Comment on Mate by TreeHairedGingerAle
I dont see any pictures of you on your page but you definitely have a spirit of one that isn't quite 40. Im 29. So what inspires you art wise these days? What drives you to do the brilliant things that you do?
Well now you've done it. It's a loaded question and that means I'm going to have to talk. 
A lot. But if I had to pick one thing it would be:
Death.
To elaborate, I suppose that I'm having something of a second adolescence. I've been forced to look at everything that my life has been, and I realize that I've put off being myself for a long, long, *long* time. Somewhat because of my father's cruelty. Somewhat because of my mother's hopes and expectations. Somewhat because of the racism that I experienced in school. Somewhat because of how people looked at my height/weight.
But I understand now that trying to placate everyone else all of the time was a waste. ...of course, there isn't much I can do to *change* the impact it's had on me now. I don't have the kind of income to go exploring the world, like one does in movies. To change a few of my...relationships...would shatter a couple of the people that I care about and want to protect, even if it means that I'm, once again, putting myself in the backseat.
So *this* is all I have to work with. The art interest, the poetry website I'm working on, the new wardrobe choices I'm experimenting with at a painfully slow pace, the expansion of my political and social viewpoints (eventually, hopefully, with a new circle of friends to match)...this is how I can explore and express all of the bits of self that I've bottled up 'till now. This is how I practice being me. And that's my goal: to find out what it is like to be *all* of myself, not just the palatable pieces. To write/create some things that may help, speak to, or at least entertain others who are in the same stew.
Before that self turns to dust.
And you? What's got your steering wheel?
A lot. But if I had to pick one thing it would be:Death.
To elaborate, I suppose that I'm having something of a second adolescence. I've been forced to look at everything that my life has been, and I realize that I've put off being myself for a long, long, *long* time. Somewhat because of my father's cruelty. Somewhat because of my mother's hopes and expectations. Somewhat because of the racism that I experienced in school. Somewhat because of how people looked at my height/weight.
But I understand now that trying to placate everyone else all of the time was a waste. ...of course, there isn't much I can do to *change* the impact it's had on me now. I don't have the kind of income to go exploring the world, like one does in movies. To change a few of my...relationships...would shatter a couple of the people that I care about and want to protect, even if it means that I'm, once again, putting myself in the backseat.
So *this* is all I have to work with. The art interest, the poetry website I'm working on, the new wardrobe choices I'm experimenting with at a painfully slow pace, the expansion of my political and social viewpoints (eventually, hopefully, with a new circle of friends to match)...this is how I can explore and express all of the bits of self that I've bottled up 'till now. This is how I practice being me. And that's my goal: to find out what it is like to be *all* of myself, not just the palatable pieces. To write/create some things that may help, speak to, or at least entertain others who are in the same stew.
Before that self turns to dust.
And you? What's got your steering wheel?
I like the way you put things. I can really see your view point on putting how you feel over how you "deal". The average human being will go their entire lives and never just ask,"what about me?" I relate to that a lot. I chose the military because it was something to do that wasn't working dead in jobs due to my parents not being able to afford my collage. 10 years later here I am. I am mostly a self expressive comic artist. Everything I ever think or want to say is considered politically incorrect compared to what the rest of the world wants to hear. This includes the one sided military, this country that was obviously built on hushing us up, and anybody with a close minded soul.
Comics were my escape from reality. Sometimes I feel smarter than what I see...a lot of times I am right. So I turn to minds like yours to feel better. Responsibility is the only thing that keeps me in the military for now. My art will eventually be sold in either poetry, book, or comic form. I like the way you do what you do. I never dabbled much into that form of artwork but I find your technique very soulful.
Well then, hey. Let's keep in touch--send me a note anytime you like.I've known for a couple months now that, *since* there are a couple of people that depend on me being where I am (like you say...responsibilities), the logical alternative is, not to move, but to branch *outwards* and seek more artistic/socially-progressive types that can help me grow. We can nourish each other.
Or, you know...tip us each further into madness. xP Trial and error is the name of the game, I am slowly learning.
I know a lot about trial and error. I cant wait to send you a note. And thank you for the Watch as well!