Value

I haven't blogged in a few months -- simply because I have (again) been contemplating the value of my thoughts. With so many Twitter thoughts, Facebook thoughts, Blogs thougths, Articles, and "sharing" from around the world-- it's vast out there! --  it is easy to get lost.

Recently, I read an article (thank goodness for that online "sharing")
The Top 5 Regrets That People Have on Their Deathbeds
A bit of a morbid idea which translated into something quite beautiful.

#2. Regret:
I wish I didn’t work so hard. 

was the one that really hit home.

For at least the past few years I have been a serious workaholic. I let my work, stress me out, get me down, make me sick, consume my life, come between my family/friends and I, and I almost let it destroy my relationship. My life has been my work. And my work has been my life.

Upon closer examination of just how much my work means to me, I realized that my life and my happiness are worth so much more. I will never be the person who doesn't take pride in my work or simply doesn't work! -- but I realize that I have a life outside of work too.

With that idea burning a hole in my head, I decided to start limiting my "work hours" -- meaning: I realize that everyone (yes, even me) needs time off to stop, regroup, collect and breathe.

The first few nights of my new practice were hard. The thoughts of my To-Do list were looming in my head and I felt guilty for "wasting time". But the weekend rolled around and in between: yoga, running, swimming, cleaning, lunching with friends, hanging out with my family -- it seemed like nothing was missing but so much was gained.

And what is more, the past few weeks I start my week refreshed and ready to productively, efficiently and happily tackle my To-Do list with a clear head. The few hours + days off each week have really started to make me love my life more than ever before.

So, I look forward to my new and found again hobbies.
I remember a time when I was an artist..

March on!

wow.
March is over? Really!

The other day, I mentioned to my Dad how time in my life seems to passing fast lately. He said "there is a reason it's called 'Over the Hill' after you hit 40. When you get to the top of the hill -- that is your life passing slowly. When you go over the hill that is when your life starts passing fast."
I can't image how I will feel in 9 years when I am "Over the Hill" and snowballing down! Whew ~ I also can't believe that I am only 9 years away from 40. Where has all of the time gone? :)

When we stop, take time and notice the passing of our lives it can be a good time to reflect on where we've been, what we've done, and importantly -- what we will do next.

In my blog post from last June,  I boasted of my beautiful DAM (Downtown Art Market) find:

The circle in the image above is the same succulent that looks like this today:

3 of the succulents from the original, including this one, had transplants into new pots. This one has roots!, a long stem, and now a baby!!
In a little under a year look at how much this guy has accomplished. And next? -- who knows.. I see more sprout ling babies and an even longer stem in the future.

Life is exciting as it happens -- if you take time to notice people, places and things around you growing just as fast as you are.

71

I lived in South Austin for many years. Each and every day I saw the human fixture on the corner of S.1st and Ben White (Hwy 71) which most people deemed simply as "Ben White". He "parked" his shopping carts full of treasures in the parking lot of the Chucky Cheese across the street. When he wasn't sleeping on the bus stop bench he was reading. Yes, reading.
People had all kinds of rumors about his story:
"He is a genius and chooses to be homeless",
"He is a crazy Veteran",
"He changes his location based on the Sun",
"He only eats Honeybuns from 7-Eleven".

Whatever his story was or might have been, he seemed to impact my life. It wasn't that he was "homeless" really but rather "houseless". He definitely had a home.

I snapped a few pictures of him (which I unfortunately lost with the loss of my old sketchbook) which I used as reference for sketches, a painting, and a few digital mixed media works.

 

2007, The Ghigh

Well, as the story goes...
He disappeared one day. (It was just after I too had disappeared from Austin.) Locals set up a memorial on "his" bus stop bench, brought flowers and candles, and mourned the passing of Mr. Ben White. Shortly after, a story surfaced that claimed Ben White was in fact still alive and he had been adopted by a family in Wimberly and was living on a beautiful ranch.

