I had the amazing honor of performing alongside other talented individuals in VV Underground’s first livestream in 2021! Only a little over a month ago, I made a vlog saying that I wanted to challenge myself to get into ASL more, and I couldn’t believe it when I got this opportunity to give a VV performance to the world! I’m just in awe of the other performers’ talent, and I am so grateful that I’m Deaf and have this ability beyond anything that could ever be spoken or written. All the potential we hold with our body, facial expression, and hands are LIMITLESS and MAGICAL.

Visual vernacular is just a whole new level. It’s a whole different game, way, art that conveys ideas and stories in a mind-blowing way. No sound is needed. I believe people everywhere should know about VV, ESPECIALLY deaf children who are unfortunately among the group that miss out on this the most. I hope having more and more content out there will find their ways to homes and plant seedlings of inspiration to introduce this new world to anyone and everyone. For those new to VV, check this source out: https://www.apr.org/post/visual-vernacular-different-kind-storytelling

This was my very first time ever doing a VV story. Yes, really!! I had so much fun and enjoyed tapping into my creative juices to create a story to share with the world. So, my story… I just closed my eyes and dove into my imagination and imagined all the different dimensions and experiences I could integrate. In a visual aspect, but also emotionally. My story truly could be up for interpretation, and please interpret it in your own way. That’s the beauty of this! And of course I have a written version for this story to be accessible to DeafBlind folks, to explain my interpretation of it, and just because I felt like writing it down, too.

ENGLISH VERSION:

She slowly sat, gazing at the moon and stars shining in the sky through the window. She brought her candles to life. They smoldered softly as she settled, and took a deep breath… In through the nose… and out through the mouth. Rising, falling. Her body rose and sunk, like a piano, or the ocean, and the vibrations of the whole world chattering on with life. 

She began to release. Release herself from her physical entity. Her chest rose, and she floated outside of her body. Looking down at herself levitating, then to her body levitating… It all became moot, the skin and bones, her heartbeat pumping and sloshing blood. She cut open her brain and saw endless dots of light, before they all merged and surpassed a brightness too powerful to look at. Before she knew it, darkness engulfed her and she dove into a new dimension. Darkness, then a whole new kind of brightness. 

She saw an illustration of all existing energy, interconnected, and in constant flux. They bent and shrunk and folded atop each other, showing the beginning of all time and the end and then a rebirth, all over again. It was breathtaking. Allowing herself to follow the magnetic pull of this often invisible entity now powerful to all the senses, she gazed at millions and millions of flickers, like fireflies, surrounding her, consuming her. She felt enlightened, excited, and a bit nervous… and tenderly touched one of the light beauties. 

Suddenly, she found herself plunging in the air and abruptly landing on an edge of coldness. There was a mountain, covered in snow, and an avalanche was hungrily making its way downward, on its own hunt for who knows what. Out of nowhere, snowboarders whirled past her, racing against time, and she found herself fully outfitted with her own board. Here we go – ah! She slid and swirled and flipped, looking back to see the snow getting closer and closer, and finally it was too late – 

And then she awoke in an entirely new place, with beautifully bright tendrils of grass waving along with the soft breeze and tall, strong trees enveloping her. Flowers, butterflies, and insects fluttered by and it was heaven for a moment – until she started to feel a soft drumming inside her. 

A resounding boom, rising and rising and thundering and she dug deep inside… And pulled out what made the sky shed tears and turn dark – and then further inside, she pulled out something else that brought light, and ultimately, the relief of a rainbow. She gazed at the two things in both palms, entirely different and so familiar –

and they mutated into figures on her shoulders, and the one on the right became so dark and twisted that it grew and grew, and finally it became a terrible wonder of a creature. It started to attack, and she ran for her life, panting and gasping with her eyes closed, just wanting to get out-

and she found herself floating, the earth suddenly far away, and she felt something spread all over her – hope. She believed in herself. Stretching her shoulders and positioning herself like a wonder, like a hero, she shook and large, beautiful, feathery pearl-white wings sprouted from her.

She flew and flew and explored and felt the air on her, and then she noticed something approaching her – a spaceship? – and suddenly, they started shooting laser beams in a frenzy. In a shock, she lost her focus and her wings ripped themselves away, and she fell down, towards the earth, a tiny pebble, to a basketball, to just mere meters away. Finally, she remembered. She took a deep inhale, and blew the air out through her mouth. Again, a deep inhale and exhale, and again, and again… Everything around her slowed, and she gently landed on her feet.

She saw a door. Her hand found itself on the doorknob, and… turned it. 

Darkness. And then light. She opens her eyes, breathing with resolve. She lets herself feel the spectrum of mixtures inside her, revealing all that exists inside for her to look at and understand. She is more knowing, more self-aware, but now she feels with assurance there is only so much more for her to discover. The tension melts away. A surge of inspiration sprawls across her, and before it goes away again, she grabs a piece of it…

And hands it to you. 


The end… For now. What’s next?

p.s. be sure to check out the full VV story with other AMAZING, and I mean AMAZING performers here including Justin Perez, Lisa McBee, Joel Oritz, Dominique Middlebrook, Bruce Bucci, Dack Virnig and Erwan Cifra!! https://fb.watch/3lfL3_Wzrq/