One of my favorite quotes is from the writer David Sedaris: “Weird doors open, people fall into things.”
I recently had some good fortune come my way. It was from a seed that I planted a long time ago. And that seed came from a tree that came from a seed that I planted long before that.
I’ve planted a series of seeds in my life that have turned into a garden of friends and opportunities. A garden of the story of my life, that ended up being good as of recent. A good garden as a whole.
I think a great secret to life is to calm down and do things you love, that you can do. Focus on that. Focus on doing what you love with what you have. And I know that sounds clique, but I mean it in the way that beauty is best captured at the moment by anyone, by any means available. That process, however humble, elevates your art to unknown heights.
The illustrate the point better, I’ll refer to a line said by an old friend of mine, who is a successful photographer, when I asked her, “What is the best camera?” She laughed, and said, “Well, Joe, there is an old saying in photography. Which is that, when a person asks you, what is the best camera? The correct response is always, ‘Whichever camera you have on you?”
Great art happens when you fall into it. So make art. Never let the humbleness of your tools or timing hold you back.
Great art is made when you listen to and act in obedience to the innocuous voices in your head that have what your person thinks are good ideas — ‘First thought, best thought’, as they say in the world of improv comedy.
