First post

 Hi. My name is Derreq Player, a student completing my last semester at Bowie State University. It's honestly been a long time coming with just figuring out what I would do my senior exhibition on. Over and over I had seemingly great ideas and concepts, but that's all they were. I could never get to the next step of what I would actually be doing. All I wanted to do was take pictures so at least I knew photography would be a part of the overall show but of what purpose? Mental health over the years in college became more and more of a top level issue, reflecting in my everyday life in ways I was not aware of. To battle this, I slowly began doing some short guided meditation. I found that this worked best to clear my overly cluttered mind and bring some ease and relief to my life. Real changes were noticed when I began practicing this throughout my day with no audio, only memory. When these, although very brief, meditation sessions became something I could reliably turn to in order to get back on track, it all became clear. 

For the most part, my artwork has been service and client based. Being given a goal or direction to follow is where most of my content comes from, seen especially in my portfolio. It's in my nature to think critically and innovatively for others but when it comes to doing things for myself, I have every question in the world to ask. The biggest one: What do I want? At some point I had to just pick something and stick with it but even that didn't last too long. I started spiraling once again. I always knew I wasn't the only one going through this and more but I did know that it often feels like I am. If that's the case, then I have an idea.

What helped me get through what seems to have been years of hardships and overthinking everything became the basis of my senior exhibition. I can't guarantee that it will work for everyone, but its intended purpose is to be an option for those who may not even know they need it. The number of mental health issues in young adults between 18 and 30 is constantly growing; especially during this ongoing pandemic and that's just the reported cases. If young Black men reported more, who knows what that number would be at now. 

My senior exhibition show will be a series of digital minimalist style images to serve as a visual starting point for the accompanying guided meditation audio. The viewer will be able to explore different climates and landscapes while practicing controlled breathing to be taken into their everyday lives when needed.