A Look at Nature From the Inside Out

Isaac Jubran

I have identified my participant. He is my friend, Fernando Garcia. He is an 18 year old male. We are meeting in person, as he is at my house right now. I have asked my participant, Fernando, to take 3 images. He provided me with these three images and a paragraph for each image.

Fernando Garcia’s Statement 1

To me, this image means “flow.” I look at this picture and I see waves that flow. Waves are such a beautiful part of this environment, but they symbolize something much more beautiful. The waves symbolize the calm flowing lifestyle that is so important for health and the environment. Whenever I am stressed, I take a walk on the beach because it is so calming hearing the waves crash against each other and the wind flow against my ears. This picture means so much more than a beach to me; it is a lifestyle.

Isaac Jubran’s Reflection 1

Fernando sees mental health as a very important aspect of his life, and getting out in nature is one way he tends to this. I can see this due to the first sentence, where he sums up the picture with the word “flow.” Similarly, getting out in nature helps his life flow. Fernando is very concerned with the idea of spending time out in nature, as it is scientifically proven that it boosts dopamine for humans to be walking near water. My participant’s content reveals to me that mental health is very important to him.

Fernando Garcia’s Statement 2

I chose the picture because of the way the sun looks in the sky, as it looks like there is a line in the sky that divides the sun from the rest of it. The sun brings light to the rest of the world and life to the environment. To me, this means that the environment is so important for my health, and it gives me life. Just like how the sun gives the plants life, the sun and this picture lights me up. The dopamine I get from going to the beach recharges me, and that is why I want to eventually buy a house on the beach.

Isaac Jubran’s Reflection 2

Fernando sees being out in nature not just important to his mental health, but also important to his physical health. He compares himself to a plant who gets life from sunlight. This tells me that he is very concerned with the environment around him, like plants, animals and their habitats. Some ideas that my participant expresses via the content he provided me are putting the health of our environment before production anything. He continues to talk about nature and his mental/physical health, and this shows how much he values it. In the picture, I see a sunset with orange and blue flooding the sky. This just shows how much he values nature’s beauty.

Fernando Garcia’s Statement 3

I took this picture when I went to the zoo, and it is of two sea otters, stuck in an enclosure, swimming together. Although it just looks like two sea otters, to me it is so much more. It symbolizes how animals in our environment come together as one to bring each other joy. I feel like our environment should do the same and help out each other more. Although they are stuck in an enclosure, they are holding hands, swimming together and having fun. Sometimes I feel like we should take a page out of animals’ books and just have fun. That is why this picture holds so much meaning to me.

Isaac Jubran’s Reflection 3

This picture is just a beautiful image of two sea otters, but it tells a story. It shows that Fernando values relationships and friendships, and he definitely cares about love. He is there for his loved ones and I can see this by how he included this picture. The sea otters look to be twisting together almost holding hands. Fernando cares about the lives of animals and definitely does not support the idea of animal abuse. He reveals that animals are very important to him, and this makes sense because he lives on a farm. He also values family very much, as this picture just supports togetherness and love.

Reoccurring Theme

Throughout Fernando’s pictures I can see a reoccurring theme of love. Whether this is love for himself (mentally and physically), love for the environment, or love for others, Fernando’s pictures depict his love.

With the first picture, Fernando showed a picture of a sunrise and the waves flowing in the air. He talked about how seeing this helped him with stress, as it is scientifically proven that humans get dopamine by looking at water like the ocean. This showed how he wants to put himself first by caring about his mental health, and nature is a good way of helping him do that.

With the next picture, Fernando showed a beautiful sunset with an array of colors. This showed how much he cared about the himself physically, as he said that he feels renewed when looking at sunsets just as a plant gets life from the sun. This is a beautiful way to describe it, and it helps me see how much Fernando loves himself and the environment.

Lastly, the last picture of two sea otters entangled together shows Fernando’s love for others, whether this be family members or animals. Just like the sea otters stick together while they are stuck in a sanctuary at the Jacksonville Zoo, Fernando looks to his loved ones to help him during tough times. This picture spoke to me, as he could have included any other one, but he chose this one. This just shows how much he values relationship with humans and animals.

Connection to Module

I can connect Fernando’s pictures and my reflections to Module 3, “Native Artists Use Works to Spark Environmental Awareness,” which is a link that talks about environmentalism through dance and art. Similar to the way Fernando values nature, these four Native Americans are using their talents to serve a better purpose and spread light on the environment. According to ictnews.org, “Four incredibly talented Native multi-media artists and performers, representing different communities, use their contemporary art forms to create narratives and interpretations meant to usher an awareness of environmental and social issues into their performances.” One example is a dancer who has a dance called “Walking at the Edge of Water,” and she does this to show the importance of water and the oceans. Fernando’s pictures show a similar theme which is the importance of the environment, and he adds the element of the importance of health.

Works Cited

https://ictnews.org/archive/native-artists-use-works-to-spark-environmental-awareness