#here we collide collective

For this week’s Collective, we wanted to hear about what you use to express yourself creatively. Today’s featured submitter uses drawing not only for creative expression but also for comfort.

blindgurl72:

Drawing/Doodling is just something I do, no matter what mood I’m in. It’s a way for me to feel free and to have complete control. Rules do not exist, so I draw whatever is on my mind. Sometimes I love it, hate it, or am just completely confused by it. Well, whatever is, having a pen in my hand puts me in a place of comfort.

Do you ever hear your emotions in music? Today’s featured Collective submitter does when playing acoustic guitar.

violet–journey:

This week’s Here We Collide Collective asked: What tools do you use you express yourself? Tell about your creative process.

I tend to use two different tools of expression equally. First, is my acoustic guitar. I love using my guitar to express my emotions because nothing can really compare to hearing your emotions. Writing what you’re feeling can be therapeutic, but hearing your emotions is beautiful.

My second tool of expression is my journal. I like to write about important things and what I’m currently feeling. I love being able to look back at a certain day and being able to relive memories or remind myself of special days.

Today’s featured Collective submission talks about photography as a creative medium. What do you use to express your creativity?

effortlessly:

So, this is my camera. Well, my former baby to be exact. Since then we’ve grown up a bit, upgraded. It seems that a camera is one of the best ways I can find to express myself, you may do it differently though. I like to take photos though, show them off to others and share what memories I have. I express myself through photos, through editing them and putting them up for everyone to see. I don’t really think there is a greater, nor more fun, way of expressing yourself. It’s good too, you can hide yourself behind this giant black object and behind the computer to edit them. But since then I’ve come out of my shell a lot. I’m not afraid to jump out from behind the camera and say “yes, this is me, and this is my work”. I wouldn’t trade the way I express myself..

A flickr user's Reflections of Amsterdam album features pictures of the city’s reflections in puddles. How can you see your home in a different way?

Today’s featured Collective submission shows how something as simple as string can be used to express one’s creativity.

adventuresofachildlikewonder:

I have some time on my hands so I thought I would submit to the Here We Collide Collective this week.

Lately I’ve been finding myself expressing my thoughts through string art. This started as a simple craft found on Pinterest (see the Ohio String Art I made over the summer) but, I just found so much joy in turning a simple piece of string into something incredible that I became addicted.

I was inspired to do a heart for my mom for her birthday. It didn’t turn out exactly right so I used a piece of string to form the word “love” next to the heart. This sort of became my own creation from the blog instructions I was following.

Then I wanted to challenge myself. So I decided to make an elephant for my sister. And more hearts. And more love.

Sometimes I find myself looking at a blank slate (whether that’s a piece of wood or a wall) and dreaming how I could make it different or beautiful. String Art has been my answer to that. I found the white walls in my apartment to be boring and empty, so I built a few string art designs on the walls to make them more creative. I used the word “adventure” in my living room because it’s my favorite word and reminds me of all the great adventures I’ve had lately.

Honestly, this is exactly how I think. I’m a writer and an entrepreneur.  I draw sometimes and I carry around a writing pad to sketch out designs or simply just spit out words onto paper. But string art gives me the opportunity to just put nails on something and use string to connect the different points. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it, but sometimes I just like to turn the music up and make something beautiful.

It’s just string to some people. And it looks easy to most people. But it’s a way to express myself and take those lingering thoughts and ideas to create something tangible.

And that’s how I express myself.

P.S.

I sell these and do custom designs through etsy.

www.etsy.com/Shop/StringITs

Today’s featured Collective submission shows us that creativity doesn’t always have to spring from huge and elaborate setups. Sometimes it can be as simple as music and a pen.

in-wonderland-blame-the-nargles:

I don’t know if you can see it but my notebook which is one of many, my computer showing itunes because of music and a pen because i love to write.

My creative  process i have to have a pen a paper by me at all times because just this random thought for a great story or a poem comes to me during random times. I literally have 6 different notebooks full of random stories and ideas. 

Music helps me write it puts me in a mood I want my character t be in or my song. It’s something that blocks things out so I can just write for fun. 

It’s amazing how our face can help tell our stories, where we’ve been and where we hope to go. This week’s Collective is asking for your creative shadow self-portrait. How can you express yourself through just a shadow? 

venezetvoyez:

silhouette 

Today’s featured Collective submission is a shadow on water. Even the pictures we don’t mean to take can capture beauty and our personalities.

braelynn:

Me walking along the lake, my camera accidentally went off. Yet this picture truly shows who i am; its blurred at the edges, like the shadow itself doesn’t know where it ends and the rest of the world begins, it just knows to keep on moving forward, through the rain, and the cloudy sky, just keep moving forward, and hoping that the sun will shine through…

This week, the Collective is calling for a unique series of self-portraits. Today’s featured submission shows we can make shadows with our friends, but these friends bring light into our lives.

blindgurl72:

Found this pic from last year of my best friend and I taking pics at the beach…I know the theme is “shadow self portraits”, but to be completely honest, when I’m with my friends, I am more myself, than I ever could imagine.

