rachel.laureene ♫ ♥'s photostream

♥ About Me ♥

♥ In a Few Words ♥

accepting artistic calm caring clever complex creative cynical ditzy emotional energetic friendly geeky intelligent introverted kind logical observant open-minded poet photographer reflective relaxed searching self-conscious sentimental shy silly spriritual spontaneous unique witty



♥ In Many Words ♥

I'm a 20-something just trying to make her way in the world (or something like that)... My passions include creativity and art in all its forms (music, photography, visual art, film, etc.)... and I love continually trying to look at the world around me with inquisitive eyes and an open mind. I believe there is life and magic in everything.

I write a bit of poetry-- mostly free verse-- every now and then. I also thoroughly enjoy photography (of course), and although I'm no expert at that, either, I love it and I'm trying to learn.

When you get to know me at first, I have a tendency to be a little shy. It never lasts long, though... once I get to know someone, and feel comfortable around them, I open up pretty easily. And I've been known to get a little crazy, too.

Friends are definitely important to me, and although I've made mistakes in the past, and life has happened... and friends have grown apart... things are beginning to turn around, and I'm realizing that not all things that are broken remain that way, and that long-lost friendships are never truly gone.

I do appreciate the value of family... but honestly, a good majority of my family is more than a little insane. I am very close with my mom, though, and we hang out quite a bit... other than that, I don't really see much of my family. I don't have any brothers or sisters, and although my parents are still together, my dad has been sort of cut out of my life for a long time now. Not that I'm complaining. The rest of the family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) live either in different states or in East Tennessee-- 3 hours away or so. Apparently this distance is too great for us to see each other except on Christmas. Ah well... Friends are the family you choose.

As for religion, I was raised as a Christian and the fear of God was instilled in me at an early age- I even went to a Christian school for four years. We didn't go to church a whole lot, though. My family was guilty of holiday-worshipping (only going to church on Christmas and Easter for the most part)... Well, since then my mind has been opened up much more and I've come to believe that there is no one true way. We're all humans in this world, on the same spiraling path. At this point in this life, I've been drawn to a more open outlook and have been reading and learning about spirituality. Why should religion have a label stamped on it?

Anyway, as far as fun goes, I'm pretty easygoing and laid-back... I can find fun in the simplest things, from watching boats go by on the lake to staying in at home and goofing around with a guitar, fumbling about on the keyboard, watching some TV, or (obviously) playing around with my camera. I'm not a complete homebody, though- I enjoy going out and having fun... It's been a while since I've been to a club or a bar, really-- my boyfriend isn't into that sort of thing. Our "nights out" usually just consist of going to a movie.

Really though, I think a homey sort of life is rather beneficial for me; I've had my fair share of partying and making stupid, but fun decisions. I've gone through many various destructive addictions to many different things including drugs, and although I'm not proud of that, I am proud of the fact that I've overcome those addictions. It's been about three years since I've done anything remotely more self-destructive than have a few drinks every now and then, and the occasional cigarette. (It's been a few months since I've smoked though.)

Ah, one of my other passions I need to elaborate on: travel. Although I have never been outside the U.S., I have been to 23 states (and I'm dying to see them all, and the world!)... My biggest adventure so far included a solo road-trip from Nashville to New Orleans, then across I-10 all the way to Los Angeles- sleeping in my car the whole way there and staying for a couple months. It was pretty crazy, but one of the best experiences of my life. I can't wait to travel more... maybe that's why I work in the travel industry. I do travel fulfillment for ACS Inc... we basically handle quite a few travel agencies, including Cheaptickets.com and Orbitz.com, and many corporate travel providers. It's challenging, but fun, and I love what I do. (Even if I do utterly despise the company that I do it for! Ah well, c'est la vie!

Another random thing about me: I adore self-expression, and I have a thing for body art. I have 12 piercings (6 earlobes, 1 tragus, 1 rook, 2 neck, 1 tongue, and 1 tongue web) and 2 tattoo (a blue flower / green vine on the inside of my wrist, and 2 butterflies on my shoulders- one representing good and one evil)... but I would love to get a few more nifty designs. I'm working on designing a small silhouette of a cat that I'd like to get done soon...

Well, I'm really not sure what else to divulge at this point. If you'd like to know anything else, feel free to ask. I can be quite the open book (don't let that scare you away).