Day 159: The Bare Necessities

In India, I have needed very little compared to the things I thought important in the United States.  An abundance of clothing, a refrigerator and cabinets full of food and all sorts of material possessions were necessities.  I have realized that all of those things are not needed for happiness or even security. 

Soon, I will be taking a voyage with just a backpack to Nepal.  That is all I will have for ten days.  I have been thinking very hard about what I will fill that bag with.  What is completely necessary? 

Is underwear completely needed?  If so, how many pairs?  Do I leave room to collect things along the way on my trip?  How many Apple chargers do I need to bring?  Do I pack shorts or pants?

I find the people here fascinating because of their need for less stuff.  They don't even need more space.  500 sq ft is considered a nice-sized apartment.  This takes me back to my days of living in California where my first apartment was the same size. However, the population of San Francisco is far less.   

After looking at all these questions that flooded my mind, I came to the realization that I need none of these things.  Yes, I do need clothes but not a different outfit for every day of the week.  There will be places to do laundry.  Also, as I have learned during my stays in Goa, clothes wash in the sink too.  Do I need to pack underwear at all?  No.  

When you strip away all these things that we think we 'need', you come to know that you don't really need any of these things at all.  In this day and age, there are stores where you can get what you forgot or need on the road or the train.  Some items are available on the train itself or in an airport.   

Ok, a toothbrush and toothpaste are two items that I know for sure I will be tagging along with me.  I can't stand fuzzy teeth.  It must be known that I find it pointless to wear deodorant in India.  I am a sweat-er and it doesn't matter how much deodorant you wear something always smells worse and more overpowering than you do.  Poor Doug.  

Day 156: A Blessing or A Curse?

When looking at all of the amazing artifacts dating hundreds of years old, I have been thinking about what will I leave behind once this life is over.  Do we leave behind things that people flock to or do we leave behind things that people run away from?  Do we leave behind a blessing or a curse?

Statues of Gods and Goddesses, relics and stories handed down by mouth alone are all things that I am learning about in the cultural richness of this great country of India.  History is something that the people here are surrounded by constantly.  I am often asked why my fascination leads me to take numerous pictures of such ordinary things that the Indian people treat as common as a park bench.  Perhaps, this is what we do with things in our own lives.

When was the last time you looked at your mother and/or father and looked at them as people who wanted to leave a legacy alive inside of you?  Have you ever looked at the things that you have collected and wondered, or even appreciated, why you collected them in the first place?  Can you hear, smell or touch the exact moment when you found the item?  What was the memory that you attached to it?

We leave behind words, waste or emotions all the time and never think about it?  In other words, we are not present to our own presence.  When we leave these things behind with intention -both, positive and, unfortunately, negative, we are then an effective human being.  Are we someone that people are happy that you are coming?  Or, are we someone that people are excited to see you go?  

Negative things can be a blessing and positive things can be a curse.  Which one do you choose? 

Day 152: Ready, Set, Create

Since graduating The Academy of Art University in 2011, I had all but given up on a career that I had dreamed of since my younger days of creating art and getting paid for it.  I had excelled in all art forms - music, theatre and visual art.  Even after graduating with distinction from The Academy of Art University from the Fine Arts department, I hadn’t landed gallery representation or been noticed by that one person that would make me famous.  

At this time, rent in San Francisco, CA was starting to skyrocket.  I was working three jobs to pay for my room/residence and my studio at Art Explosion Studios.  I was a barista in the financial district, a bartender/server in the mission and an artist.  The ladder was becoming less affordable regardless of my resourcefulness.  I did the routine for a year.  I was exhausted, broke and, honestly, hungry.  

With that said, my artist career was going to look different moving back to the Midwest.  In St Joseph, MO there was no resembalance of what I knew of as an art community.  In San Francisco, art was like yoga.  You had drawing workshops, gallery openings and even classes on marketing yourself as an artist any given time or day.  I packed up my belongs, loaded all my unsold artwork in trailer and I made the best of it that I could.  I began Marketing for a family business and emerged myself in the community I loved and missed so much.  I started to forget - “I am an artist.”

I created less.  I went into depression.  I started taking antidepressants and seeing a counselor.  I look in retrospect and maybe I could have been an artist in that environment.  The more I am honest with myself, it becomes obvious that because where I was didn’t meet my expectations, I gave up.  Environment is essential as an artist.  I should have left.  And, that’s exactly what I did.   

Now, fast forward to the present, I am living in one of the largest cities in the world, Mumbai, India.  There is literally creativity everywhere.  There is art in every way of life here.  I have started creating again.  I have started living again!  I have an iPhone11+, an Instagram account, Facebook Pages, a Twitter, a Redbubble Store, a Pinterest wall, a LinkedIn account, a yoga teachers certificate, a Squarespace website and a blog.  I am ready now, right?  

While, at the time, I tried to blame people, money and time, I had no one to blame but myself for my lack of inspiration and creation.  In that truth, there is freedom.  In that statement, there is creation and possibility.  In my journey, I’m learning all the time that my expectation caused me to make choices that actually took my dreams away from myself.  I was and am the holder of that key.  So, ready, set, create. 

Day 150: To be famous?

While many of us think of a job as a means to an end, many others are looking at a job as the thing we were born to do.  I remember being in high school and taking a career assessment test.  My assessment came back saying that my career path would be best suited for engineering.  While, at times, I can be innovative and a very stealthy problem solver, I wanted to be famous.  

I wanted to be famous.  I had no idea what fame was other than everyone would know my name and life would be easy.  I had dreams of being on Broadway because my community theatre and high school experience granted me such dream.  I wanted to be a famous singer.  Although, now, I am not sure what type of fame that would have entailed.  Then, in college, I wanted to be a famous artist.  I knew what that looked like.  I would be called to be in all of these galleries and I could just create art all day long in my studio.  

Now, in reality, I spent so much time wanting to be famous that I didn't take the time to just create because everything I did was going to create this fame.  My art was good and my ego was way too strong.  Wanting fame not only made me feel like I was missing out on something, it made me miss out on the whole part of becoming famous.  I would even say that because I didn't achieve this fame, I was worth nothing.  

Go back to the times before social media where you didn't have endless platforms to put yourself out on.  This is before YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.  Are we able to remember such a time?  This was before the smart phone.  Many people know about Steve Jobs, but many more people know about the iPhone.  It would be safe to say that the iPhone won the fame game.  was Steve Jobs ever jealous of his creation's fame?

As I started creating my InstaStory today, I thought about how this need for fame has diminished.  The need has been replaced with pure creation.  I am not creating for someone to notice me.  I'm not singing so someone will book me for a show.  I'm not taking endless photographs for a gallery to pick me up and sell my art.  I do all these things because I have.  I have to because it's who I am.  I am a creator.  I find inspiration in things people don't ordinarily pay attention to.  Creativity is like air to me.  Without creativity, I have serious issues.  

When I dissect this idea of fame, I have to say I am famous in my own way.  I am brave.  I have performed in some amazing spaces including Carnegie Hall.  I have shown my artwork on the campus of Google itself in Mountain View, CA.  I have served my community with my talents.  I guess you could say - Fame comes from within.  I create because that's who I am.  

Trying to be famous is like going to the casino and saying I'm going to win $1,000,000.  It rarely happens, but, every now and then, you win $60 on a slot machine called Kitty Glitter.