The only way to be an artist is to lose yourself and work day and night.

Soren Kierkegaard said, "Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it."

If you've not made the world around you uneasy or uncomfortable, if you've generated no reaction, you have not moved.

It is your passion, your working towards something, that will give your life meaning. Do not be concerned with the opinions of others, they will only pull you away from your inner voice.

Once you know yourself, everything else is easy. With my birthday coming up this week, I'm realizing the older I get, the more comfortable I am with accepting myself. I'm not ashamed of my likes and dislikes, and don't mind cutting someone out of my life if they're bringing me down. I used to want to be liked by everyone, but no one lives a great life or becomes a great artist through needing that.

You have to spend time alone, go deep inside, get to know yourself. I have felt some of my greatest highs through doing this hard inner-work. Some of it may seem impossible, bursting into tears, early morning runs. Body broken, mind broken, spirit broken, but on the other side of pain is something you don't know right now. Challenges will only bring you closer to the best version of yourself.

When you know who you are, your passion is all over everything you do. Your very life is your art form, it is your essence.

xx,