Message in a bottle

Phoenix AZ, September 2021.

Love, Justice and Family Matters

By Amber Louise Hayes

We the People, United We Stand, To Serve a Purpose that is Greater than Ourselves. To Struggle Together, to Survive Together, to Encourage one another, not to discourage and put down. To kindly speak up for and Ready to Protect those Who are treated unjust. If We were to all enter the same room, shut the door, turn off the light, silently and slowly move around, no one would be able to tell the color of your skin, Where you from and What you have been through. What they would notice is how kindly you passed by them being sure they didn't get hurt. As the light comes on hugging the person the closest person in range, Keeping in mind We are all one race. A race made of Love in someone's heart. A race made of Justice, even when it's hardest to Stand alone for the right reasons. A race made up of families because we are all children. And a race made of matter because we all take up space! 😊❤️

Make your Space Matter ❤️

Amber Louise Hayes ☮️

This is one of my favorite things about my walkabouts. Every now and then I stumble upon these messages. I think they are like a modern day/city life versions of a message in a bottle. A message you stumble across randomly. It makes me wonder if it felt the same, to have the sea deliver a bottle to you with a message. What an intriguing concept. Some of them

appear to be self addressed, some pleading, and some very thoughtful.

I could've easily parked somewhere else today and not see this message. I normally drive around semi-randomly (I try to avoid crowds, places where security asks questions and overall residential areas), until a scene stops me, I find the nearest parking space and I go from there. This morning though, nothing was pulling me in, the pulls were mild and I was second guessing them a lot, until I forced myself to park the first place I could, which was exactly the moment I decided this and swerved right into the empty parking spot I saw as I came to this conclusion. I hadn't seen anything interesting around here yet*, but I had wasted enough time driving around. I only have these early hours of the morning for myself, for my photography, so the longer it takes for me to park, the less time I have to work with.

A couple blocks of walking, taking pictures, taking short videos for social media, looking at lights and shadows, I'm standing on the corner waiting to cross and I see this traffic sign, the orange flag with a message on its back, flapping in the wind. First I read it. Then I wrote down the passage and author on a note in my cell, then I aimed my camera and started trying to find the angle and composition that I liked.

The message suspended in the wind, uttered and left floating in the cityscape. Like a cartoon speech/thought balloon, but without an specific character. Instead the message, the thought, becomes whatever the passerby came make of it. How many different people will it stop enough for a read? Will it provoke anything? How long is this construction sign going to be up? Will someone be triggered by the message and do something to it? Write over it? Replace the flag with a new one?

Make your space matter. How many will reflect upon this? How many will heed the call?

AG

* When I say I hadn't seen anything interesting yet please keep in mind that I have been going out almost every Saturday and Sunday for the past 3-4 years, so what I really mean is I hadn't seen anything fresh and interesting.