Good morning, Monday. Hope your weekend was all that. How 'bout that Game of Thrones though?
So I've talked about this before but it's worth chatting again given my recent posts about reinvention. I have always held true to the belief that going back to childhood for clues about what you should really be doing with your life is a sound strategy. As in- go on, be a kid again.
What I mean by this is that those romantic poets we studied in English lit were on to something. Wordsworth famously said that "the child is the father of man". I believe that to be true, particularly when it comes to our life's work. I'm well aware that a few things happen along the way in this thing called life. But to me, being a child is the purest expression of who we are, before the world gets a hold of us and influences us to sometimes not follow our dreams. This may not be true for everyone mind you, but it's certainly true for me.
As a child all of my time and energy and focus was spent on creative pursuits. Whether I was drawing or writing, it was always a creative endeavor that made me happy and feel most myself. I recently watched this excellent documentary on Antonio Lopez, whose fashion illustrations were hugely influential on me as a child. I would stare at them for hours and try to draw my very own version. I also wrote short stories and poems and was always so intrigued by artists and writers during my young life. But then of course life happened and i took a bit of a different path. It's true I've always worked with creative people, but having had such a strong identity as a creative as a child, I spent a lifetime wondering how to get back there. And here I am. Inner child cliches aside, I feel back in touch with the person I always wanted to be.
If you are feeling lost in the dark woods of indecision about what to do next, look forward, but also look back. I guarantee there are some clues in your young life to help decode your future. And if you're doing something you really love that allows you to connect to that pure joy you felt as a kiddo, that's just awesome.
And for all my pals who are parents out there, please encourage your children to follow their dreams, however crazy they may sound. Be a guardian of what they love and enjoy that journey with them. It's everything.
Wishing you lots of love and inspiration this week. "Tis the season for reinvention. Cause that's what's up this thing called life kind of Monday in the 718. Yours, in not kidding around. XO