Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Lessons from the Past


Reliving some "glory days" from our trip to France and Estonia from Summer 2005, when I was still in high school. It was the summer I became a vegetarian! Right before this trip, I picked up a million free pamphlets from PETA at the Warped Tour, and read them right before a huge BBQ rib dinner my Dad made the night before our trip. I was never the same. I spent the two weeks we were travelling trying to decide if I had the will-power to call myself a vegetarian and really live it out with conviction…but by the end, I realized it had already chosen me, and what was done was done. I haven’t wanted meat since.

The whole trip I was also obsessed with capturing the beauty I saw, and most of the photographs I took couldn’t even compare to the real-life. For us, this trip was especially meaningful because it was the first time my brother and I had ever seen Estonia, where my grandmother grew up and narrowly escaped during World War 2 to eventually meet my grandfather in Germany before they returned to America. Estonia is where I got my name, and I am a third generation Kaia in my family. 

It's amazing to look back and see not only who I was, but traces of who I've become so far, and who I am still becoming. When I took these photo, I was just using my natural eye, and following my heart. I didn't know how to edit, and the beauty for me was in the memory. Now, the memory is coming to life as I'm able to see it in a new light, and see my old self in a new light as well. Tracing through these photographs, I remember every moment; where we were, what we were doing, how I felt…and that impresses me! So grateful that a few of these shots turned out to be gems. Here they are for you to enjoy also!






See more on my flickr page.



You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD Numbers 15:39