Go again

After reading all the advice for beginners, I decided that my first post was not good enough. Yes, I will be sharing photos, some art and some writing but, I decided that sharing it “as is” was not something I wanted to do here. I love the idea of bringing value to the community and I want to do that. I’ve always struggled with this, finding my own value. I have very little college education, I’m pretty technologically stunted but, it turns out, I could have something to say. If I can push back against the social anxiety that keeps me reserved and private, maybe I can connect with other people and bring value. I don’t know, we’ll see.

Since I was small I loved to draw, paint and write, I got into photography later on. Someone put it in my head that unless I am passionately driven to create art 24/7, I can’t be a real artist. Hearing that stung quite a bit and I believed it for many years. Instead, I became a bartender, a beer truck driver, a stay-at-home dad and a paramedic but, not all at once. There was a brief period during which I owned and operated a graphics and screen printing company. It’s failure in crash of 2007 strengthened the notion that I couldn’t be successful in art. Maybe not but, I have come to understand that it’s not about being successful. Expression has to be for expression’s sake. That may seem like an obvious fact but, it was a hard one for me to get.

I have very few regrets however. My path has brought me to where I am. I have been delivered here a little scarred and damaged but with a deep well of experience. So, it’s my thinking that I can share some of that stuff here. Good and bad, for better or worse…and in spite of the voice that says, “Dude, no one wants to hear whatever it is you have to say.”
This is me setting fire to my fear and sense of inferiority.