A New Chapter.

I’ve always been somewhat of a weirdo. High school was a puzzle where I tended to hover in search of my place. College for the most part was the same. I grew bored and uncomfortable in the tiny town of Tallahassee studying for my meteorology degree– pursuing what I thought was my life path.

But after I graduated from grad school, I decided to go to advertising school.

It was a bit of a whim. I didn’t have the confidence I do now, but those initial conversations I shared with those at Miami Ad School were perhaps more formative than my college degrees. It gave me a sense of community I never felt elsewhere, but had always sought after. I made new lifelong friends—a big crazy group of bold creatives that had been missing my entire life. I roamed across the globe and back. I met endless interesting people and explored places that have dotted this chapter of my life like glitter.

I owe so much to this new path of mine. And sometimes it floors me just how important that casual decision to begin ad school has been in the life I have now. It surpasses every other effort I made in my younger years in pursuit of what I thought was a ‘good career’. Now I have this career I truly adore, but also a creative outlet that I am not sure I could go without.

Creativity is the tonic that fuels all of my pursuits. Creating something, be it a blog post here or words I string together, is an exercise I have embraced my entire life—I just didn’t realize it until now. I always desired to achieve ‘talent’ in the many pursuits I have grappled with, and while perhaps I am getting there, I know I still have a long way to go. But that excites me.

I have graduated advertising school and have learned so much about myself. But above all, I have learned that it is creativity that brings me my biggest joy. The struggles and the cycles are what pull me out of bed every morning. It isn’t so much the success or skill I necessarily need. Of course I’d like that, but ultimately it is the process I crave above all else. I am proud of this passion and grateful that much of my daily existence is dedicated to creating. 

When you start doing something from the heart, you find a rhythm that feels natural and eventually, this becomes a part of who you are.

In the end, I have discovered that it is all quite simple. When it comes to anything important in life—be it friendships, relationships, work or the art you make—when it comes to anything, if it doesn’t feel like an avalanche in your chest, if it doesn’t move you, make your heart swell and inspire you, if it doesn’t come from the deepest part of who you are, it is not for you.

No matter what direction I head in next, I know it will faithfully point towards the sole purpose of making something, a thing marked by me.