Category: inspirational

How calligraphy has helped me appreciate life better

Calligraphy is one thing that I am so thankful I have been learning for over 2 years. The effect that it can have ones life is astonishing. For example when you get into calligraphy and learn that you can improve. Also that if you know what you are doing you will get better fast.

Now lets get into the title of the post. Calligraphy has taught me that one: Fail, fail, fail and fail some more. Through the attempts that you have made you will succeed. Also that you have to slow the hell down and appreciate the fine details.
Because with calligraphy there are many fine details. The fine details of the letters, the details of the flourishes are breathtaking.

Second thing calligraphy has taught me is to believe in my work even more. Because when you start learning calligraphy it can be hard to keep at it. The reason is how many people get frustrated and or get bored. If you stick with something and don’t give up you will see little bits of progress.

Seeing the progress is what excites me. When I see how each of my finished calligraphy pieces are better each time gets me motivated more and more. Knowing that I came from producing work that I feel was garbage is great.  I say that its great because I know I did not stop at the top and I worked my way up from the bottom.

The third thing is that I want to get better. Knowing that I am able to improve is wonderful. We as humans love to see growth and us to get better. The only way to get better is to fail often. Because if you are not failing in whatever you are doing you will not get better.

The fourth thing is that you should not get comfortable using the same tools over and over. With calligraphy tools there are many that have been used and some that are more comfortable than others. But I for one know that If I have been using a certain tool too often its time to stop using it.

Calligraphy has helped me as a designer tremendously. There is benefit of using your hands to create compared to not using them at all.

No more excuses

This time of year many of us want to take the time to set new years resolutions. Well me personally I learned that taking the time to set them does no benefit whatsoever.

For me setting goals is whats more important. This past couple of months I had honestly fell off of the wagon with setting goals. Because I had fell into the same system of doing the same thing over and over.

An example is how I would study mandarin often. Then I just got frustrated and stopped giving it my all. Because when I was learning it I felt great. The reason is I knew that I was doing what I should to help me progress further in life.

If there is something that you want to do then there should be no more excuses for you. While I am writing this I am on a plane back home from my vacation. The issues that I had went through with waiting for my flight to get to the airport I was flying out of was frustrating at one point.

But what I learned from Jim Rohn was to not be upset in any situation that is not working the way it was planned to. Instead be fascinated. So you should be fascinated with yourself by not doing things that you know you should be doing.

Just think how much your life would change if you did not make any more excuses. If you like me actually took the time to post new material to your etsy shop as often as you post on your instagram feed and various other things.

Do more of what you know you should be doing and stop making excuses. Because another year has passed how long are you going to be doing the same thing over each day. As well as working at the shitty job you are at. You should be smart about it and start working on your own projects.

The Tools Do not matter

 

If you have ever had this ideal of I need to have the best tools do what it is that I want to do. Well let me tell you there is nothing wrong with that at all. The main thing is that you shouldn’t be solely dependent upon them.

Because in the video I used a very basic marker that you may have been surprised that I used. The marker that I used was a crayola washable marker and the other that I used was a tombow brush pen. I wanted to show that the tools do not matter. The tools only matter to the person who is using them.

A real person would be able to make use of anything that they have. When someone has the capability of not making any excuse for not having the best tools they are well on their way. I for one fell into the trap of thinking having the best tools would help me get better. when in reality the only way that I would get better is with practicing.

Now there is nothing wrong with having the best tools money can buy I get that. Because some people want to start off with the best right away. Well for one you do not know how much time you are going to actually devote to what you are going to do. A lot of people fall into the trap of doing something because it feels good or its cool at the time.

So I want you to take this with you do not think any point in time that anything is going to happen overnight and or the tools will make you a better designer. Because none of that matters in the long run. What truly matters is the time that you are willing to put into your craft.

The truth is all there is

The truth is all there is no matter how you try to avoid it. There are many people who are frauds and pretend to be something and or someone they are not. But you know that is not our problem. As long as you are being transparent with what you are doing and who you are.

Another thing is to not sell yourself short with anything you do. If you know that there is something you do not know there is nothing wrong with admitting you do not know that. I will be the first to say I used to be scared of admitting such things.

But over time I realized that I was being more honest and thorough with myself by not pretending. Trying daily to not fall into the trap of those who talk about doing things but when you honestly know they only like the title and telling people about things they are not actually doing.

Remember this Honesty is always the best policy it will save you a lot of headaches and suffering.

 

P.S Guess what day it is its my Birthday 🙂

Dealing with Dark times as a creative person

There are many times as a creative person we deal with many dark thoughts are or many different things. But you know that is normal for anyone to deal with. Not everyone on this earth is an angel or thinks positive 24/7.

The times that everything seems to be going wrong for you stop and reflect on the times that were good. Remember what you were doing before hand and get back to doing that. I recently had realized that there were many things that I had started being lazy with. Then I started to get frustrated and depressed a bit.

But I know that before when I was doing certain things such as promoting my calligraphy work, recording multiple videos for my youtube channel and uploading them how much fun I was having. So I decided you know what there is no excuse and that I needed to stop wasting so much time on things. A good example is apps and how you can get so lost in them. You could spend hours doing nothing on them.

Then after you close the app you would say to yourself what did I accomplish from all of the time I spent in it. I said that to myself time and time again. I am NOT saying apps are bad you just should not be spending all day in them if you know you have things you should be doing.

Do not be scared of the dark times when they come. Because they will come no matter how hard you try to avoid them. The main thing to remember it is how you deal with them. You can either let the darkness of times beat you into an oblivion and make you quit or you can fight back.

