SoMi Gazette

photo by notsogoodphotography

Breathing can transform your life. If you feel stressed out and overwhelmed, breathe. It will calm you and release the tensions. If you are worried about something coming up, or caught up in something that already happened, breathe. It will bring you back to the present.

If you are discouraged and have forgotten your purpose in life, breathe. It will remind you about how precious life is, and that each breath in this life is a gift you need to appreciate. Make the most of this gift. If you have too many tasks to do, or are scattered during your workday, breathe. It will help bring you into focus, to concentrate on the most important task you need to be focusing on right now.

If you are spending time with someone you love, breathe. It will allow you to be present with that person, rather than thinking about work or other things you need to do. If you are exercising, breathe. It will help you enjoy the exercise, and therefore stick with it for longer. If you are moving too fast, breathe. It will remind you to slow down, and enjoy life more. So breathe. And enjoy each moment of this life. They’re too fleeting and few to waste. -LB

Photo by daniellerose

Elephants have strong feelings. They also have great memory. They live in matriarchal societies in which strong social bonds among individuals endure for decades. Shirley and Jenny, two female elephants, were reunited after living apart for 22 years. They were brought separately to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., to live out their lives in peace, absent the abuse they had suffered in the entertainment industry. When Shirley was introduced to Jenny, there was an urgency in Jenny’s behavior. She wanted to get into the same stall with Shirley. They roared at each other, the traditional elephant greeting among friends when they reunite. Rather than being cautious and uncertain about one another, they touched through the bars separating them and remained in close contact. Their keepers were intrigued by how outgoing the elephants were. A search of records showed that Shirley and Jenny had lived together in a circus 22 years before, when Jenny was a calf and Shirley was in her 20s. They still remembered one another when they were inadvertently reunited.

So what did Picasso mean when he said that,“Good artists copy and great artists steal?”

In a perfect world, we would all be special, unique and irreplaceable. But it’s basically common knowledge that everything we do today, has already been done over and over  before. But then what defines art? What is creativity? Does originality still exist? Picasso was onto something that rings true to anyone who has ever created anything of their “own.” And this could be easily understood: A good artist will have just enough talent to replicate an idea that has already been expressed, without interjecting, without transforming or questioning the thought.

On the other hand, a great artist is one who takes that same idea and evolves with it, adding hints of his past experiences and present ones. He draws from different ideas all together and collages them in a new order that may or may not make much sense, but nonetheless, in a  manner which indelibly leaves his own impression behind. The kind that has no carbon copy.
When you hear something you like, see some thing that catches your eye, add a hint of yourself before claiming it your own. No explanations need to be given. The idea doesn’t have to progress, but therein lies the beauty of a great artist. The beauty of being able to take something that never belonged
to you, running away with it, and ultimately calling it yours.

Something that can never be done when copying, for if you don’t duplicate the idea you are imitating exactly the way it was originally produced, then, you
have failed. Emily Wattson