled sand flats of Cape Cod. But I’ve always connected much, much more with the woods, the earth. I had another idea for water, but this week I’ve been too busy between a teething and weaning toddler and a building a team for a big shoot soon, so I kept it simple. While editing, it hit me, that this was actually perfect. Night weaning has been tough for us. My son has been inconsolable for nights on end, his screams echoing through the apartment building, his strong little limbs flailing against my attempts to comfort and console him. My mantra these nights, and in every trying moment for the past few months, has been this: “What is soft is strong.” It’s from a passage by Lao Tzu and has helped remind me to keep my touch tender, my voice calm, my breathe deep, steadfast and strong against the tightening of stress and anxiety. The whole passage reads:“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” - Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching
Emily Ingalls - Elemental Me | Fire After reading the description of fire, I can see where I fit into it. A\astrology charts say fire elements are passionate, intuitive, and rely a lot on gut-instincts. As a Leo, I all under the Fire sign.I've gotten out of and have avoided bad situations by using gut instincts. People always asked how I knew, and I always responded, 'I don't know. I just did.' My passion can be a negative as well as positive. Sometimes my passion drives me so far, I get tunnel vision. I've been burned, but I fight my way back to where I want to be.In Chinese thought, Fire is associated with strength, persistence, restlessness, creativity, warmth, aggression, and impatience. I get restless when I'm not doing something, learning, or moving forward toward a goal. And I'm definitely not known for my patience."The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses." ~ Edith Sodergran
Tausha Coates - Earth
Erica Lehnert - The Element I know I am is Earth. Always been told I was a serene individual. I went to school to become a yoga instructor and it was obvious that the instructor on our final exam that I was a Kapha (ayurveda) and a very calm person and she felt it when I spoke. Admitted to a lead photographer on my last wedding that I was super nervous because it was my first with the company and she said "REALLY?? You would never have known." I do believe it's how I come across to people too very often.
Kortney Fox - "Elemental ME - Earth" I have always felt connected to the earth. Once I read the description of being an "Earth Element" it could not have described me more perfectly. I am calm, practical, and hard-working. I rely on consistency, I do not like change, though I know it needs to happen. I am in-tune with my senses and a natural creator. "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter."- Rachel CarsonAs soon as the faintest glimmer of warm weather graces us with her presence, my energy changes. I begin to burst at the seems, unable to contain my excitement. Though I love the snow, nothing beats running barefooted through the yard, feeling the dirt between my toes and the tall grasses brushing against my legs while fresh drops of rain begin to fall.
Dana Overman - Element... Water... I had what felt like a million ideas and finally chose water as my element. I see water as life, refreshing, renewing, restoring. This particular image represents the many times I spent crying in the shower... the one place no one could see me cry. I had a hard time choosing among a couple of images but decided to be bold and choose what I felt was likely the most risky one - the one that most strongly spoke to me.
Lynette Davis - Elemental Me “Absence is to love what {wind}is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great.” ― Roger de Bussy-Rabutin
