Hiya, Friday. It's the home stretch for me in Detroit and I had an amazing time. Yesterday on the ride home from set,I saw some real sadness and suffering- this city is in need of so much help- so many burnt out neighborhoods and poverty- and although we as art lovers and gloomy urban warriors find the decay strangely beautiful, it's also quite horrible and shocking. I so hope that the auto industry, as well as any other industry that is smart enough to make Detroit home, will employ more people and rebuild. No hurricane rolled through here- more like a perfect storm that tore the American dream asunder and tossed it aside. It's easier for some of us (though I can't imagine there are any of you out there who, if not directly affected by the economy don't know somebody close to you that has been) to relocate for work, stop shopping at Whole Foods for all of our groceries and Bloomingdales for our purses, or maybe polish our own nails to save some money, but in this city there are areas that are the barometer for the intensity of what is happening in this country- it's impossible to ignore the extreme economic hardship that this city has endured. I do hope that the big buzz over people moving back to cities will also bring more life into Detroit. It's worthy of such gifts. It's a beautiful place with super cool people that still love living here, regardless.
And speaking of gifts, I've been working with a wonderful photographer who has had a fascinating and charmed life- the life of a man who has lived 1000 years or more. He is self taught, has been around the world and back a milion times, and has married a woman much his junior, but also his muse, and vice versa. He is colorful, eccentric, entertaining, and very much his own person. He is just the type of human being that restores my faith in a simple thing: living in one's truth.There is no greater gift, is there?
Many of us who have worked in advertising (and surely many other industries) complain incessantly about how hard work is, how much pressure we are under, and how we can't take another minute of the insanity. I'm not at all disagreeing, but somehow I think there are too many people doing what they were not meant to do. If we all stopped and thought about whether we would be devastated if we could no longer work in our jobs, if suddenly they were taken from us (not talking about financial loss, but emotional) and we could never go back, would it be sad? Probably not. This photographer, if he could not take pictures, would not be sad, I can tell you that. Because although he is fantastic at it and has made a great career of it, he would be agile enough to simply move on- because his truth is not in taking pictures, but in being a creative free spirit who would find some other way to be who he is and contribute to the world. People who know who they are are nimble like that.
If you have found that place of truth and purity, good for you. Many of you under 30 may not even understand what I'm talking about, but as you age you realize you have to be who you are, or you start living in a place of regret. Life is too short and too precious. My truth is revealing itself more every day- and although I don't love agency politics and reactionary spaz attacks, I do realize I can still enjoy going on production, as long as I am allowed to assign my own stamp to it. And we all know I love writing, and this blog and some other assignments of late have allowed me to feel whole and ultimately true, each and every day. I looked around yesterday and realized it's still possible to have fun in this business, as long as you have the freedom to be who you are and work with people that are talented. That's the bottom line. Don't work for anyone or any place that doesn't allow your personality and style to come through, or who you don't respect. It'll get ya, I promise. There are no subsitutes for your quirks or ya yas. You're you and that's that. Like the sign above says. And once you stop blaming others for your unhappiness, you may realize you're not as unhappy as you think- you're probably unhappy because you're not living your very own unapologetic life.
And once you come to the acceptance of the fact that your work style or style in general is not going to please everyone (and that not everyone is going to love what you're throwing down), it's even more proof that you need to find those people that bring out your best work, your best mood, and your best shot. Unless you know something I don't, you only go around once. So be who you are already, would you? So you can simply be HERE.
Just some random thoughts for you as I wind down from a fun week. May you all have a lovely long weekend if you are stateside and may all the others enjoy some weekend time too. Do something that makes you happy. Cause that's what's up this authentically and unapologetic Friday in the D Rock. Looking forward and never back. XO
Oh and ps...thought of this just now on the treadmill and wanted to add...don't put up with anything but the best- if you work with people that suck, either work around them to make or do great things or get the hell out. Bad people suck. Oh and don't forget how lucky we are to have the luxury to ponder such things- very lucky indeed.