•7:37 AM
When I was sixteen, I spent my spare time either looking for the least traditional prom dress possible or trying to prove how smart/cool I was by reading a lot of Hermann Hesse and Ayn Rand. Most teenagers I have known have been similarly preoccupied, differing only in their definition of 'cool' and the group of peers they are trying to impress.
Imagine my delight and wonder yesterday to find a sixteen-year-old not caught up in the trivialities of appearance and acceptance. Ava Lowery is a homeschooled girl from Alabama who spends her spare time working on her informative and heartbreaking blog, www.peacetakescourage.com. There are many anti-war web logs featuring news stories the networks are tired of covering and astute commentary thereon. Mother Jones's website, for example, this month features "Iraq 101," an excellent Cliff's Notes-style article on the particulars of the War in Iraq--highly recommended.
But what sets Ava apart (other than her age) are her homemade videos, featuring tragic photos she has pulled together from all over the web and assembled in professional and affecting fashion. Only 30 seconds of one of her more famous animations, WWJD, was enough to reduce me to a puddle of despair. But I find I don't want to sit and wring my hands any longer. I want to DO something.
Ava Lowery's pieces are not for the faint of heart or for young eyes, in my opinion. But the rest of us would do well to watch a few, then look into our hearts, get together and talk, and discover what we can do to Stop. The. Insanity.
2 comments:
There aren't any nice sunny windows to be found on my house sooo... I can often be found sitting in my car on sunny winter mornings (for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour –or more if I bring my scriptures or homework). I park in the driveway with the window cracked open strategically. I try to get as much sunlight in as possible while blocking as much of the 20-degree breezes as possible. Especially if I sit in the passenger's seat and lean a certain way, with the sun on my face... – My neighbors think I am really weird! I have to be very careful that there are no lights or anything on in the car though...dead batteries are no fun in the snow! If the sun isn't to be found, most of the time I force a smile until it takes hold. –My kids think that is really weird too! But we each do what we need to do to keep going.
whhoops.. I left that under the wrong post ... duh!! I think I have fewer active brain cells in the winter as well! -C