Because when man is full he falls asleep. —Facundo Cabral
It has been more than six months since I published an issue of Visura Magazine. It has been a while.
I have been soul searching, I guess, and I have distanced myself from everyone, including Visura. During the time, I was happy to learn that this platform has reached one million articles read since January 2009. Naturally, this made me reflect on the future of Visura.
Is it time to get advertising? Does this mean that I need to find ways to make money through the platform so that everyone gets paid? Should I charge readers? Will that change the essence of Visura, a platform dedicated to supporting personal projects by visual artists, and that’s mostly made up of documentary projects or projects that speak about some aspect of life and contemporary society?
In the end, my answer was “no”, at this time. Visura Magazine is truly a product of love. It started in my mother’s kitchen table in Puerto Rico on January 2009, as a result of Graham and I falling in love. It was our first baby. No matter how much Visura has now run its own course, it remains a canvas that can only exist from the product of this profound love.
Yet, even soul mates live rough patches; and we did. During this time and regardless of the numbers, I struggled to connect and find how to fill in a new canvas.
So, I disappeared. I do that sometimes. One thing I must admit is that, in the process, it has been because of Graham and the artists featured in this issue, along with all the contributors, who never gave up on me, that Issue 12 is brought to life. Their belief, support and willingness to complete his or her feature wholeheartedly make this issue very personal and special: Graham’s willingness to do whatever it takes to reunite, Nina Berman’s enthusiasm and belief in Visura, David Walter Banks and Matt Eich’s genuine respect and interest in Luceo Images and its members collaborating with Graham, Patricia’s insistence to be truthful to her artistic voice, Charlie, Jeff, Larry and Richard’s emails wondering when they should send work next, Isabel’s new idea to incorporate music videos and interview the Director, letters of encouragement that I received from readers, and James Estrin and Katie, who trusted me as an editor and friend.
Thank you. I dedicate this issue to each and every one of you for being my north during these past months.
All the contributors, including Graham and I, work on each feature voluntarily for months, prior to publication, and without commercial or monetary compensation. We pride ourselves on this. Therefore, as long as I can continue this platform with the support of the selfless photographers and artists who contribute and collaborate willingly with me, Visura will remain.
This platform is a product of love, and only that. There needs to be platforms out there with no monetary or commercial purpose, and I am not alone in this.
My intention through Visura is not to take but to give. My purpose with Visura is not to gain but to let go—of the fear of creating a platform that can only last as long as there are individuals who believe in it. More than 100 artists worldwide who are leaders have filled this white canvas with personal projects. This is beautiful. I am so grateful for the support Visura has received from its readers as well, since it is you, the Reader, who continues to keep this platform alive. It is full circle in the end.
For years, my present was blinded by my past, and this was crippling me. I carried whatever personal experiences I had lived during my teens or early twenties—and I had built a hat that was weighing me down, and preventing me from seeing my present. During these past months of reflection, search, unraveling and healing, I realized that every day is a good day to start the rest of your life. There is truth to this saying, and I love you Graham for whispering this to me in my ear that morning.
We do not need to live with our past weighing-in on us, carrying the events that hurt us like heavy baggage or a cross. We punish ourselves; yes, it is self-inflicted. It can take years to forgive one’s self and others. It can take decades to let go. I have no answers to how one can release oneself from the baggage. It is a very personal process and only you can find a solution. All I know today is that you do not need to live with that weight on.
Whatever you do, and however you try to heal—please do not stop trying. Do not give up on yourself, because you have a reason for being alive. Your life can be a voice to those who do not have one. Your past does not have to be your present, and your present does not have to be your future.
Whatever reality you want to live in, work towards it, one day at a time. Let that reality be filled with kindness, love, light and understanding. Let your present be filled with gratitude for the experiences that you have lived and be filled with advice, guidance and direction for others. Transform your life into one that you are proud of; one that you wake up every day feeling that this is the best day to start the rest of your life, again and again. Do not give up on yourself. Search, eat healthy, rest, exercise, meditate, breathe and smile. Seek to come to terms with that past that already happened and you can no longer control or change. Assume it and move forward, one day at a time.
To new beginnings…. may this be the best day to start the rest of your life. To all the contributors of this Issue, thank you, and to my beloved husband Graham Austin Letorney—you are the love of my life.
poco a poco y sin nada de alboroto.
Publisher, Visura Magazine