Image courtesy of the Statesman.com

I believe that the story of his moving to Wimberly is true. Just as I  believe that the books he read on the corner of 71 & S.1st were tales of Minimalist Happiness, Enlightenment, How to Survive without Consumerism, The Simple Life, or something along those topics...

For the love of.. Yoga

My last post really got me thinking about how much a part of my life yoga has become. I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the practice, 3 years ago this month :)
The more my practice develops, the more I learn about my mind, my body, my breath, my life.

In the beginning I went to class for entertainment, it was something to do. I had been a chronic sufferer of carpel and cubital tunnel for years. And within the first month of regularly attending yoga classes -- my symptoms disappeared. completely. relief. And I was hooked.
Last year, during a period when I was too stressed to care about anything, I completely neglected my yoga practice for about a month -- I noticed within the second week how my arm began to feel painfully "numb" again. My hand was tingly feeling and I knew what was going on. I embraced my practice once again and my carpal tunnel subsided.

During college and the first year afterward I experienced extreme amounts of anxiety in my everyday life. For some reason or another I often felt uneasy, fatigued and simply anxious about any and everything. The wind could blow a certain way and I felt "impending doom" (that's text book anxiety) rest upon me. After a series of actual panic "attacks" I sought some therapy and learned to journal -- which is a practice I regard even today.

My anxious feelings too have dissipated, just as my carpal tunnel has, through yoga.
I wonder what I would have/ could have been like at a younger age had known this kind of mental, physical and spiritual exercise existed.

And as if alleviating carpal tunnel and anxiety was not enough -- with my practice has come an sense of mental clarity. Not that I think I have everything figured out! at all. -- but much more like, All I know is that I know nothing.

I truly feel that yoga saved me. And made me the person I have grown to be and will continue to become, for that I am eternally grateful.

Namaste

Turn that frown upside down

 

Mastering my headstand has been the highlight of my year.

It has been a very challenging yoga post for me and I am sure it has very thing to do with the amount of surrender it really takes to achieve. The headstand turns perspective upside-down. Which, really makes everything literally turn upside-down. Mental clarity and an open mind are the rewards.

I attempted, got scared and fell many times before I was finally comfortable enough actually benefit from the pose. And now, headstand feels very natural for me, my body craves it. And I love it.

It is an amazing ability to turn perspective upside down, to think about the your world (the world) from a different angle. Amazing.

Branding

Recently, my dad left his company and made the lofty decision to start his own construction company. He had unanimous support coming from my direction and I realized that the idea of supporting your own parent's dreams comes rarely in our lifetimes. I love the idea, of course. He knows so much about the business of building beautiful structures and has been changing the landscape of the environment for over 35 years!

Once his decision was made... the next natural step was to CREATE A LOGO. Fantastic! Here is where I am allowed to help out. My Dad really was a difficult client that pushed me to my boundaries and then forced me to expand beyond them to complete the task. Which, is basically what parents do.

The company is called Double Eagle.
A double eagle is a score of 3-under par on any individual golf hole. To make a double eagle, the golfer must:

• Score a 1 (hole in one) on a par-4 hole
• Score a 2 on a par-5 hole

Or score on a 3 on a par-6 hole, but par-6s are rare. Double eagles on par-3 holes are not possible. Double eagles are extremely rare, more rare, in fact, than aces.

Fitting.

We went through 3 rounds of complete revisions and then Dad led me to the exact direction he was envisioning. Amazing.

This is where we landed. I love the logo (and so does my client). Hooray for Double Eagle! Good luck out there!

Passage of Time

I can't believe that is has been almost 3 months since my last entry. The entries were much more frequent and came much easier in the past. However, the last few months I have really been questioning the value of my thoughts. Is anyone actually paying attention when there are so many other things go on in the world?
And I got my answer, my small validation, last week while visiting my home away from home -- Austin, Texas.
Randomly, I was able to attend a tacky Christmas Party hosted by the Beauty Bar where many of my past co-workers -- from my days (well, 4 years to be exact) as a Whisky Bar bartender -- work now. I knew many more people in that bar that night that I ever do when going out in the town I currently live in! I was a nice feeling. It felt like seeing old family again. And one friend hugged me, we briefly chatted -- as he was also mixing vinyl records in between -- and as we wrapped up our conversation he said "Oh, nice blog by the way." :) (Thanks Lee!)

