I noticed a lot of things when I turned my phone off and took a walk around my neighborhood. I live near a park, so it was easy to find the nature that John Stilgoe gushes about. One place that struck me in particular—as it always does when I walk by it—was the Greek Orthodox Church on the edge of the park. I noted fresh evening air sweeping through the trees that secluded the church. I took in a whiff of rain and then a stench of garbage left on the street. I heard chatter in the distance, car noises, dogs barking. Watching everyone’s days go by as I stood stagnant, I began to contemplate existence; not in a complex philosophical way, just in a mindfulness way. I thought about the circle of life, and the cycle of food and waste (there was a grocery store across the street and trash bags piled up on the corner). All of this life seems to revolve around something, although I’m not sure what. Some call it god. I looked up at the curves of the church dome and the image struck me as iconic. So I sketched the silhouette of the dome and played with the shape. It began to turn into a bird, which made me think of freedom and the sky, and then, the universe. So using Photoshop and Illustrator I incorporated a photograph of the night sky into my drawing, creating the final product of my visual response.