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." 

– Mark Twain

viaBuzznet

This week, we wanted to see how you express your self-portrait through shadows. Check out today’s simple and honest featured submission.

blundainte:

This weeks ‘Here We Collide Collective’ - Shadow self-portrait.

TheBlack Cloud art project, by Carlos Amorales, features dark clouds on walls made up of tens of thousands of black butterflies. It shows us how sometimes things seem dark, ominous, and overwhelming, but in reality are often more tender and beautiful than first thought.

This week, we wanted to hear about your favorite experiences at HEAVY AND LIGHT. It was an event where people were able to find community – if they came alone, they didn’t leave feeling alone. 

missingserenity:

Here We Collide Collective: HEAVY AND LIGHT

This week, we want to talk about HEAVY AND LIGHT. Did you go to a HEAVY AND LIGHT show? Send us a photo of your favorite moment and tell us about your experience at the show.

When I first found out that TWLOHA was bringing Heavy And Light on the road and would be making a stop in Philadelphia,I knew that no matter what I would do anything and everything to be one of the people that attended. When the time came to buy tickets I was a bit bummed that I couldn’t find anyone I knew that could attend with me as it seemed that everyone had something that made it impossible for them to go.However I made the decision to go anyway and that turned out to be one of the best things I could have done.The concert was during the most perfect time in my life as I was once again at one of the lowest if not the lowest point in my life and with my personal battles with the laundry list of obstacles I have been faced with.The concert was not only amazing and inspiring as itself but more importantly it reaffirmed that I have a purpose in life and that in the end all the obstacles will only make me stronger and a better person.I actually left in tears and completely emotionally drained but with the biggest smile on my face because it felt like the concert was exactly how I needed it to be.And when Jamie came on stage I instantly started to shake because I was seeing the person that helped create something that has been such a big part of my life and one of the biggest sources of support during hard times other than family and friends. I hope that TWLOHA is able to once again back HEAVY And Light on the road because that will be a once in a lifetime experience come true again.

Today’s featured Collective submission offers an interesting perspective of how HEAVY AND LIGHT felt from the stage.

the-adventuring-wanderer:

I’ve always loved concerts and being in that atmosphere. I’ve always loved how alive it makes you feel, and how united everyone is. I’ve always experienced it from the audience’s perspective - coming alive in the music.

But through Bryce Avary of the Rocket Summer, I was blessed with the opportunity of experiencing a different perspective - coming alive in the audience and their joy. I was able to share the stage briefly with Bryce, and that moment was so eye opening. The feeling of being on stage in front of those eager people was absolutely electrifying. And I realized in that moment, we are a family. We all gathered - musicians and audience alike - to spread a message of hope and rescue.

At some concerts, you can feel so separated from the bands. But at Heavy and Light, EVERYONE was united. For a few sweet hours, I felt like everyone around me understood.

I’m so thankful for being able to experience the rush of being on stage, and coming alive with the crowd. Heavy and Light was life changing. Thank you.

For this week’s Collective, we’re asking people to share their favorite moment from a HEAVY AND LIGHT show. That favorite moment can be just a feeling – the feeling that we are alive and hope is real. 

entrahelife:

Heavy and Light fell in the perfect moment. Four friends I got tickets for Christmas and counted down to our trip from Chattanooga to Nashville. Six days before the show, I got news that my aunt had three stage IV, inoperable brain tumors. The night of the Nashville show, family flew in from across the country back home to Ohio and spent time together, some praying for the first time in years. My heart was torn between returning to my family in the first time I ever truly missed them and going to this show I was so excited about. After much internal debate, it was decided that the idea of Heavy and Light could not have been a more perfect theme and the setting was what my heart needed. We skipped our last classes on Friday and headed to Nashville, even getting a speeding ticket on the way. We waited outside in the cold for well over and hour and eventually the show started. Songs and honesty and questions met with grace followed. The feeling of being in a room of people with a common desire for honesty in the midst of confusion and community in the midst of pain did more for my heart than I expected. Heavy and Light was amazing, but the effect it had the in days to come carried much more weight. We spent the next days exploring Nashville and Franklin. Something about being in a new city with people I deeply love brought my heart joy. We didn’t all know each other too well before we left, but we returned as friends. Walking through downtown Franklin, I began to feel a release. In the midst, of the confusion and fear of this situation with my aunt, this weekend was a simple reminder that life goes on and there is beauty in the darkest of times. That was the first time I felt alive again in quite some time. The drive home was filled with a much deeper level of conversation. We talked about why we love TWLOHA and what it means to truly love Jesus radically and how that radicalism is simply an exaggeration of grace and love in all situations. We talked about our stories and our struggles and what makes us come alive.

Heavy and Light was an amazing night, but the freedom to struggle and be honest that followed the next day was, by far, the greatest take away.

Here We Collide Collective.

The website “Is it going to be ok?” features photos of people saying yes, everything will be fine. It’s a great pick-me-up site for whenever you need a little extra encouragement.