You can’t be a hollow person and make meaningful creative work so fill yourself up with some life experience: go outside, get off Tumblr and Netflix, read more books, travel to new places, make new friends, talk to old people, do some drugs, appreciate nature, make out with boys, make out with girls, make out with everyone in between, you can ruin your life a little for a bit, but don’t get too crazy unless you have a lot of time to reconstruct it after. It’s okay to have some near death experiences…just don’t be an idiot. Every action has a consequence. It’s also okay to be a slut, but be a safe one! If you thought you were open-minded, try to be more open-minded. Now if you do have some life experience under your belt, then congratulations, keep on keeping on! These experiences will inspire you and fuel your creativity more than anything else. Don’t force or attach meaning onto work that wasn’t born with any.
Say “HELL NO” to jealousy. Don’t EVER compare yourself to others! If you come from a place where you were the big fish in a small pond, GET OVER YOURSELF. You may or may not be ‘the shit’ but you are not a special snowflake! There’s a difference: temporary popularity does not make you more remarkable than everyone else. Self-promotion can get really ugly, really fast. Modesty can get you farther than you think! Being humble will make you more likable. There’s a fine line between showing your work and being a show off. The latter will get people rolling their eyes about you. Focus on improving yourself and don’t get caught up in work 24/7.
Don’t take criticism from people who don’t know shit about shit. Don’t hang out with people who make you feel bad. Have fun and play! Don’t forget about yourself. Practice self-care. Do experiment. Do things that scare you. Be kind and don’t ever step on anybody’s aspirations. Asking for help when you need it doesn’t make you weak. Helping other people makes you more whole. Focus on being a decent human being every single day and you will be. Do your best with everything you do. Open up and bleed all over your work, because people will respect you for it. Sometimes you will be stuck and feel like crying and dying. This is also an experience; you can turn it into something. You’re capable of doing anything you want in your lifetime, but try to be (a little) realistic. Finally, everything will eventually work out if you will it to. So don’t worry about it too much! It’ll all be okay.
