Micaela Jones

Painting by Drew Brophy God made the sea. In it, He put fish, whales & porpoises. But He even put the smallest things in it, Like the plankton. Without it, the fish would die And there’d be no fish. Without the fish, the whales would die, too. The porpoises, three. Without them, humans cease. If there be no whales & porpoises in the sea, There’d be no movement. The winds could cause waves to roar Once, twice or thrice. But storms are not forever. They only come once in a while per year. “That isn’t enough!” Mother Nature says. It isn’t the wind that only causes movements Upon the seas. It is the creatures that glide & flip Through the water. Or, float. Without them, the oceans would be still And dead. All of life wouldn’t exist. Neither would joy nor destruction.

We always have this question inside ourselves: who am I? What is my purpose? My destiny? We always question these things. They are the questions we need to answer ourselves. We have many options to choose from. There are many paths to take to reach our destinies. We only need to decide for ourselves where we want to be in the future. Become like the arrow--confident, doubtless and brave after being released by the bowstring, knowing where to go, where you're destined to be.

In a world covered by a mist of darkness, there are those who shun, ignore, persecute and mock others who perform acts of good & kindness. But, what they don't realize is the truth behind the good. Light comes forth through the good that is done by those who have love & kindness in their hearts. Once the light shines upon those who do good, we are able to clear the mists and see the truth for ourselves. We can distinguish the light from the dark, the good from the evil.

Inspired by the story of Pinocchio, young human boys become cursed & condemned to slavery as donkeys working for a cruel & selfish coachman after falling for one of his clever, cunning tricks. Alone & miserable, these poor donkeys long for liberty from this cruel master. But, how would they succeed in freeing themselves without being placed back into his hands after so many failed attempts to do so? Not only would they be alone in this hellish misery, but they would also be bearing it with a beautiful young woman also trapped in unpaid debt to the horrible coachman. Through kindness & affection that she stroked upon the young donkeys, they look up to her as their second mother as they had no one to love & care for them. Through support, both the woman and the donkeys bear each other's burdens and dream of hope for the end of their ordeals.

Out of admiration for one of my favorite science fiction shows  Babylon 5,  I had recently completed a fan art drawing. In the series, there are two different characters who have experienced a significant change through a single instrument. One character, a Minbari ambassador named Delenn, undergoes a transformation using the device called the triluminary and becomes a half-human to bring union between her world, Minbar, and the other, Earth. Another character, a human named Jeffrey Sinclair, appearing throughout season 1 as the station's commander and later as a recurring character in seasons 2 & 3, becomes a half Minbari to fulfill his destiny as Valen, one of Minbar's most prominent figures. The truth behind the connection between the two characters is not only were they allies and friends on Babylon 5,  but it's also discovered that Sinclair was an ancestor of Delenn, thus leading to the conclusion that Delenn and other numerous Minbari descended of Valen/Sincla...

The biggest highlight of my summers as a teenage girl was always the Young Women's camp in northern California. Thanks to the love and care that my leaders have used to make it a welcoming place, Young Women's camp was always where anyone could develop their growth in any way—physically, mentally, emotionally and, most importantly, spiritually. How each of the girls and I had our growing experiences wasn't only through the talks and the spiritual thoughts that our leaders shared with us as we sat at the fire. It was also the activities that were offered for us to do in our spare time. There were service projects, personal progress goals, and of course, the daily chores that each ward was assigned to do, such as cleaning the bathrooms. There were also physical activities that I believed benefited our spiritual growths—swimming, hiking, ropes course, archery, and BB gun shooting. The one physical activity I enjoyed the most was archery.          ...