To me, these illustrations correspond with the freedom that I have always found in nature and darkness. Though a million things have changed throughout the past eighteen years of my life–from my recognized sexuality to my haircut–my fascination with the night sky has remained steadfast. Sometimes I get lost in the chaos of daytime and within the seemingly rigid expectations of what I should do, who I should love, and who I should be. In fact, I think many of us slip too easily into the fixed routines of our daily lives, be that in schools, in offices, or elsewhere. At night, everything changes. People go home to their families, people fall in love, people read, people create. Everything becomes candid again, the way I believe it is meant to be. Something about just sitting under the stars at night has always brought me immense comfort, perhaps because I am reminded of just how small we really are. Maybe some people get scared when they recognize the scale of everything, but to me, that brings a sort of ultimate freedom. Nothing should prevent us from pursuing our dreams, because our time is brief and beautifully insignificant. ♦