Dear Joe,

    15 Jun 2011

    “Your best shot at happiness, self-worth and personal satisfaction - the things that constitute real success - is not in earning as much as you can but in performing as well as you can something that you consider worthwhile.”
    — William Raspberry

    4 Jun 2011

    Sometimes all you need to appreciate beauty is just a little more color. Painting by Leonid Afremov

    Sometimes all you need to appreciate beauty is just a little more color.

    Painting by Leonid Afremov

    3 Jun 2011

    “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 its 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 that 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.”
    — Advice from Ira Glass

    2 Jun 2011

    You can never finish anything.

    I’m like the crazy professor from that cartoon with the kid whose head looked like an acorn. I cant finish things.

    Does it have to do with me trying to be a perfectionist for half of my life? Maybe. 

    Could it stem from the fact that I’ve always hated closure? Probably.

    Is it because I always have something else to say? Absolutely.

    It’s June. In two weeks, my last year of college will technically start. Four years of high school. Four years of college. Eight years of school, of life, of growth, maturity, immaturity, memories, emotion, passion, art and more. Yet after all that time, I can’t help but think, “how did I keep myself going?”

    How do I keep myself going?

    With this. This is a letter to myself, for myself. (But also for the rest of the world to enjoy). This is how one twenty-something-year-old finds inspiration. This is his art. These are the quotes, the pictures, the songs, that make him feel something.

    I’m not looking for enlightenment. I’m definitely not sitting here hoping that I’ll strike an epiphany at some point down the road and everything will fit into place like some preschool jigsaw puzzle. This blog is for me. It’s the reminder of why I wake up, why I am who I am, why I love what I love, and why I live the way I live.

    So when do I stop? When do I no longer need the motivation? Or, even better, when do I finish sounding like a hormonal, coffee-induced, sleep-deprived college student?

    I think that’s the point. The motivation never stops. This is my life, and I definitely won’t ever finish.

    Dear Joe,

    You have a hell of a job ahead of you.

    Much love,