The thing about acorns...

An acorn has incredible potential. It bares the potential to grow into a ginormous oak tree that will outlive, outgrow and out number any one of us.The only requirement the acorn has is that it be planted. Once planted, it will grow. You can plant the acorn wherever you want. Put it in a garden of roses, treat it no different than the rest of it's peers and it will still grow to be nothing short of a great oak tree. Yes, it might face some difficulty at first. Perhaps it wont get the right light exposure, or not be in the optimal soil but give it time, patience and a little TLC and you can be certain it will survive. It will take root and dig down deep in order to find the right nourishment, it's leaves and branches will grow in the directions it needs to in order to make it.

Maybe in the early years, someone will walk through the garden and wonder what that silly little seedling was doing among that giant bed of roses. Ignore them and wait, wait another 25-50 years, let nature take its course. I bet people will be talking about those silly little roses that live among that great oak tree.

I personally am someone who considers themselves more of a dandelion than an oak. This giant ball of potential, waiting for the right push, the right wind, the right puff to come along in order to get started. To some it may be seen as somewhat of a weed or annoyance. To others it's the most miraculous thing, a little wand waiting to be picked. Regardless of what you personally think of them, you can't deny their whimsy and magic. Dandelions call for you to join in on the experience. They have the potential to thrive no matter where you put them, and the fact that they carry no baggage allows them to travel far and wide. Maybe some days I am not the typical dandelion, but I can promise you I always aspire to be like one.

Dandelions and acorns, they don't just grow, they thrive.

Catch-22

So here in lies the rub. To accomplish "Better, Faster, Stronger," one must find a path that allows them to do so. Does the location chosen reflect on the success of the working party? Will my artwork/photographic career path suffer if I move somewhere not with in the Los Angeles/New York success zone? Currently I feel no connection to either city, and would like a new path, somewhere to get a little comfortable and spread out for a while. But does my choice in doing so severely impact my future desires of success? I am completely and utterly lost in thought constantly, debating over whether moving to San Francisco is a good idea at all. But when honest, I know that the commercial photography market there isn't really readily available, and most likely I would have more opportunities in New York, but San Francisco seems safe to me, and I think I could use a little bit of safe to allow myself and my work to grow and expand. There I have a community and an ability to live on my own. A space to create work, and a net of people when work gets a little to deep. So why not? What's holding me back? Once again, the crux of the argument. Why are big first steps so hard? Can't I just reinvent myself a second time if needed? I need a little guidance and I don't know where to get it.

The New Year

Better Faster Stronger is attempting to do so... We promise that 2010 will be Betterer, Fasterer, and Strongerer!

"Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to slip through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won't be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there, to the edge of the world. There's something you can't do unless you get there"

-Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore  

Moments...

Everything you know isn't as it seems....