July 17th 2025

Shoutout to Artists Eyes for this amazing photo reference! I chose this photo because of the color scheme. I’m really attracted to the unique colors of it. I guess it’s the editing or the type of camera that they used, but the color grading is on point. I really like the different colors in the plants that give it a beautiful contrast against the sky and the ocean. The land separates it in the middle while being monotone so it doesn’t bring a lot of attention. The main attraction or view of this photo is in the foliage with different varieties of color. Which leads me to one of the troubles when I was drawing this photo.

This was my first photo where I had to draw foliage up close, so it had a lot of detail when I was drawing this. It was similar to drawing the trees in my previous drawing but this was different because it had different colors. I honestly spent a lot of time drawing the foliage because everything else was so simple. I guess that’s what made this photo look very interesting. The foliage spreads everywhere so it’s not uniform. I had to get all of the direction right to make it look natural and it looks interesting! It’s honestly really cool! I can definitely learn and work more on the details. It really puts a perspective on how details are so delicate and time consuming.

Thank you Artists Eyes for this photo reference again! :) I might also draw more of your photos because they are on point. Like… I really like the aesthetic. I really like the color grading in your photos. You honestly deserve more recognition because they are amazing! :)

When I draw these photos, they are meant for practice. Eventually I will make my own original art work from the experience I've learned so be on the look out! Actually, I made one original artwork but I feel like it’s unfinished…. Maybe I will post it haha, but I tried combining what I learned from my 1st and 2nd drawings. There are more ideas that I can come up with but I haven’t done it yet.

Also, I’m sorry if I’m posting slow… I’m really taking the time to take care of myself. I love drawing but it takes a lot of time with life going on in the background. I gotta make a living somehow… so I hope you understand :) I’m learning and finding better ways to make this process more efficient. Originally, I planned on making YouTube videos for each of these drawings, but it takes a lot of time to edit the videos so I’m just going to focus on creating more content for now and then make the videos later. That way… you get more drawings yayyyy haha.

But that leads me to the topic of this photo, the Present Moment. I chose this because the picture gives me this nostalgic feeling where you’re standing there and just soaking up this amazing view in the Present Moment. Just standing there because it was special. It was special enough that it needed to be recorded. That is… the Present Moment. I also chose this topic because the Present Moment is so important that it’s often overlooked.

When you think about the Present Moment, it’s so fleeting. When we think about time, we measure it in seconds, minutes, and hours. Each moment can last for a second or for a few minutes. The crazy thing about the Present Moment is that it’s always changing whether we know it or not. If we take time out of our current reality, what really is the Present Moment? It’s literally what we have right now, where we are, and what we are doing. Time is just a mind construct. It’s a measurable value that helps us keep track of the Present Moment.

The Present Moment is so special because it’s fleeting. It doesn’t just stay for a second or for a few minutes. It just moves on. Life just moves on. Think about the times in your life where it was so special. Why do you think it was so special? Because that moment mattered. You weren’t thinking about anything else except for that moment. You were just… in the Present Moment. It’s hard to grasp the Present Moment if we are constantly thinking about the past or the future. To really be in the Present Moment, we just have to be.

We have to release ourselves from our minds. The reason why something was so special was because it bought our attention out of our minds and into the Present Moment. You weren’t thinking about that special moment. You were feeling it. You felt the raw emotions or how it made you feel in that moment. To be in the Present Moment is to feel. When we feel, we are being. Being ourselves in our own body. To feel your own body is to be Present in this Moment. You are not thinking when you are feeling your body. You just naturally shift your attention to feeling it. That’s how we can be Present in this Moment.

By naturally shifting our attention to feeling our bodies, we can connect to the Present Moment. We become aware of our surroundings. We become aware with our internal feelings. Just no thoughts, just feeling. Initially, if you are not used to this, it can feel very scary. You may have feelings that you don’t want to deal with. Feelings that were suppressed. I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to have these feelings. It’s natural to have these feelings. They are there for a reason. They are there for you to learn more about yourself. Ask yourself why you are feeling the way that you are feeling. Get to the root cause if you can. If not, you can just observe how you feel and not do anything about it. You can just learn from it and see where it takes you.

By observing how you feel, you can create presence within yourself. You can create space within yourself to observe how you feel. This level of awareness can create a safe place for you. A place where you can observe and not be impacted by the way that you feel. It’s like putting your hand over a fire, but not letting it to close to it you so you don’t get burnt. You just observe the heat that its emitting from and just feel it. In a sense, you are feeling your emotions, but it’s different. You are consciously observing it.

When you are consciously observing it, you gain conscious control on how you deal with it. You create space to be able to respond to it, not subconsciously react to it. Sometimes, the emotions are so strong that all we can really do is observe it. Just feel it and wait for the emotion to pass. You can transmute it by redirecting the energy you feel into an activity. You don’t have to always bottle it up inside of you. You can use it as a catalyst for new change. For new thought patterns. For new habits. Anything really. This is how you transmute energy. This is how you respond to it by consciously observing your own emotions and feelings.

When we are able to understand our emotions by sitting with it, and feeling with it, we can understand ourselves better. When we can understand ourselves better, we can align ourselves better to be naturally who we are. By aligning ourselves to be naturally who we are, we can understand our purpose. We can find our purpose. All because we focused on the Present Moment. All because we allowed ourselves to stay in the Present Moment to reflect on ourselves. This the power of the Present Moment. This is the Power of Now.

I actually recommend reading the book, “The Power of Now“ by Eckhart Tolle because it explains this phenomenon. I actually learned it from this book and it changed my life, I’m not even kidding… I’m not sponsored or anything, but it really did have a profound effect on me and my life after I read it. I personally would get the audio book because listening to him speak is part of the experience, but the book is great as well :) It would be a disservice for me to not recommend knowledge that changed my life so I’m glad that I can share it with you and not gatekeep :)

Hence why I am doing this in the first place. I want to share my own knowledge and experiences in hopes that it would help someone in a similar situation. In hopes that it may help you :) I’ve always been the introverted type so I don’t usually talk as much to people, but whenever people do come for me for advice, it usually helps them. I’m not saying that I’m a sage or anything, but I believe that if you feel or think you have something valuable to share, then you should probably share it. You don’t know if it may help someone’s life and I’m just simply doing that.

I feel like everyone has something valuable that they can share with someone and help them. I mean, it’s happening right now. It’s happening everywhere. I’m not the only person doing this haha. There are so many people online sharing their own valuable experiences and it has helped a lot of people. I’m just part of that wave :) I’m just another form. If you resonate with me then I’m glad and honored that my message is reaching you and hopefully helping you. This is the whole point. This is what life is about :) What actually brings me fulfillment is making another person’s day because I know that person will make another person’s day and it spreads. It’s all about love for one another and if we can cultivate that in the community, we can become stronger together.

With that being said, the Present Moment reminds us that life only happens right now. It doesn’t happen in the future or in the past, but right now. So keep your focus in this Present Moment, only worrying about what you can do today that will help you in the next day. Don’t let your past affect what you can possibly do today because each day is a new day. Each moment is a new moment. So do what you can, try your best, and live it to the fullest :) I cannot emphasize it enough that this Present Moment is so precious. We only have this Present Moment before it suddenly becomes the past. It happens that quickly.

So enjoy it. Honor it. Cherish it. Because it is all we have. It is a gift for you. It is a gift for us. It is the Present Moment :)

Thank you so much for reading <3

I love you so much and stay safe!!!