Start Before You're Ready
Seven years ago I was depressed, in an abusive relationship with alcohol, and completely out of touch with my passion and purpose. I felt utterly lost and disconnected from any sort of path, and spent most of my time numbing out that pain.
Since then I have performed in three festivals, my photography has appeared in a magazine, and my writing has been featured in a book. I've attended the Academy of Burlesque and graduated from the Clown Conservatory. I’ve reconnected with old passions and discovered new ones. I've taken many classes, worked on many projects, met many amazing people, performed in many shows. Oh yeah and I’ve been sober 6+ years. I've had numerous different teachers along the way, all who specialized in their own particular discipline, medium, or field. What I itched for was a mentor; someone to take me under their wing, tell me what I was good at, show me the way, even just the next tiny step. Instead I sorted and sifted through many classes, books, articles, and podcasts. I interrogated friends, artists, professionals, and anyone else I could corner. I had false starts, took copious wrong turns, got lost as fuck, made many many many new "master plans," laughed as I completely changed them, and also cried. I stopped and started and stopped and started and stopped and started and stopped (and started). A lot. The process has never been easy or smooth, but I have learned SO MUCH y'all. As I learned about creativity and how to forge that difficult path, I also grew up. I learned about life, how to be a human, and what kind of human I wanted to be. Life lessons and creative lessons all swirled together and became more intertwined than I ever expected. Turns out life itself is a creative pursuit.
We all know this year has been a bitch. Even the best laid plans— gone. The transformation and growth have continued nonetheless. This fall I received a message loud and clear: the mentor I'd been waiting for? That's me. And it's time to give back, to give what I didn't get, to reach out my hand and help others. I've been there, and it's time to share what I've learned.
The first lesson is: Start before you're ready.
Because you're never gonna be “ready."
There will always be a reason to wait another day, until you can afford better equipment, have a better idea, are wiser, smarter, thinner.
But you're not gonna have a better idea until you get your hands dirty and work through your Right Now idea. I promise you don't need to wait until you have better equipment. You already have the most important tool: you. As my photography teacher said, "The best camera is always the one you have." Because without it, you can't take a damn photo! So don't wait until that perfect day in the future when you will magically be ready. Because if you do, you'll be waiting your whole damn life. Dive in today. Get your hands dirty. Take the first step. You got this.
Don’t wait one more day to start your life.