N8
Alena Nicholson
N8
N8 Alena Nicholson
A Note from Nathan, I believe we all have energy flowing through us, through the world. If you claim to be living and growing, you have a soul. We all have an identity that, with balance between selfishness and selflessness, can change and grow. I have been blessed with quickly understanding who I am and what spiritual energetic elements make up my soul. Though this does not mean I am better or worse than anyone else. We are all on this earth for a reason, and within certain stages of our lives, we can recognize lessons that develop the soul throughout this lifetime. This project, photographed by Alena Nicholson, looks into the different parts of my soul. We both met previously, when we attended Culver Academies, in Culver, Indiana. Although we graduated a year apart, we now currently attend Bath Spa University together in Bath, England. Alena asked if she could create a visual narrative, exploring my complex soul. I am learning that I am a rather intricate being as I spend more time with myself. These images Alena has taken show two specific parts of me that come through virtually everyday. The Twins, “N8” and “N-finity”, are two major pieces of my soul amongst five others. Although not a twin myself, I feel great connection with my Gemini Sun sign. I cannot believe that every horoscope relates to each section it was written for. But I do believe that the Zodiac can give us clues as to who we are supposed to be or what lessons we should focus on in our lives. You could think of the Zodiac as political parties for the soul. If your soul tends to agree with many of the characteristics of a sign, you will be born in the appropriate month. And there are always the other planets to hint that you are not a pure Aries, Scorpio, and so forth. But say you aren’t really into politics, and then your soul may be just as much one sign as you are another. Or a third common possibility is when a soul does not lean toward any Zodiac sign, in which the traits of your sign do not resonate with you. Alena has done an excellent job of capturing two parts of my soul, two that are daily influences in my life. Nfinity can be seen as the soul that displays her bright yellow hair and absurdly high heels and N8 dressing impeccably with a scarf that can be worn by both twins. Essentially, they are both parts of my identity. They make up my everyday personality but never overrule my life. Nfinity holds much of my confidence and is wary of strangers, while N8 is constantly inspired and is the artist in me and is also rather accepting and embracing of new friends. These twin parts of my soul help me cover and see the values of both sides of nearly every situation of life. These two characters are rather dramatic in appearance and I am not one or the other everyday, I am equally both and more. This is why I won’t really be a drag queen or just an artist, because I have identified and embraced multiple aspects of my soul. And I hope someday in the future, all souls will have the chance to truly reflect to the world how they look and feel inside, regardless of the appearance of other souls.
Š 2016 Alena Nicholson all rights reserved