I love being inspired by my fellow creatives. Not only does it motivate me to get my act together, but it also gives me a fresh perspective on the world around me. I always leave a conversation with a sense of fulfillment whenever I hear the amazing things that artists hold within their minds. The ways in which we view society, though quite similar in beliefs, have such amazing visual differences- and its most certainly a beautiful thing.

 Being able to feed off of their incredible creative energy is one thing, but being able to actually work with them is another gratifying experience in itself- so when I was approached by a fellow Corps Member, who happens to be a fantastical writer, I was all to thrilled to help bring her concept to life. To bring attention to the splendors of writing and its contributions to society, especially our cultural demographic, Nakia at Damn WRITE imagined "Will Write For", a social commentary on her craft and the world that inspires her words. Showing the need for writing and all the good that can come from it, love, equality, and justice to name a few, we set out to demonstrate the critical need for literary artists.

 It was most certainly a phenomenal collaboration. I look forward to whatever our minds bring together in the future. 

For our after school program a team member and I have the honor of leading the arts and crafts club. In our introduction of art to the students, we gave them a community project to work on to unify the team. After discussing briefly the different forms of public art, murals and graffiti being amongst the favorite, we dived right into our own community mosaic.

Sadly we didn't have enough time to finish, so its still a work in progress, but it was definitely amazing seeing everyone contribute in their own creative way. Allowing the students the opportunity to work together to create something beautiful was inspiring and I can't wait for the projects to come!

Today I did some much needed uploading to my lovely site Ghetto Fairytales. I had been sitting on photography from not only the summer but even a project from my last semester at CCS, one that reminded me how homesick I truly am...

I miss Detroit, there is no denying that, but my mission out here has yet to be completed, I've only just begun this adventure and so much more lies ahead of me. Now that school has gotten into a nice little groove my posting habits will be much more in tune with my creative and personal growth.

My portfolio is in motion, the wheels in my head are turning at top speed for the Imaginarium, and life in City Year is still proving to be an amazing experience. I can't wait for whatever comes out of my mind next. Whatever it may be, I'll be sure to post it quickly and not hold it hostage on my hard drive.

I found this quote reading an interview on Shawn Reagan (Primary Ties). When asked for any advice for a designer starting out, Mr. Reagan provided this lovely snippet from one of his readings. It gave me a little kick in the rear to keep moving forward with my concepts and goals. 

“For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not... A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit... If you are just starting out or are still in this phase, you gotta know that it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work... It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as 

good as your ambitions.” 

 -Ira Glass

I've been on a semi creative hiatus. My brain of course has been in a constant state of imagining, and I've definitely taken to writing in the absence of photography, but I know that I've been lagging in the visuals department- my excuse is an incredibly valid one though!

I've begun my year of service with CYLA and in the past few weeks, I've been training, meeting amazing people, and taking in the cultural communities of Los Angeles. It's an absolutely amazing opportunity that is allowing me to work within the LA school system combatting negative statistics and making a positive impact on the graduation rate. The values that have been instilled in me within these few short weeks has taught me so much, and still leaves room for growth. I've been learning so much that I can take at the end of my year, back to Detroit, to help change my own community. Not only that, its been incredibly inspiring. I've never been in a such a state of wanting to do nothing but create. I can not wait to get into my healthy habits for this next year. I'm so excited to grow in so many ways, creatively, mentally, physically, spiritually... I'm in a really amazing place, and I'm going to make sure things only get better.