Your Perspective

 Velasco, José María, The Valley of Mexico, 1875.

Velasco loved to make paintings of the Valley of Mexico because from his perspective he believed it was very beautiful. Recently in class we discussed Velasco's paintings and also talked about where different people in the class are from and how they feel about the landscape of their city. The discussion really got me thinking about the place where I'm from and how I feel it is also very beautiful. I feel that most people have a positive perspective of where they are from because of the people that live there and the experiences that they have there.

Like Velasco, I too believe that the place where I'm from in California is an extremely beautiful place. This is a beach in Laguna Beach that is about 10 minutes from my house. Some people might think that this is just any other pretty beach but to me it is much more. I grew up coming to this beach and had so many amazing experiences here. The media might say that the people from this area are rude and stuck up and make other preconceived notions about this place, but I think differently. I know several people from this area and for the most part they are very nice and down to earth people. I feel that it is very easy to judge people without knowing them. To me the people of Laguna Beach are something that makes this city even more interesting and beautiful. I can understand why people make preconceived notions and I am also apart of that group. I remember when I came to Utah for the first time, I thought it was just another ugly desert. As I lived there for a while and got to know the people, the mountains and the lakes in Utah began to be very beautiful to me. Another thing that made me like Utah even more is that this is the place where I met my soon to be wife.

I strongly believe that places are beautiful to you according to how well you know the people and the experiences that you have there. Once these things occur, your perspective will begin to change and things that used to be ugly will seem more beautiful. I love where I'm from and also now love Utah because of the good people and the memorable experiences that I had there.