When I first moved to Bushwick I started noticing "Siamese Connection" fire department thingies all over the warehouses and lofts.
I also happened to have a Siamese cat at the time and collected little ceramic figurines that looked like her. I thought this was a fun wordplay and an excuse to see where my little guys would hang out in the wild. 🌞🐈
Quarantine has been a difficult time for me as a shop-exploring, gallery attending, ever-new-food-finding extrovert. One of my greatest joys is typically taking photos in the city—capturing people and architecture on Polaroid. I decided to take a class on Skillshare to keep myself inspired and get out for some socially distant self-portraits. It felt nice to dive back into a few of my favorite places and snag a few different sides of myself.
Brooklyn Bridge was the first iconic spot I visited a few years back on my virgin voyage to the city. To this day it’s still one of my favorite pieces of architecture. I’m holding my favorite film camera, a Nikon FM, which I bring with me nearly everywhere.
Prospect Park has always been my favorite little slice of nature in the city. When I first moved to Crown Heights two years ago, I realized how lucky I was to have this beautiful park at my doorstep. In Minnesota, I was always surrounded by water and greenery, which are the most meditative environments.
I’m a night-owl and create some of my best work in the inky-blue hours. This environment is where I’ve landed most of my major design jobs, spent hours illustrating, and perfecting my website. There’s something satisfying about the glow of a screen at 3:22 am when you know you’re creating something amazing.
This year I’ve met some pretty amazing people, deepened relationships with friends who have become family, and learned a lot about myself. Some of these learnings have taken years, and I’m overdue. For being paid to communicate visually, I wasn’t very good at doing the same with my words and actions. I have a tendency to assume things based on anxiety, or spinning situations into unnecessarily complex places. I have moments where I push people away with my actions.
I’m learning to find peace where there used to be a lot of noise.
I’ve learned to take feedback, grown from my experiences, become PATIENT, and moved past limitations I thought were written in stone. It’s made me a more dynamic and happy person because when it comes down to it, life is pretty simple:
1. Care deeply about the humans around you. There are a specific few I have in mind personally, (including the one who took this photo,) who I need to buy a beer instantly and give a tremendous hug to as soon as possible.
2. You’re doing great. Right where you are now. We’re all dealing with issues that we don’t talk about, and there’s no need to beat yourself up for making mistakes. You’re human, it’s a part of our job description to fuck up sometimes. The caveat: don’t keep fucking up in the same way when you figure it out.
3. Be aware and open to growth, always. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? Making connections, finding love, fulfillment and finding true happiness.
Honestly, we’ve got this whole human thing in the bag, it’s just going to take a lifetime of practice to get it right. 😊