How to deal with not everyone liking you and your design work

You may be saying why would not everyone like me? I am a good person and I treat people nicely. Well let me break it down for you. There are people who think the same way as you.
Then you have those who just want to hate everything you do with no reason. Also you have those people who secretly want to see you fail. So you have to accept this and not be afraid of it. Because when someone learns this its hard to swallow.

For me when I was younger I did not think anyone would have a reason to dislike me. No matter how good I am and positive I am I will never be perfect in certain peoples eyes. But you know what I don’t care what they think. Honestly the only people’s opinions that matter first to me are my family members. Then after its friends opinions and how they see me.

When I first experienced a grueling critique of my design work in college I was devastated. But you know during the time of it I did not let it effect me. I was strong through the whole critique and dug deep mentally that I was not going to let it destroy my dreams. You may have experienced a time when someone was so brutal and almost made you want to give up.

Use those experiences to make people eat their words with how they made you feel. Like Frank Sinatra said the greatest type of revenge is massive success. I know that professors are only doing it to make you better. But lets be honest not everyone will see it that way. Some will either get offended and or make up an excuse to why they did so many things a certain way and others will just not care.

Use everyone experience as a learning curve to get better. Every thing someone says, that they do to you use it as energy to get through the tough times. There have been many times I had absolutely no drive to do certain things. But you know I always remember what I was told in design school about my typography and I most likely will never forget it.

Its the little things that will push you and drive you forward. So stop worrying and getting discouraged. Believe in yourself and most of all be honest with yourself.

When the Going gets tough

When ever the times get tough it will either make you or break you. Well not just the times a lot of heartbreak and failure. For example if you are applying to jobs and never get a call back. Experiencing things like that can make you want to give up. I for one experienced it many times.

But you know whenever things like that come my way I know that I will get through it. The same thing will be capable of you. But before you can get through it you have to believe you can get through it. If you do not believe you will make it through then 9 times out of 10 you will not.

First you have to be honest with yourself and what it is that you are doing. Recently I started working at FedEx office. The shift that I am working is third shift. Third shift is such a new experience for me and not something I have ever worked. But you know what I am going to do I am going to do my best while I am working there.

There have been times when I was frustrated because  did not know how to do such things. Another thing that I have to change is to realize that I have a team to help each other. The mentality of my previous day job was completing things in an instant. I know that over time I will it will be a breeze for me. Knowing that it will come easy for me is the same mentality you should say for your situation.

Because We both know that you can do it. Then you and me both will give it the most effort we possibly can. So why would you want to give otherwise. I know many people love sleeping and getting rest. I for the longest only have needed no more than 5 hours of sleep. I am not bragging about having such little sleep. I just feel bad if I wake up and have wasted my whole day in the bed.

I for one want to be all that I can possibly be. No matter how difficult the task may be. No matter how frustrating the task will be you can do it. The reason why I say you can do it instead of getting frustrated or going in your room to lay down face the rough times without fear. You have to run towards them and make them run from you.

My 2 years of posting on Instagram and new things

When I first started posting my calligraphy work to instagram I had first the idea of I was going to do it  just for a year and I’ll be done. But the more I kept at it and the better I started to get I could not quit. The reason I did not quit after a year was because I learned the saying show up for two years and then people will start to notice you.

Well It has been working out pretty good for me. At first I was a little upset when I did not see growth. But you know what I am going to keep going no matter what. Because what I do with it will be up to me. On November 10th that is the date when I will be launching my store to sell calligraphy prints and etc.

And one more thing i will be starting to post youtube videos in about a week or so. I have currently 4 videos queued up to post. So make sure you follow me on twitter, instagram, facebook, twitter youtube

Why confidence is key

If you do not possess the skill of being confident in yourself then lets talk for a sec. Because confidence stems from you having belief in yourself and what you are doing. If you have belief in yourself it will give you the mental strength to move forward towards your goals.

A lot of people don’t have confidence to stick with what they are doing. The people start out doing for example creating youtube videos. They post everyday and then they just fall off the face off of the earth it seems.

One of the main things I see time and time again is people not wanting do stick with something until they see a result. Just imagine how much more confident you would be if you stuck with that hobby you picked up. Maybe if you stuck with writing those blog posts you would get somewhere.

But with this said people do not have the correct mindframe that I am going to keep doing this until it works. Another way is that I am going to keep doing this and figure out how I can do it full time. Because when you start something its difficult and you do not have loads of confidence. As time goes on you will develop more confidence.

Confidence gets stronger over time just as if you were lifting weights. The simple exercises you can do is by doing that thing you are scared to do. By this I am referencing to getting out of your comfort zone. Being in your comfort zone is not allowing you to experience the full capability of what your confidence can do for you. Confidence can be mistaken for arrogance.

Yes there is a difference being a confident person and an arrogant person. An arrogant person is one who is all about themselves and not helping others. A confident person is fine with helping others achieve their goals.

When I was younger I will be the first to admit I was not confident. I was not confident in what I was doing. Then I was not confident in myself in any way shape or form. But you know I learned to use the experiences to help me develop the confidence in myself. One day I realized that I needed to stop hanging around certain groups of people.

Because confidence is key. If you are hanging around people who are not confident in themselves you will not be confident in yourself. If you are a creative person such as a graphic designer you more than likely will not have confidence in showing your work. No matter what way you try to spin it you want to do your best to protect your work and not get put down or criticized.

But once you learn that those who are critiquing your work are only trying to help you. The results of what you do with it depends upon you. Learn quickly to use your experiences and surroundings to a positive advantage for yourself.