So my validation made me pick up the pen.. ahem, login -- and blog.

During my Whisky Bar days I designed a lot of posters for events we hosted in the bar. Some good. Some bad. (the posters, not the events. the events were all good.) But the experience lead me to be the designer I am today.
And yesterday I was given the fast deadline unfriendly task of designing a poster for a friend's show here at a bar in Lubbock. It has been years since I have designed such a thing. I gladly accepted and am very pleased with the artwork which ensued.

Throughout the process of designing the "Holiday GIT Right" poster my mind fondly remembered the Whisky Bar poster designing days. So, I pulled up an old one! From 2006!
Ha!

And it has been insightful for me to see how far I have come. Literally. I am thankful for the events in my life that shaped my future and have made me the person I am today. <3

Dream a Little Dream

Last Winter, I read Christian Siriano's Fierce Style cover to cover.
I love Project Runway and totally adored Christian's style and attitude that went along with it. He was 22 years old and the youngest person to ever win Project Runway.

I remember reading a chapter in his book: "Finding Your Own Inspiration". He describes the scary and anxious feeling of having your dreams come true.

"When you're just reaching for something you want, the possibilities seem endless. But when you've got it, that's where the stress comes in."
"It can be scary when your dreams come true, because then there's a danger of it ending."

He goes on to write that "there are no guarantees in life, but I'm living my dream now, and dreaming up new ones while I am at it."


Apparently, "Living The Dream" is hard. For everyone.

When I grow up...

Something quite extraordinary happened in my life recently.
One of my oldest (and forgotten about) dreams came true!

When I was little, my favorite aunt, Tia Tenchi (short for Hortencia) worked at a Car Wash.
She pick my sister and I up from school and gave us rides often. I have the most fond memories of seeing her car and knowing that I would be greeted with a smile, a joke and August's fried pie when I hoped in. Every Friday, my Mom paid Tia Tenchi with a check and 1 Coors Light. She was one of the most carefree and independent people that I have ever known. She was partially paralysed and could not walk very well, but that didn't stop her from living a happy life.

From a young age, my sister and I decided that we wanted to be like Tia Techni and "work at the Car Wash!!"

Tia passed away when I was in Junior High. I was lucky to inherit her beautiful wood headboard and dresser which I have to this day.

I recently connected with a random client who "needed some business cards." I worked up the business cards and my client said, "I might have a really big project for you. You can design anything, Right?"

Well, the big project happened to be the remodeling of the Car Wash where my beloved Aunt used to work. And the project I was hired to design was the signage for the new Car Wash.

It seemed surreal that after all of these years -- my dream of working at the Car Wash has finally come true! Life is amazing.


View the Sign Installation of Brown Design for Racer Car Wash

Oh My Stars

I spent this past weekend on vacation. A real vacation. I thought for a while that I would even leave my laptop at home.. but in reality there is little that could separate me from my laptop. I am proud to say that I only checked my email twice while on vacation! wooohooo.

Family friends invited a huge group out to their ranch for the weekend. We were south of Dallas in an area that reminded me so much of the Hill Country near San Marcos. 2 fishing holes, a swimming pool, fire pit, delicious food and great family.
 We built a "Tent City" and slept under the stars. Each night as I lay down in my surprisingly comfortable tent on the earth -- I heard coyotes! Real Coyotes.
The air was crisp, cool, and filled with stars! I don't think that I have ever seen so many stars. It was beautiful.

And unlike I had lead myself to believe. The world (my world) did not crash into an oblivion because I took a day off of work. There were no Design Emergencies that couldn't be left for another day.
My mind and body are now thanking me for the sense of clarity which comes with a little rest and relaxation.