- thank you. (11/3/2018)
hey. it’s been a while. i’m here in detroit. a lot has happened. of course. a lot of stuff i felt like sharing but i didn’t for there was a note that was striking me as important all the way. i somehow couldn’t talk about it, for i felt it represented nuances of my own shadow. shadow in its real meaning. that side of yourself you often see reflected on a pavement at night, that may or may not disturb you. personally it has hardly disturbed me all along, if it wasn’t for its very narrow boundaries. if in analytical psychology the shadow also embodies our darkest fears, how does it reflect itself in life? in this case, that shadow was being reflected in people i have been meeting and it had to do with the idea of saying “thank you”. thankfully (this is the irony of this inked talk), i was raised in a thankful world, england for most of it. if i was often ridiculed at bars in italy for thanking for something i paid for, my point was: “well, you served me, and although i’m paying you, i’m still thanking you for your service. that’s my style.” then i moved to detroit. and that’s when things took a different turn. i was often requesting services and i wasn’t served, let alone being thanked. when i was served, i was in my style thanking, and a mere “you’re welcome” was echoed back. i didn’t pay attention at first. until i realised how important this apparent small gesture of being grateful to whoever you encounter, of just saying “thank you” was having a tremendous effect on me. how? well, we are all human beings. we move around, we struggle, we fight, we dream and we often feel the need of being thanked for what we do. yes, we should not expect it but we naturally feel it. it’s human nature. so why, shouldn’t we thank our friend for a thoughtful gesture? why shouldn’t we thank our boss for our bi-weekly check? why shouldn’t we thank our client for their money? why? is it too hard to be just nice and say THANK YOU? i am now learning to build my relationships around this small but powerful gesture, and if that represents your shadow, i’m suggesting you ask it why? why do i not say thank you? why do i hate saying thank you? why? for fuck sake! you, ungrateful person!
- brag. the new blog. (7/17/2014)
June 1st 2017, Detroit, MI (my new found home)
Hey, my Fab friends! I’m back! We are back. Aren’t we?
Since 2012, lots of things changed. I went back and forth trying to figure out what to do in life. I upset some friends, my parents, my bank manager and many more but I just can’t help it. I’m just the way I am.
Now that the world has gone even more tits up, it’s 2017, it’s June and so on, I feel that, in one way or another, we really have no choice but to stick together, for the simple sake of changing our news feeds to something a bit more positive (we are not asking for much) as a simple way to move forward whilst returning to the core of who I and we really are (I will never get bored of this):
Briefly… this is what happened over my last 5 years.
I took up painting in 2014, inspired by a 7 year old who bet I could draw. Here was me, on my first painting, a self portrait. That morning I was angry at myself and needed a glimpse of that anger. So I painted that face, for the first time.
I took a low paid job in 2015 to support Autistic children. I made a few notes on this on my other blog, so to give you an idea.
*** The Autism Box ***
I took the chance to live on a very low income, and to devote some of my time to small others. Yes, it has been very fulfilling but I got to a point in which I think it’s even more fulfilling when you earn something.
I’m totally 100% against this all volunteering thing. I find it soulless and disempowering. So, I’m done with this humanitarian side of me for now. At least whilst I’m living in first world countries.
I’m taking another chance now which is to take this blog seriously. It’s not a joke! It’s true.
I aim to post weekly on who and what I have been inspired by that I want to BRAG about. Because BRAG is my new kind of BLOG.
I used this timelapse thing to capture the moment when I decided to take all things seriously. I know, I know, timelapse is so last century but hey…:) so am I!
So, from the comfort of my current living room in Detroit, I leave you with a quote of what has inspired me this week. It’s taken from the song I listen to, at times of change: The End – The Doors
“Can you picture what will be, so limitless and free”
Enjoy my fab t-shirts, and feel free to connect with me and send me anything inspiring. I’m all ears.
Lots of love.
Fab.