KIRA-KIRA

キラ キラ k i ra – k i ra part-memoir, part-children’s story by nicole cortez

this is a story about a girl, named kira.

she has lived in the city for most of her life.

kira is named after the Japanese word, kira-kira, which means ‘glittering’. (the word is used to describe things that appear shallow and translucent at the surface, but have so much wonders within – such as the sky and the ocean.)

kira longs for places with less concrete walls, less noise, less sharp edges. she longs for fresh air, unblocked skies, and the kind of light that isn’t fluorescent. the city is her home - and yet: her heart is always elsewhere.

kira likes going to the countryside for therapy. it is how she grows: by devouring the world with her eyes, and then documenting every intake on the closest piece of paper she could find. (when there is no paper, she takes photographs.)

one day, she went on a trip that changed her.

the trip made her sad and mad. but above all, it made her realize a lot – some things good; some bad.

let’s go over the bad things first, shall we?

kira was sad because she realized there is so much beauty demanding to be noticed, and not enough who like to really look.

kira was sad because every one seems to be living in the fast lane these days, and no one takes time anymore to stop and smell the flowers.

let alone take time to look at a mushroom, just because.

kira was sad because the church was empty when she visited it.

she wondered if it’s because god isn’t real after all, or just that god’s “followers” weren’t brave enough to get to know him better.

‌or maybe it’s because the people got his message wrong: they focused more on the glory of the gold, than the glory of their god.

kira was mad because the rivers and seas are drying up, and only a few people actually care.

kira was mad because while the seas are drying up, the “bees� are sprouting up.

she was mad because when you say moon and leaf, people don’t really think anymore of a moon, as in luna, and leaf, as in plant. they think of milktea.

but the trip wasn’t all that bad. there were good things, too.

kira realized there are still so much good amid all the bad. that doesn’t mean we should forget the bad; it just means we need to learn to appreciate better.

kira learned how to appreciate good art.

…and how to capture good art in good light.

…and how to capture light, in general.

kira met total strangers - who she eventually became friends with.

kira realized there are still stars at night after all, just not in the city where she lived.

kira realized she could catch a star, if only she believed.

‌and so we need to use less manmade light, so we don’t pollute the sky and see stars even when they are billion light years too far.

kira realized there is much hope, so long as in some parts of the river the water rages still.

kira was thankful for the sun, which never tires of washing the world alive with its light, ‌even when people suffer from terrible hangover or lack of sleep.

‌and so it’s important to do our part, while we are still here, in saving the only earth we will ever have.

but, how do we do that?

kira realized we just need to fight for something — anything in this world — that makes our lives

kira-kira

be it our families and loved ones,

our jobs and life passions,

the country – and the many ways in which we serve it,

or even something as mystifying as our faith,

for in the end, what truly matters is that we step up the fight—

— to be brave enough to go out of our pit holes, and into the light.

it’s the reason this world progressed, after all.

末尾 end

キラ キラ k ira –k ira text & photos © nicole cortez

in partial fulfilment of art studies 141 (photography as art) under prof. may datuin | first semester, AY 2014-2015