Chapter 33

33 years of growing

If you are reading this…I made it to 33 years old. I wont start with the I didn’t know if I would have made it to this point but I will say I am grateful to have made it this far. That being said this year of life, I am going with a different approach. I wished a cousin of mine Happy Birthday the other day and in his response he told me that he was proud of me and to keep growing and finding my voice as an artist and a businessman.

In regards to the business, I think I know what I have to do to find that voice (or maybe my delusion is speaking). As far as my voice as an artist…….that really spoke to me. Art is defined as : “ The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”.

This year is dedicated to finding my voice as an artist. A lot of confusion stems from lack of clarity. Lack of clarity results in lack of direction. It is reflective in the choices I make creatively. While I dont fully subscribe to the “you gotta niche down” idea, I do understand why you need to know what it is you are doing and why. I have reached the point in my career where everyone has a great idea that requires my services and its a great problem to have……sorta. Beyond the issue of worrying about pay, it feels like the ideas that are presented to me doesnt align with where I am at.

I am in Year 6 of my career as a creative. I have seen a lot of things and I have heard a lot of things and I really have to sit myself down and figure out what I am doing to help myself. What I do ultimately is a service but am I only a servant or do I deserve to also be served as well? It goes back to feeling like I’m doing for all and none for me which is a problem in itself.

In the midst of all of this wondering what is happening, I am doing some things to help myself. I recently did a shoot for my birthday. It was the one time where I do a shoot that is for myself and it doesn’t matter if others like what I have done ( which is how it should be anyways) . I had an idea and I went forward with the idea.

Sidenote: Special thanks to Jariah for helping me out with the idea. I had a vision and we adjusted where we needed to and went from there. Also I did something for her as a thank you for helping me out (I dont know what to title this project).

The one thing I am going to work on is not sitting on an idea. No matter how simple or complex it is, I cant get better if I don’t try the idea to see if it works or not. As much as I like to get inspiration from the internet, the internet can’t take the pictures or film the videos for me. Steve Carty recently mentioned putting a deadline on creativity. Because he is right, if I give myself 3 years to get a project done that can be done in 3 months, I am going to take 3 years and probably longer to complete it …….if it ever gets done.

So here’s to a new year of finding my voice and being more intentional about the message I want to send with my art.

I keep saying its time to get back on the consistency train but I need to really show myself that I can create the content machine I always dreamed about. Cant let my dreams do all the work.

Cheers to 33 years of life.

As a birthday present, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel if you enjoy the content I have their. I have a Valentines Day video coming soon. Stay Tuned.

-Gregory