Often I feel like an alien that is somehow unlike what most folks view as normal. I’ve managed to infiltrate a world with my own different ideas about normalcy than most have been accustomed to. Yet I know we are each alive with hopes, dreams, and ideas floating in space that form stories that need to be told.
But what is normal and what is fantasy? Where do the lines intersect? What is the path we are meant to walk? Why must we walk it? Often we are searching for answers to life we do not yet have. Possibly this journey is needed for us to gain knowledge we do not yet possess. Sometimes the answer is simply because we have to in order to tell a story that desperately needs to be told.
I do not know the answers for others as both questions and answers are so different for each of us. The stores we carry are varied, valued, timeless, and endless. Each of those stories molds the person we are, and consciously or not, guides the path on which we travel.
The path to the door of the Ivory Tower I need to follow is one paved by swirls of authors from science and the creators of art. My heroes are many with inspiration coming from both ends of the spectrum. I know that I need to be the butterfly fluttering what seems to be aimlessly about causing microcosms of currents of chaos in the Ivory Tower. I fear for the future of our planet and the glaringly ugly present in which we live. I feel I need to take action! Use what I know, somehow creatively, to work toward raising awareness and positive change.
Merriam-Webster Definition of the ivory tower. 1: an impractical often escapist attitude marked by aloof lack of concern with or interest in practical matters or urgent problems. 2: a secluded place that affords the means of treating practical issues with an impractical often escapist attitude especially: a place of learning.
The Ivory Tower of Science – where science minds talk to science minds.
My world revolves around the Tower doorstep where I can be immersed in the wonders of science with so many unanswered questions. There are numerous fragments of unspoke words and elusive thoughts flittering about my mind. A breadcrumb that I’d followed led me to where I am. The Universe somehow back in 2008 captured my attention long enough for me to fill in the blanks and enroll in college. Something I’d wanted to pursue in high school but was told I could not. Females are just not worth educating as they are to get married and raise children. So having done that it was back to school!
Baby steps as they may often seem to me, I am enjoying my path of learning and conservation photography and educational solo exhibits. My goal of adding books to accompany my exhibits is the top of my 2020 goals. I dare not be too confident just yet. Mixing laughter, science, raising awareness of species, promoting conservation, and changing Worldviews is not a trivial task! I still believe the Universe will toss a breadcrumb my way as it always has. There is a path I must follow and follow I will!
