Underneath every person's display of creativity lies silent communication and hidden emotion. This is the reason why I have always felt inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Untitled" work from the 1980's. It is a colorful, x-ray type look of a person, but also can be interpreted as a skull. He seemed to paint both inside and outside elements to a person's head, which seem to show connections between life and death. He often painted things that depicted African masks, also showing his heritage, but his strokes are violent and use words, letters and other materials that really just seem to point to an inner struggle. Basquiat went from a graffiti artist to a well-known painter throughout his hard life, it wasn't something that was just handed to him. His other works, not only "Untitled" show his struggles without spelling them out. This really hit home to me since he died at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose, which is how I lost my father 3 years ago. Interestingly, when "Untitled" was sold, it was discovered that Basquiat used invisible ink in his artwork. People now believe that he was putting hidden messages in his art, and this specific piece explains it all. His work showed that he had hidden secrets, not meant to be shouted out for everyone to see, but only for people who truly invested in his work and life. Much like a life of addition, the secrets are hidden and rarely shared unless someone else uncovers them.

"I'll pick you up from basketball tonight." This was the last text I received from my father on November 8, 2018. Ever since the day he died unexpectedly I've had questions about heaven, the afterlife, angels and anything that can support my hope that I will one day see my dad again. "Heaven" written by Randy Acorn has by far been the most inspiring book for more than just the reason of my father passing away. It is hard to have hope in something we do not understand, yet this book is based upon Bible scripture and not hyperimaginative or someone's "vision". Mr. Acorn did use his imagination at times, but he would say when he was, and why. This book inspired me to continue one of my goals on making my father proud in Heaven. I often read philosophical or religious books, yet they lack in scriptural reference. This book gave scripture verses from throughout the Bible and drew logical and insightful possibilities. This encouraged me for my future because it helped me re-think my life here on the present earth, it gave me more peace than anything imaginable. I was thoroughly inspired because the research was done for me in the book, yet it allowed me to think for myself and make my own opinion. What we believe happens when we die is crucial to our worldview, and to how we live each day. And in this day and age, we all need peace and hope to get through experiences and trials that we encounter. This is a book I'll keep as long as I live because it’s an excellent resource and reference. Additionally, when a friend of mine recently lost her father unexpectedly, I gave her the book to read and she was comforted just the same.