Nicole Dominique

[perrfectly]

[postitforward]

Hey, Tumblr.

Today is May 1. The first day of Mental Health Month. This entire month we want to nudge all of you to celebrate triumphs, acknowledge struggles, and just come together. Let other people know they’re not alone. Feel less alone yourself. It’s what Post it Forward is all about.

One of the incredible ways you—all of you—have helped shape Tumblr is with your ability to be open and honest.  It was you that turned this platform into a community, one based on genuine expression, creativity, and acceptance.

Neat. How can I participate?

Glad you asked! Each week, for all four weeks, we’ll be giving you ideas for ways to Post it Forward.

Week 1—Post it for you: How you practice self-care and personal well-being.

Week 2—Post it for each other: Ways you can be there for each other.

Week 3—Post it for reflection: Sharing stories of personal growth and development.

Week 4—Post it for the future: Committing to continuous reflection and improvement.

This week is all about posting for you. Acts of self-care. Here are some places to start:

Post an emoji spell for self-care and positivity. 🌈 🔮 💕 🌱

Share a photo or GIF of something that calms you down. Don’t have one? Here’s one.

What’s the one thing that always cheers you up? Post a photo of it, take a GIF, or illustrate it. Toss a sticker on it, if you’d like.

Never forget that you are valid! Post a selfie with “valid” sticker (see below).

Make a list of things you like about yourself.

Make a checklist of 5 acts of self-care you promise to do for yourself this week.

Make an audio post with a song that helps you zone out and re-energize.

Don’t forget to tag all your posts with #postitforward this month! It makes it easier for everyone to find each other’s contributions.

What else?

We’ve asked our pal Tumblrbot (@tumblrbot) to help out with any extra encouragement you might need. Try sending them messages like “tell me about Mental Health Month” or “what’s this week’s prompt?” Tumblrbot will let you know what’s up, because Tumblrbot is a friend to all of us.

We got Answer Times, all of them taking place right here on Post it Forward unless indicated otherwise:

5/4—Utkarsh Ambudkar, NAMI (@namiorg) ambassador, Pitch Perfect actor, and member of hip-hop improv group, Freestyle Love Supreme.

5/8—AJ Mendez Brooks, NAMI (@namiorg) ambassador, former pro wrestler, and author of Crazy Is My Superpower, a memoir about her experiences with bipolar disorder.

5/9—Brittany Snow and Courtney Knowles, co-founders of Love is Louder, from their official blog (@loveislouderofficial).

5/10—Kelly Williams Brown, New York Times best-selling author, from her official blog (@adulting).

5/15—Cynthia Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s mother and co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation.

5/16—Shannon Beveridge (@now-this-is-living), 25-year-old YouTube star. She’ll be partnering with It Gets Better (@itgetsbetterproject).

5/23—The creators of #TheBlackout movement, from their official blog (@theblackoutofficial).

5/25—Anna Akana, YouTuber, writer, director, and activist, from her official blog (@annaakana).

5/26—Mental health advocates Patrick and Amy Kennedy.

We even have some limited edition stickers ready for you in the Tumblr app right now:

<3 Tumblr

[coral]

[nitsuainphilly-deactivated20221]

[untrustyou]

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© Ian Fisher

[dappledwithshadow]

I think it’s worth mentioning that these are oil paintings, not photoshopped pictures. This guy is amazing, check him out. 

[hoppip]

[nicoledominiquelisten]

“Healing through Hiking” - A Documentary

The ‘John Muir’ quotes in this documentary are gathered from the following websources (in this order):

http://www.wildernessproject.org/wilderness_quotes.php

http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/favorite_quotations.aspx

[softwaring]

[smokine]

[rosesinaglass]

[kissedbythevoid]

[worldes]

[we-love-rain]

[nicoledominiquelisten]

Here is my second rough draft for my documentary “Healing through Hiking”. I sub-titled this a ‘directional draft’ because this draft acts as more of a personal note-taking draft than an official or established rough copy. It is a draft that will provide me direction throughout the week as I add/remove clips and play with the scenes of my project. In fact, I would consider my first rough draft to be more grounded than this one (the concept is solidly present). My second rough draft’s intention is simply this: to act as a free space for new ideas; clip insertions; breaks/pauses; and textual display within my documentary. Throughout the week, when I return to this second draft, I will recall where exactly I felt moments of weakness or strength in my film. I plan to re-do my narration to create a stronger voice as well as to re-write spoken lines. Conclusively, I want my documentary to portray hiking as a ‘healing’ experience: one that moves away from the intensities of our tech-savvy roles as citizens and into a primitive place surrounded by more peaceful roots.

Because this documentary is over 3 minutes long (I predict that my final doc. will be longer than 3 minutes), I would credit myself points for this portion of the grading. I have 2 image modes (panning shots/stationary shots/on-location). Next, I believe I do need to work on the narrative structure of my film. I think the inspiring feeling behind the notion of ‘hiking’ is present within the documentary; however, I want to focus more on the overwhelming feeling of a technological/political/chaotic presences within the doc. For example, the scene in which I am watching the news is an example of the ‘noise’ or ‘media’ that is a part of our daily lives. I would like to add more scenes like this, such as being on an iPhone, scrolling through political or commercial media. Or a scene in which I am watching television, flipping through channels, as political debates and reality TV series pass on-screen. This will be the ‘conflict’ of my doc. while the ‘resolution’ (the ‘healing’) will be ‘hiking’ itself. The natural world silences the ‘noise’ of the technological/media/man-made world.

For now, I would grade myself with a B or B+. I believe I have the components necessary to finish my documentary, but re-writing and re-editing (as well as adding/removing clips) will be necessary to create the most effective outcome where my doc’s message(s) comes across.

[nicoledominiquelisten]

Muesam Visit and Metaphors

My documentary's concept "Healing through Hiking" (a documentary that travels beyond the stresses of our everyday technological world into one rooted in the restoration of nature) feels metaphorically divided among the following artworks: Kara Walker's "no world" (2010), Francisco Infante-Arana's "Artefact Cycle: Wanderings of a Square" (1977), and Elena Gritsenko's "Landscape" (1976). In the first artwork ("no world"), it is important to state that there is a lack of color in this piece. The black-and-white/grey-and-white tones represent, or equal, the technological stresses of our current world within my documentary. Even the physical depiction within the piece itself speaks to the structure of our contemporary society. Two larger-than-life hands control a water-bound ship - not even the sea itself touches the boat's bottom surface. From my perspective, I find that this represents my documentary's purpose for "healing". Like hands emerging from the ocean, grasping at our feet, sometimes the speed and routine of our lives strips us of experiencing or touching what is most natural to our bodies: the outside world. The two following artworks metaphorically speak to the "hiking" portion of my documentary. Infante-arana's interesting and refreshing piece - one that consists of cut-up squares of sky pressed over dark waters - captures the complex perspective one can have towards nature. No perspective is concretely similar. Some may see the sky as less meaningful than the waters; some may see this the other way around. And that is part of the beauty of outdoor exploration and discovery. Gritsenko's "Landscape" is the ending peace, final tranquility, and abundance of greens within my documentary. The lovely calming half-circular/brush-stroked shapes within her painting depict serenity and a sense of calm. Her use of colors range from a delicate light green to dandelion yellow to perhaps sea-green and charged purple. The colors that she selects reflects the finish of my documentary. We release our tensions, thoughts, nervousness, and pressures when we are away from civilization; in return, nature offers us some new meditative feeling of breath when we return to our lives after its experience.

[wextersix]