The Ever Flowing Mirror

The day was free and so were we. The mountains made their silent call and we heard it. I was introduced to this very sweet river in the first summer I moved to Los Angeles.

This river is one of those places where you catch yourself saying, “Oh yeah, this is why I live here.” The benefits of a creative, California life mean reprieve is only a short drive away. On this day, Nathan and I both found ourselves in need of reprieve.

We found escape, not only geographically, and energetically, but in each other, which made this experience all the more magical. We laid out our blankets, picnicked on a river rock, and listened to the running water as the sun held us.

ART DIRECTION AND MAKEUP NATHAN HEJL @nathanhejl using SUBMISSION BEAUTY @submission.beauty BALM SHINY AND GLITTER SILVER
PHOTOGRAPHY, TEXT AND MODEL CAMERON LEE PHAN @cameronleephan

We absorbed the sounds, the smells, the glimmering water, and our free bodies. In this environment, inspiration struck us both. We knew that it might, so we carried our tools all the way down with us to our temporary headquarters. Like the water, Nathan and I could truly flow. The glimmering water appeared on my face, and the calm, blue sky swam across it next. For that moment, we lived in a mirror, to each other, and to our environment.


Opening up

like the crag in this rock

or the break in this land.

To become a vessel

for water to run downstream.

I’d known myself to be land:

A clean surface,

seeing life and not necessarily having to feel it,

seeing my open space and not necessarily having to fill it.

Then came the stream when I was dry.

And I thought,

perhaps we could eradicate our differences

and grow into one shade,

like the hair of our pain.

Maybe letting you flow through me

could be a new way of seeing.

We became creatures of habit,

because a life of streaming on,

of coming and going,

Had become too frightening.

Perhaps I could build a dam.

Did it matter what went wrong before us,

so long as we could at least

love at all?

For as long as I’m able,

for whatever time I’m owed.

Gravity like a magnet.

To ask for love, receive it,

And not know why.

All to figure

out love from its inside.

@NATHANHEJL @CAMERONLEEPHAN