I Had to Surrender to See It.

009 / 365 This film is part of an ongoing body of work investigating how identity transforms through sustained creative inquiry. 365 is an archive of observations, questions, experiments, and discoveries by Christina DiStefano. Each entry serves as evidence of an unfolding research practice, documenting—in real time—the evolution of an artist. Rather than documenting finished ideas, each entry captures the movement of becoming—the slow transformation that unfolds after leaving a corporate identity and allowing the artist to return. It explores what happens when creative practice and professional practice are no longer separated, and what becomes possible when both are allowed to shape one another. It is an ongoing attempt to make the invisible a little more visible. ⸻ YOU CAN SEE MORE. Yesterday, we lost internet for more than twenty-four hours. At first, it felt like an interruption. No work. No emails. No YouTube. No music. No television. No distractions. Eventually, I stopped waiting for it to come back. I surrendered. Jerry and I walked through the gardens. We watched Charlie explore. We picked up sticks in the yard. We talked. We listened to the wind moving through the trees. And somewhere in that quiet, something shifted. It reminded me of watching a 3D film without the glasses. The image is there. But it’s flat. Then you put the glasses on. Nothing about the film changes. Only your perception. Suddenly, there’s depth where you couldn’t see it before. I started wondering if presence works the same way. Maybe the blessings in our lives don’t disappear when we’re distracted. Maybe we simply stop seeing their depth. This isn’t really a film about losing the internet. It’s about surrender. It’s about discovering that when you stop trying to control the day, you sometimes begin to see the life that was already waiting for you. Thank you for witnessing this part of the work. — Christina Inside the Studio: www.christinadistefanoart.com www.CD-DA.com Instagram @christinadistefanonyc