“Without suffering there cannot be happiness.” — Thich Nhat Hanh If you don’t know what pain feels like, how can you possibly know pleasure? One is the absence of the other. You have to experience both to know the difference. And trust me, I am very learned in the world of suffering. I know failure.… Continue reading Embrace Rejection
Tag: mental state
The Anticipation!
Tis the season… for anticipation! Go back to your childhood… remember how excited you were in all the days leading up to opening presents on Christmas morning? That’s the peak dopamine hit right there. As a kid, surfing on that wave of anticipation was what Christmas was all about. Metaphorically, that’s how I feel right… Continue reading The Anticipation!
Memory Maker
One of the best parts of my job as an artist is evoking emotion from others. My favorite works of art often move me. They move me to tears, to smile, to roar! As a connoisseur, I am drawn to art that makes me feel something. So when I was recently contacted by an old… Continue reading Memory Maker
Gratitude
This time of year excels at turning my attention towards all of the things I am thankful for. And while listing those things and declaring one’s gratitude out into the internet may seem like a trite enterprise nowadays, I really don’t care. I am thankful for a lot, so I gotta shout it out. Completely… Continue reading Gratitude
Let’s Watch
It sounds corny, I know it. But I don’t care. It’s the truth: I miss cuddling. At the end of a long stressful day, one of my favorite things to do when I was married was to hold my wife in my arms and just breathe together. Our heartbeats and our respiratory rhythm would sync… Continue reading Let’s Watch
Feature Wall of the Madeley Gallery
During the month of November, ten brand new artworks of mine are on view and for sale at the Madeley Gallery of the Conroe Art League in Conroe, TX. This series, “Movement Over Calm,” is one that captures my fascination with athletic disposition over a base of calm centeredness. Two keys to my sanity are… Continue reading Feature Wall of the Madeley Gallery
Notes from the Road
Hello, friends! After a two-week road trip to central Illinois visiting family and showing my work at two art festivals, I am finally back in Texas, back to the blogosphere, ready to share some thoughts. Number one: Road trips are fun! Even though I was by myself for this one, there is something very liberating… Continue reading Notes from the Road
The Journey Is the Reward
When I left Chicago and decided to start over in Texas, I knew I was in for some tough times. Creating something from nothing — in this case, an art career — that can sustain one’s life both monetarily and spiritually was a task full of hardships, many of which I couldn’t even conceive. And… Continue reading The Journey Is the Reward
Let Go
Let. Go. They are just two, simple words. And yet the action they call for still seems impossible. From the moment I wake each day my mind races with all of the things — the menial, the necessary, the dire, the clutter — and the anxiety associated with each one compounds into the next one… Continue reading Let Go
I’ll Be Happy When…
A familiar quote landed on my radar again this week reminding me to get my shit together. It’s one I’ve read many times and one I try to implement as often as possible. Yet it still seems to escape me. It’s Sam Harris‘: “You can’t wait to solve all your problems to be happy.” You… Continue reading I’ll Be Happy When…