Wow, I just read the most inspiring email that I just had to go on here and share it. It was from my cousin from the windy city who is a creative like me. 🙂 There are days when I feel stressed about my “new” job…don’t get me wrong…I’ve never regretted taking this step because I make it a point to not have regrets…because those haunt you. But when I read his email about how he wants to follow his passion and start doing things he enjoys…that makes me beyond happy. Because life is short and taking chances are scary and nerve-wrecking as hell but often the greatest risk yields the biggest rewards or something like that. Your job can just be that…your job, a way to fund your life so you can have security, basic necessities, and simple pleasures/adventures. In my case, when I just couldn’t change my mindset and felt like I was wasting all this time at work concentrating on trivial stuff for the workplace and feeling drained and not having enough time when I get home to work on all these ideas I have in my head, I knew I had to do something. Believe me, it took me awhile. And I’m okay with that…I don’t envy those that could make quick decisions and just go with it…I’ve accepted who I am and what I’m comfortable with. After all, at the end of the day, it’s me who have to live with it. So YES, let’s “shoot for the stars” because even if we miss, it will be one hell of a journey! N and P, I’m excited to start this journey with you! 🙂

I’m reminded of this quote I once read somewhere and it really stuck with me….

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close the gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” -Ira Glass

I once went through these watercolor collection of an artist who’s work I really admired and what I noticed that most of his earlier works weren’t all that good or something I would purchase, but he painted A LOT. There are hundreds of them. And eventually he did find “the thing” that made his art special. That was the moment I started painting with watercolor.