Calligram

 This project was extremely difficult for me. No matter how many things I changed, I never felt like the calligram looked like me. I am still proud of my project and think it looks cool, it just doesn't really look like me. Here is the original photo: 

For this project, we were also asked to write a letter to ourselves in 20 years. This is what I wrote:

Dear 38-year-old Sydney, 

You’re almost 40… ew. The fact that a 40-year-old version of myself will one day exist may or may not have triggered a 30-minute panic attack anticipating the first gray hair I find or the first wrinkle on my face. Maybe the vanity in this statement will seem childish to you; I hope that there’s something in your life that makes your physically fleeting body feel irrelevant or at least less bothersome. I really can’t fathom who I would be in 20 years. Honestly, I’m still figuring out who I am right now. I hope that every morning I get to wake up and do something that I love. I’m not exactly sure of the direction that I want to go with my career, but I hope that you love it. I really value time with my family and right now, I think that I want kids in the future. I’m worried that my two dreams: having kids and working in the film industry are going to clash and that I’m going to have to compromise. I just hope that whatever you’re doing makes you happy and that you don’t settle for less than you’re capable of. I know that whatever you do that you’ll do it with full effort because your perfectionism would never allow you to do anything halfway. I do have some notes for you, though:

 The first time that you learned the word “ambitious” was when you had your Sims 3 addiction, and you quickly found that it was a rather annoying trait to have in your sim because they got restless if you weren’t constantly improving their skills. Cut to 10 years later and you’re the annoying sim who gets restless when they don’t feel like they’re moving forward. I have always loved that your ambition, but I hope that you learn to be a bit more patient with yourself. Of course, move forward. I want you to have all that you dreamed of having, but it’s okay to not have it all yet… even at the terrifying age of 38. 

Love, 

Your 18-year-old self

From this letter and original picture I created this calligram of myself: