#lanternmaking

To me, Christmas is not just the season of giving. It is actually the season that reminds us to constantly give without expecting anything in return. It reminds us to stay compassionate and to love unconditionally. When we do so, we offer a part of ourselves to the people in our lives. As a very merry event, we are of course also celebrating the coming of Jesus, our light. It is also he who reminds us to give.

This Christmas, I wish for justice. As always, 2017 was another eventful year, sadly in a bad way. I believe more people have died because they were unjustly killed. Be it a bombing, a mass shooting, other terrorist attacks and even the War on Drugs, no one deserves to be a casualty of these cruel acts but most importantly, these should not have existed in the first place. The perpetrators must be found and punished. People must learn from their mistakes and change, no matter how impossible it seems.

I also wish that my family would stay healthy and that we would stay together for a much longer time. There are so many things we’ve always wished we can do to bond and grow closer.

I honestly expected the lantern project to look too plain but difficult to make. During the brainstorming process, I constantly asked how we would assemble the lantern if we were to follow this certain design before I voted because I always feared the failure of the execution process. 12-Germain’s Christmas wish for the world was to preach the reminder that love must always rule. The hourglass symbolized how time passes and along with it comes the evil elements (black stars). As time passes, they pass too, so they settle at the bottom. What stays on top is the light, which may symbolize hope and guidance. That light must and will always stay on top. Surrounded by the hourglass on the wooden base are people made of clay holding hearts, and that is what delivers the message of our wish which is for love to rule the world.

I still remember how we spent some of our Contemporary Arts periods making black stars (a childhood hobby was relived) in groups. Not only did we feel fulfilled that we made so many stars, we were also happy to relax at some point and just talk to each other to make up for the lost time when we were all busy with everything else. It made me forget my problems for a while. I admired our creative director, Chelsea, because even if she was stressed out or stuck she still stayed positive and very much motivated. There were times when she told us to leave a job to her, even if we wanted to help more. To be honest, I think that without her, we would have been quite a mess.