Dear Roxy

Dear Roxy,

What an honor it is to be the recipient of such kind words! I am truly humbled.

I will say this not to brown-nose, but I think you are a very talented photographer. You have a beautiful way of seeing the world. I believe that this is one of the most wonderful and unique gifts we all share as humans beings - our capacity to inspire and be inspired by others. You and I probably share a somewhat similar way of perceiving some aspects of human relationships since we were both born and raised in the East, then somehow found ourselves maneuvering as adults in the West. Sometimes, I cannot help but think how lonely and isolating individualism is. Issues of personal space and emotional guardedness are foreign to me (are they to you, too?) because of where I was raised. I mean, in Manila, you always see people everywhere at any given hour. You are really never alone except in a bathroom cubicle. And since that is all we know, it has been so ingrained in us that it is not bothersome at all. I think sometimes, sadly, individualism gets in the way of touching something real... feeling something genuine and pure... Everything is suddenly so... separate.

(Sigh. I just made myself miss everyone in Manila..)

But I digress. My point is that when people reach out to me from out of the blue like you did, I get elated. It reminds me that it still exists - people touching people in the littlest, most non-self-conscious ways. It reminds me that those slivers of raw human emotion that I access here and there are also alive in others. It may not be something I see everyday, but it doesn't mean it's not out there.

Thank you for the day's high, Roxy. :)

Namaste,

Trish