Read time: ~ 2 min. of your LIFE
[Issue #20240222]
Reader! It's been awhile, eh?
Hey, my friend!
I hope all is well.
This is the first newsletter back since the whole "rebranding" thing (which is still kinda happening).
I hope you enjoy this new format (you might not even notice a difference).
I try not to expect things.
It drives me insane.
That's why I developed Edict #5 of The Imaginator's Manifesto (remember that?):
"We are past caring about whether or not it's going to work out for us."
It's not that I'm not confident in my abilities.
At this point, I'm pretty damn confident.
And that's the problem.
When you develop competency, your confidence grows, and you begin to subconsciously expect things to go your way.
But life runs on its own accord.
Even if you deserve it more than anyone else (how could you even know that?), life will show you that you don't deserve a damn thing.
So why am I talking about this?
Well, recently, I've received signs.
Inklings of something promising on the horizon.
I'm starting to get excited, but I'm also getting ahead of myself.
I'm waiting for the good news as if the good news is guaranteed.
I want this thing so bad, Reader, and I'm praying it works out.
I'm trying to "manifest" it or something.
I'm ready for it.
So ready.
I just need the chance.
The mere chance.
The opportunity.
Wish me luck, Reader.
Pray for me.
Send good vibes.
However you do it...
I could use it (lol).
I hope I get to share great news with you all so I can also tell you how I did it.
Anywho, let's get into today's newsletter.
True self-care starts here:
3 SELF-MASTERY/CREATIVITY TIPS
I. "Better than yesterday, not as good as tomorrow"
This is what a great musician once said to me, and it's always on my mind.
It's easy to get caught up in the fear, the doubt, the worry, the expectation.
You're pursuing something so meaningful to you without any guarantee of it working out.
You're constantly assessing the gap from where you are to where you want to be.
To think about anything but the art itself is to hinder the potential of the art.
Each time you get caught up in obsessing about the future, remember to focus on the now.
Focus on the craft.
Our only job is to be better than yesterday, but not as good as tomorrow.
II. The world is materially worse off without your art...
“The way mad scientists, and great entrepreneurs, view the world is that their idea must exist and that a world without it is materially worse off.” — Keith B. Nowak
What Nowak articulates here is ridiculously dead-on, and I think this applies to creatives too.
If you are serious about your art and sharing it with as many people as possible, you have to think this way.
Or else, you'll never approach it with the force it needs.
III. Sherry Ning on Procrastination
Sherry Ning is one of my favorite writers, and she's always spitting straight facts:
Tomorrow doesn't exist, Imaginator.
Get after it!
MY CREATIVE CORNER
~ 1 min. read
BIG NEWS:
But...
If you've been reading this newsletter for a minute now, you've already been privy to this information :)
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Music I'm listening to:
I've been listening non-stop to Jahari Stampley's "Power" (my friend, Jeremiah Collier, on the drums!)
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