This past week a friend of mine shared Apple’s recent holiday video ¹ with me. It’s a wonderful story, which hits me right in the feels ².

A large part of my psychology is centered around using what few gifts I have for the benefit of the world around me. This is what drives me toward teaching, writing, photography, and digital composite creation. It’s also what inspires me to learn, as without learning I’ll be less likely to have anything I can pass on to others.

I want to draw people toward wonder and, like the protagonist in Apple’s short, doubt that I’ve got anything worthwhile to share. Much of what I come up with in my head remains locked away where no one will ever be able to dismiss it.

The video should win awards in the short film category. Even more amazing is that even though the characters are digital the sets are practical. Every setting in the short was created in physical space, the characters were added later after principal photography was completed. It really is a thing of beauty, and the physical sets gives it a sense of lived-in realism.