Every Twist

My hands started a journey that occurs every time an artist attempts to make the world see the vision of beauty held within the confines of their mind. The art which seems abstract to the world tells a message born from the soul. That message may allude the average mind, but the beauty that lives forever in your heart is knowing your project did not exist before the moment of its creation. For me, this was not the first Volkswagen buggy I have created from pipe cleaners, but with time, I forgot why my first buggy meant so much to me. How many times have you felt alone? How many times have you felt like a failure? How many times have you attempted to bring a dream to life that does not exist? These are questions that live in people every day.

June 4th, 2021, will always be a special day to me because it reminded me of why my first beetle was so important. That loneliness which began to consume me fell with each of my creations. With each piece, I began to realize my loneliness was not real because the people who loved me would not want the twisting of the pipe cleaners to be done with loneliness; they wanted me to make the twist with the memories of how we became friends in a world that can feel hopeless.

I was feeling like a failure only seeing what I lacked, forgetting negative emotions existed in everyone who has ever challenged themselves to be greater than the moment in which they stand, represent something more than themselves. My failures were not failures but a chance to grow to become a person who sees the beauty in challenging myself, even more importantly being able to appreciate the beauty of others seeking to challenge their limitations.

Too many times people dream of their inventions but refuse to create the thoughts afraid of the criticism of others. But as time marches forward, the regret of not believing in the beauty of your visions will always leave the question as to what could have happened if that image that lived only in your mind was brought to life with your hands.

The image of the Volkswagen beetle was the image of what lived in my mind when this journey began one week ago, but in that time, my hands twisted hundreds of pipe cleaners, cutting hundreds to . And with every twist, the memories of being homeless came to life. remembering the energy that gave me a reason to live when me and my father struggled to survive. I was twelve, when I lost my family, I lost my friends; the only one I had was my dad and we were homeless. And I can remember how when my tears began to well up, he reminded of the beauty of being able to do something like make that buggy.

The beauty that existed in that piece of art.

I took it for granted and I allowed for it to disappear. I allowed for it to be taken away and I can only wish I could bring it back to life, but now, I realize the beauty is different each time because each time there is a different array of emotions to feed off of, there is a different level of love to reach into. Each twist of those pipe cleaners brought to life the energy it took to be accepted to The Johns Hopkins University. I thought coming to a college such as this was the beauty of my situation, but in truth, the beauty came when the twisting of pipe cleaners took away the pain of being homeless. I felt the importance of what was occurring realizing that by bringing this vision to life I can inspire someone else to challenge themselves to bring their visions to life. Hopefully helping them to overcome the feeling of loneliness, feelings of failure or the fear of pursuing a dream. Imagine when the Volkswagen beetle was first created; how could they know it would be the longest selling car in history!

How beautiful is that?