Less is More

Hello blog!  A lot sure has happened since the last update.  I graduated!  I had a couple weeks to enjoy my little city of Santa Cruz that I'm so enamored with--I got to lay in the sun, pick wild blackberries in my backyard, have potlucks with my friends (four days in a row!), play murder mysteries, and photograph surfers and seabirds on Westcliff (see photos).  Now I'm home in LA-ish for a month before I get to go to Europe on a big adventure with one of my very best friends.  It's time to unpack, reflect, and figure out a few things.

Graduation apparently means that I'm all growed up, and one of the things that comes with being an adult is having a proper career job.  Right?  Well, the more I mull it over, the more I think its a real possibility that I can avoid getting a 9-5er.  Don't get me wrong, if the National Geographic called tomorrow and offered me a salaried staff photographer position, I'd take it in a heartbeat.  But what I really want to do is earn a living being creative and enjoying the simple pleasures that this planet has to offer.  Job pickins are slim anyways according to numerous graduated friends, and I'm not sure I could physically withstand the demands of an all-day computer job (as much as I love love love designing) with my already carpal-tunneled wrists.

So, I'm gonna do the best I can at being my own boss.  My dream goes like this: I'm gonna continue to sell my cards, prints, photos, books, gummi bear art, and miscellaneous rad items in my etsy shop.  I'm also going to start selling clothes, knick-knacks and other buried treasures that I find at thrift stores, because thrifting and yard-sailing are one of my all time favorite activities.  I already have more than enough goodies, so if I can't shop for me any more, I can certainly shop for you.  I'm gonna take on freelance illustration, photography, web design, and graphic design gigs like the project I just finished for the fabulous Jack of Hearts.  I would also like to do more freelance photography for print or online publications like I did for the Good Times this year.  Within a year, I'd like to start doing craft fairs and shows.  I want time spent working to be time spent enjoying life. And I want to be able to do this anywhere.

A lot of work?  Sure.  Am I crazy?  I don't think so.

Thus, this month I'm going to take some time to organize my life in preparation for... my life.  I've been reading Far Beyond the Stars, a blog about minimalism.  The idea that "less is more" is something I think about a lot, but have never seen laid out so succinctly.  I'm inspired to carry on the way I've been going, and pursue this goal to be my own boss (or at least try it out for a while and keep an open mind), and first on my list is clearing out unnecessary items from my life.  I'm not going to buy anything that I don't need, because it only ties me to a location, adds weight to my proverbial rucksack.  One of my reasons for wanting to be my own boss is so that I can travel whenever I please, and live all over.  Less stuff means more traveling.  My goal is to reach 200 items before I leave for Spain on August 2nd.  So, world, I'm about to donate, recycle, sell, and toss a lot of stuff: one small thing at a time.
 
I was completely honored to be selected as one of two Senior Speakers at the graduation ceremony a couple weeks ago.  I'm gonna end this post with my speech because it relates to this post and a few of you asked to see it:

I’m only 22 years old, so I don’t claim to know much.  But, I suppose you could say I learned a few things during my time here at UCSC.  Like most students at Santa Cruz, I learned about writing, psychology, how to get around independently, and so on. As an art major, I gained the skills to create meaningful photographs, drawings, etc. As a Stevenson student, I learned about classic works in religion and sociology.  The theme of our core course was “Self and Society.”  As a freshman, I’m not sure I realized the significance of the topic.  Sure, I knew it was important to understand the writings that shaped our histories and morals, but the magnitude of the idea of “self and society” didn’t sink in until one day last year on the tail-end of my study abroad experience in Leeds, England.  I had one of those “a-ha” moments.  I realized that I was very, very small.  And that tiny awareness of my tiny self changed... everything.  I am only a speck amidst many, but I am a speck that counts.  Together, me, you, and every other speck—people, animals, plants, chairs, buttons, dust, cells—we are each a tiny component of this amazing planet, life, universe. Even the littlest of things is immense: a droplet of water alone may be small, but surrounded by others, by repetition, by abundance, they form a larger entity.  Every small thing matters and is related: every person on the planet forms a part of the whole community.  We, like droplets of water or a flock of birds or specks of sand, are the same: we have many of the same thoughts, feelings, emotions, functions, parts, features, etc and while that can be affirming, it can also be overwhelming.  But to know that every part is essential for the whole to exist, I think, validates individual actions.  We also each have tiny variations, and are not quite homogeneous.  Every action we take shapes our existence and so each should be considered: each should be a positive addition to our life.  Each thought counts, so think of something worthwhile.  I know that when I consider my entire future as a whole, and think about the end result, I get frustrated and feel overwhelmed.  It is easier and more productive to break things into smaller pieces, to know that big goals take time (usually more time than expected) and each day is an opportunity to get a just few small things done.  To focus on the small things is tangible.  The world is a vast place, but there are small things to appreciate all over.  Enjoy each small thing.  I think there is beauty in repetition and abundance and in the tiny variations of each individual component.

So, like I said—I don’t claim to know a whole lot, and I’m not trying to preach, because I certainly don’t have the wisdom or experience for that.  But if there’s one thing I know now and I’m glad to have learned—its this idea of abundance and smallness, because I can apply it to every circumstance, event, and decision.  It allows me to function on a daily basis, and if many days makes up a year, many years make up a decade, and many decades make up a lifetime, then I’ve got my whole life taken care of, and I don’t need to worry about the future.  I think Dr. Seuss probably sums it up best in one of my favorite movies “Horton Hears a Who”—he says “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”­­