Tom's Blogz

Sky Opening  Same Trees, Two Paths Marathon Corporate Development New Chick Friend Farms of Bolivia Flooded Kites  Parking Lot on Fire Christian being Christian FAVORITE PHOTO - Good Boy These are the top 10 photos I took this semester while blogging. I chose this last photo as my favorite because, out of everything, it captures something simple that kept showing up again and again throughout all of my posts. So many of my entries talked about big moments, like running a marathon or traveling to Bolivia, and others focused on quieter ones, like walking along the Trinity River or noticing trees. But across all of them, there was always this theme of slowing down and just being present. This photo feels like that.

Our last day of class was at the Fort Worth Zoo , and the first thing that really stuck with me was the gorillas. Christian and I stood there for probably 30 minutes just watching them. And the longer we stood there, the more it felt like we weren’t just watching animals, but something a lot closer to ourselves. The younger one would beat its chest and mess around, the teenage one would do the same, kind of going back and forth like they were playing a game. And then the dad just stood in the back, watching everything, calm, steady, almost like he didn’t need to move to be in control. It was simple, but it was fascinating. The way they interacted, the way they played, the way they just existed together. It didn’t feel that different from how we act. At the same time, I got a call from Christ's Haven , which was the nonprofit my philanthropy class decided to give $20,000 to. Standing there, watching something so natural and grounded, while also being part of something that could ...