In Retrospect

In Retrospect I have learned a lot! I have learned some tools that appear to be essential to functioning in this world in the direction it is going. I came to this class, knowing I was too young to just resign myself to feeling unempowered in a technological world, and just saying:"Go on without me world. I had things I wanted to say, and stories I wanted to tell, and gifts I wanted to contribute...but everything has gotten way too technological for me...so I'll just retreat to my garden, and the crafts of my hands, making delicious smelling beeswax candles, and salves from herbs I have grown or wildcrafted, and paint murals for my grandchildren...I'll look for my land and my horses...you go on without me world". I decided one day that I would say YES to the world as it is. Accepting it on its own terms. It may not be the one of my preferences, but I will come out of my denial and resistance, and do my best to pick up the skills with which to communicate some of what lives in my heart-in this time and place! And I enrolled in this DMF class. I may not be good at it yet, and I may find myself challenged...but I also realize that this is something that young people are putting untold hours in to. They do it for fun, for relaxing, for messing around, for curiosity, and to play and entertain themselves...I may never become as proficient as them, because I prefer the natural world...but I am on my way to being able to communicate effectively using this medium...I will explore video production next term, as I am not clear how I want to tell my stories...but I know that the tools we have been given in DMF will be valuable. I wish we could have had the photoshop part, then the In Design part, and the Bridge and website creation divided into three terms, so I could really feel comfortable with the tools, and not so skimming across the top... but now I know what to explore further- or just "mess around with, till I get the hang of it".