Self Portrait

Bucolic Beauty

Over the past 5 months I've had the privilege of getting to know Karrina over Instagram. 
I am inspired by her & her simple lifestyle daily. 
She often cans her own veggies & makes her own jam.
Has an amazing eye for photography & the simple beauty found in the everyday.
A wife & a mother of two, I'm encouraged by how well she loves those close to her.
Karrina O'Neal

Age 31

Elkton Oregon 

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What is your favorite childhood memory? 

Back home in Hawai'i, we had this beautiful old Okinawa tangerine tree in our yard. 

It seemed as though it bore fruit year round and my sister and I 

would spend hours perched up in the tree, reading, talking, and gorging ourselves on its sweet, wonderfully easy to peel fruit. I miss that tree (and my sister).

If you were an animal what would you be? 

I'd love to be a Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin. What joyful creatures! And they get to surf all day long. I miss surfing.

What is your favorite childhood memory of your dad? 

While I was a child, I didn't know my dad very well at all. He raised me, alone, until I was six years old and then I was sent to live with my aunt in Hawai'i. My dad had (and still has) a great love of the Japanese culture. In fact, I consider myself a by-product of my dad's great love of the Japanese culture - my mother was Japanese. During his years in Japan, he developed a palate for the cuisine and would often take me to his favorite sushi bar in Japantown. The memories are dim but still good.

What are you obsessed with?

 I could write a short novel on that topic. I guess I could say that I'm obsessed with the everyday beauty and all the little things that make life beautiful; dusty old books, the way cream swirls when poured atop a steaming cup of coffee, the sound of my children laughing, dappled sunlight, conversations that take place between midnight and three in the morning, the smell of transpiration in the evening after a long, hot summer day...the list goes on and on...

Most poignant goal for the next five years? 

To really be able to capture the the world, in photographs, as I see it through my eyes.

What is your favorite item of clothing? 

Any one of my cable knit sweaters.

If you could stop only one injustice what would it be? 

Greed. It's a black hole and the cause of so much destruction, both literally and figuratively.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? 

It's a tie between England and New Zealand. I've never been to either but feel a strong kinship with both places. 

What is your favorite thing to chew? 

Salt water taffy. I love it!

If you could only do one thing every day for the rest of your life what would it be? 

Besides being with my beautiful family? Read. I'm a book worm.

What is your manifesto?
Despite that there is so much evil, injustice, greed, hate, and violence in the world, there is yet so much good and beauty, if you choose to see it. Don't let the former cloud your vision.

When you think of adventure what comes to mind? 

Each and every day! No matter how carefully and meticulously we plan and schedule, we never really know what will happen next. 

Disclaimer:
This post is part of a series. The questions are designed to provoke
memories and thoughts that will expose the subject’s sense of self, 
and the pictures are always going to be self portraits, contributed by the subject, 
therefore showing them just as they wish to be shown.