Eleutheromania

Eleutheromania (n.) – Origin: Greek – Definition: An intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”
― Nelson Mandela

As I watch the world, the people of the world, the events of the world ...  

                                I turn back time ….

                                                I jump into the future …

                                                         the
 
        repetition … the same story again and again …

                                                                                                Why?

We think that in the world today...                                                         
                                            only the countries

                that we hear the most about .... 

    are the ones we should think about the most........
                                                   in fact...

even now...                                                  
                            there are ...   
                                             women
                                                children
                                                       men
being 
   abused, censored, trafficked, 
                               beaten, violated, oppressed,  
 
                      terrorized, corrupted, 

              and .... on .... and ..... on ....... into 
                      
                          infinity                               and


I ask again
 
 
 
                    why?

                                         “Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.”

― Bob Marley

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
― Charlotte Brontë

“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
― Stephen King

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
― Jim Morrison

“Freedom lies in being bold.”
― Robert Frost

The 57 nations in that world that aren’t free.  The 10 most censored countries.  The least free places on earth. Democracy in crisis. Top 3 countries. The state of the world.

Freedom: Roth; Pat; shantanu; Elizabeth; Riya; tatiana; sadje; Eleanor; James; Francisco; themouse; 

Morii

Morii (noun) Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows | The desire to capture a fleeting experience.

The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.  – Eminem

“A happening was looming. It was out there somewhere beyond the regular enclosed life that I had been living. It was out there, not waiting, but existing. Being. Perhaps it was only slightly wondering if I would come to it.”
― Markus Zusak

“If we only take a hard look at the facts of life, we will know that, really, nothing is in our hands – not even our hands are in our hands. Just try to hold your hand with your hand and you will know the reality. Really, nothing is in our power. Then what is the meaning of saying ”I” and ”me” and ”mine”? Here everything is happening, and happening together. It is an organic arrangement, an organic whole.”
― Osho

Fleeting – Anushk; Caeli; Pauli; MeRaw; Al; Soye; River; Jennie; LA; paean; shivani; abigail

Exulansis

Exulansis (noun) The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because others are unable to relate to it.

This is true of almost every place you will ever go.  You cannot put into words the experience you had in a different country.  You cannot find the right words to explain the sounds, smells, tastes, the beauty, the sorrow, or the joy of a place because there were just too many ideas from each portion of your time there.  The chaos, the silence, the life of the people who live there.  So much like every other place and yet so different from every other place.  Specifically so different from my own experiences growing up in the U.S. and yet still sort of exactly like every experience I have ever had growing up in the U.S.

I have taken some amazing photos of many different places in the world.  My friends and family love looking at them, but often cannot even imagine what it was actually like.  I’m always a little surprised because when I live in or visit a different country, I see what I know.  I see families eking out a life and a living.  I see the rich and the poor, the politics, and the criminals.  I also sometimes cannot imagine me being in some of the places I have been. Even when I am actually there.  It will sometimes cross my mind how strange it is that I am just walking down a street in Lagos, or Kathmandu, or Caracas, or.. or .. or.  It’s sort of like an out of body experience at times.  If I feel that way, how can others even relate to the experience?

If an average day in a foreign country experience is difficult to explain, imagine how much more difficult it would be to try and explain going through a not average day in a foreign country.  People wandering aimlessly through the streets.  The heartbreak and the true chaos. The confusion and the trying to find assistance for the injured.  It’s something that even now I struggle to put into words.  It’s surreal.  The pictures can show an aspect of the experience but not the recurring tremors.  The “lost”ness that so many felt and very possibly still feel today after so many years. Even more important was discovering the immense strength of a nation’s people.  I will never be able to fully explain it and I will never be able to ever forget it.

experiences: LU; carmen; aprilgrey; esoteric; kaushal; jim; joan; kuntala; renx; exile; pattimoed; jaya; Rebecca; Aakriti

Vemödalen

 (noun) Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows | The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist.

“The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist — the same sunset, the same waterfall — which can turn a unique subject into something hollow and pulpy and cheap.”

ETYMOLOGY: From the Swedish word vemod which means “tender sadness, pensive melancholy” and then combined with Vemdalen, the name of a Swedish town. Swedish place names are the source of IKEA’s product names — the original metaphor for this idea was that these clichéd photos are a kind of prefabricated furniture that you happen to have built yourself.

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” — Henri Cartier-Bresson

Kathmandu,NepalCape Town S.A from helicopter

Famous Places: Lookoom; Danee; Sidd; pedmar; marta; streets; sarah; crossings; littlemiss; PCOS; roberta; Salsa; Monkeystale