RTW: From My Eyes to Your Eyes

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.


This Week's Topic:

Share some images that inspire your WIP(s).

I've always been a highly visual person. Whenever I study for a test, I have to make tests for myself to take, then make note cards of the things I missed, draw diagrams of the material (even though it might just be vocabulary), and on top of all of that, I draw pictures of my notes. How? Well, I don't know. I just do. It happens. Anyway, I have to admit that I do draw inspiration from images for my WIPs. Here are a few!

The first image is of Mobile Bay from a pier in Fairhope. It's so beautiful and makes me want to write about life on the water, and whenever I look at it, I feel at peace. It's nice fodder for my often crazed brain.

The second image is one I took from my back porch. The pecan trees frame the night sky and the tiny crescent moon. Quite lovely. It's one of the images that sparked my foray into my Science Fiction WIP. I'm always looking at the sky, whether it's during the day or at night when the moon and the stars are looking back at me. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have my camera so I can attempt to capture the feelings of freedom and longing that I get in those moments when I feel like I might float away.

When I graduated from high school, I was lucky enough to be able to go on a trip to the gorgeous British Virgin Islands with my family. I don't remember exactly where I took this picture (but according to the time stamp, I know for sure when it was taken.) I do recall how I felt when I did take it though. I felt so small and insignificant in comparison to this gnarled old tree that loomed over me. I was hot, probably tired, and it shielded me from the overbearing sun, while still allowing light through its foliage. The light that resulted reminded me of Heaven. I can't explain it better than that. In many of my WIPs, I mention trees and this is partly because I have a strong connection to trees and nature. When I was growing up, my parents could always find me in a tree when it came time for dinner. I was raised to appreciate the outdoors, to hunt, to love trees, to enjoy nature, to see the beauty in creation. I can't stop loving trees any more than I can stop breathing. Wow, I said 'trees' a lot. Good thing I love them.

I think that one common thread in these images has to deal with their relation to my heritage. I'm a member of a family with deep ties to all things Southern, and I've lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life, so perhaps I take some things for granted, like living on the beach. But when the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill happened last summer, my pristine world was sullied. These hands represent the hardworking people who pitched in to return the coast to its former condition and to save the endangered wildlife, and in a bigger sense, they represent the best in all of us. The oil does double-duty also as itself and the darkness in the world that we can't seem to escape. It's just important that we keep trying despite being covered in it. Many of my WIPs deal with this theme. Man, I get chills just looking at that picture, don't y'all?