For the past week, everything I’ve been doing has this sense of newness. And with this sense of newness, I’ve come to some clarity. Even the most routine tasks like going to work, grocery shopping and paying bills have been met with excitement and joy (weird, right?).

There’s this weird shift that I finally feel like I’m doing something right. There’s something in the air that’s telling me, “Hey, the light at the end of the tunnel – it’s here.” And I truly feel like I’ve started the new year a much brighter, happier, focused version of myself. I’m excited to see where this year takes me, who I’ll meet, what work I’ll do, what adventures I’ll go on and most importantly what I’ll create and give back to our world.

And in light of this mindset (see what I did there?) – I decided to take some of my favorite photos from one of the darkest years of my life and add that light to them. To see the darkness I’ve come out of with new eyes. Locations include Maui, Milan, Paris, Puerto Rico, Boston, Montréal and New York.

Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 neorealismo film Ladri di biciclette has a scene where the protagonist, on the hunt for his stolen bike, visits a seer who proclaims, “Dio mio, dammi la luce, dammi la luce.” Translation: “My God, give me the light, give me the light.” Unlike the seer, I don’t need a higher being to show me the light, I’ve found it in myself and I’m going to use it to keep move up and up and up and up.

-V