Born Into Chaos

If eyes are a window to the soul, what would we see?

Would we see wealth or oppression?

Would we see a life used as the foundation for other’s success?

Or would we see a reflection of who we are?

A child, born into chaos, floating through the ether.

We breathe the same air, and walk the same soil.

We wake up to the same sun, and stare in awe at the same starry night.

We all feel love, comfort, sadness, hope;

The chill of winter, and the warmth of spring.

But over time, we learn about hatred, intolerance.

We are taught to unravel the common threads that bind us together.

One-by-one, we cast off those who are different.

We cut the perceived blights from our collective family tree.

Burying them with our own ignorance.

And for what?

The Outer Reaches of Space

Music has always been a huge part of my life. At a young age, my mother forced me to play the piano for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I hated every minute of it. It wasn’t until I quit taking lessons 7 years later that I really started to appreciate it. These days, if I get a chance, I still like to sit down and play what I can remember, but if I could learn any new instrument, it would be the violin. It is such a passionate instrument that elicits so much emotion. Hopefully one of these days i'll be able to sit down and give it a try.

In a nondescript building nestled in downtown Salt Lake City, sits one of the world’s top violin making schools, where people from all over spend years learning the intricacies that are required to produce the instruments that in turn create the music that moves the deepest part of the soul.

I spent some time walking around, shooting some photos, watching how focused all the students were, and the level of attentiveness was mind blowing. Throughout my time there, they talked to each other, and told jokes, but when it came time to work on their violin, their gaze steadied and the conversations drifted off into the outer reaches of space.