When I drive my car and I look out on the road, I tend not to focus all of my attention solely on what’s ahead of me (Don’t worry, I’m not looking at my phone and texting while I drive). What I mean is that I like to look around at the other cars and the people driving them. Why? Because what happens on the highways and roads is a perfect gauge of what’s happening elsewhere. There are all sorts of different kinds of drivers. Some people drive way too slow and some drive way too fast. There’s the occasional accident that delays everyone else but most of the time traffic keeps moving. When you start to look at the road as a metaphor for the world and a real good indicator of what's happening in it, things start to make more sense when you leave your car. People tend to act like they drive. People operate in real life at various speeds, just like when they drive their cars. Some are reckless and some are overly cautious but everyone is trying to arrive somewhere. When we’re driving down the road there are often sharp curves that make us want to slow down. Some are so bad people won’t drive on them, but if you remember what you were taught back in driving school you’ll be okay — accelerate into turns. Life is going to throw lemons at you so you can pucker your face and complain about that sour taste or you can head into a situation determined to make lemonade out of it. On another note, you wouldn’t want an always predictable road that just went straight the entire time anyway, because it’s the turns and the curves that take you to interesting places and make things interesting. At first, things often look intimidating and scary because they are new. But if you toss away your fear and embrace what’s in front of you wholeheartedly with full confront, you will win every time. Next time you’re on the road (without taking your eyes too much off of it) observe the way other drivers choose to tackle the road. Notice the speed demons that put everyone around them in danger, the ridiculously slow ones that make people honk their horns out of frustration and the ones that try to maintain the speeding limit at all times. Be willing to drive on any road and when life throws you a curve, accelerate into it. That’s how you stay the course and reach your destination. You gotta be quick and move fast and be a little fearless. Don’t let life’s traffic ever bring you to a grinding halt. It’s perfectly okay to go over above the speed limits, especially when the road throws you a curve. Thanks for reading my blog. If you'd like a free paperback copy of my bestselling book Super Artist go here.
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You get an idea, you make something and what’s the first thing you want to do? Tell someone about it, right? Are they usually as excited about your idea or creation as you? Probably not. You might feed off of this and lose a bit of your original excitement. Maybe you push through and the next time you have a brilliant idea or make a work of art, you rush to show someone once again and maybe this time they focus on the one thing wrong with it out of the hundred things right with it and you walk away determined to continue with your idea despite what others think but you also possibly decide not to talk about it so much with them. Fast forward a few years into the future and we often find a once creative ball of energy glued to a screen watching other people exert their energy and create things that can only now be thought of as miraculous and the product of luck, connections and god-given talent. Any ideas are kept inside and any creative works are hidden away for the occasional person thought to be supportive enough and nice enough to show them to. What happens to many of us over time is that we become the effect of the things people say or don’t say. We see how people can be, with their body mannerisms and their silence when shown something we think is awesome and they don’t. After many experiences like this we might come to the conclusion that our ideas or work are not good enough and that people should be approached with caution. In other words, we become fearful and withdraw. But the funny thing is that this does not keep someone safe, instead they go right into the most dangerous place of all, solitary confinement. It’s what keeps every single person on Earth from achieving the success they are really looking for. It’s not fame and fortune; it’s a pat on the back, it’s a thumbs up, it’s a look of admiration — it’s what we feel from other people. The reason someone is not successful has everything to do with their ability to confront and communicate with other human beings. Are there mean people? Are there jerks and assholes? Are there criminals and liars? Yes, totally. However, most people are not. Are they sometimes lacking in enthusiasm? Do they make mistakes and say the wrong things? Are they sometimes too engrossed in their own problems that they fail to fully pay attention to what’s going on with others around them? Yes, of course. Super, awesome people do exist but they are few and far between. If you’re expecting everyone to readily accept your ideas and your art and validate the hell out of your hard work and brilliance, you’re going to be sadly disappointed a majority of the time. It does happen, but not as often as we all want it to. So what does this all mean? It means that no matter what you are trying to accomplish or what you have to sell or what message you are attempting to deliver, you are trying to do these things with other human beings, who are not saints, who are not super human and who might just say or do the wrong thing and you have to be understanding of this to have any success with anything. I don’t care if you’re trying to break through as a novelist or be the best damn stay at home mom in the world or create the next killer app, you will have to interact with and communicate with other human beings to win. No man is an island all to himself and you wouldn’t want to be. What makes life great is that everyone is unique. There is no one else exactly like you. You are different, literally. So, of course it will be a challenge to talk to and connect with other people. Everyone has their own backstory, their own set of experiences and their own reality about things. You’re not trying to get everyone to be like you or like what you like, you just need to communicate with enough people about your idea or your work to find the ones they will resonate with. But if you let the few mean and ornery individuals out there get to you, and if you allow their criticisms and negativity to seep into your purposes and goals, you will never push through enough to reach the awesome people, the ones open to communication and willing to check your stuff out. People often view what happens online in a very strange way. They sometimes see their friends or followers or subscribers as an anonymous, blurry mass of a concept rather than as real human beings. The way to win at it is not to simply throw out content and post links. The real way to win is through one on one human connection and interaction. When you personally communicate to someone online or in the real world doesn’t that mean more than something you look at that was sent to a bunch of people all at once? Doesn’t it mean something when someone sends you a direct message rather than just clicking like on a post? People are so focused on building a large audience and getting the most out of their posts but the real game is not in the inflated numbers of likes, tweets, followers etc. The real game is building genuine relationships that are built on more than a superficial clicking of a like button. They are built on friendship, good will, support, help and all the best things about people. You want to really crush it in your lifetime? Want to realize all of your potential and walk through life fearless and overflowing with confidence? Do right by people. Build something real between you and those you communicate with. Look for ways you can help others rather than how others can help you. Be the embodiment of what a friend should be to the greatest number of people. Is it hard? Will it take a lot of time? Will it cost you? Yep, but all the best things worth pursuing always do. However, what’s the alternative? What kind of world do you actually want to live in? One where people aren’t being real and aren’t actually talking and listening to each other? Or do you want to live in a world full of meaning and genuine communication where people freely create and ideas are easily received? The world is truly being built as we speak. Communicate, but make sure you’re keeping it real. People are easy to find, especially with hashtags and profiles, but the hard thing is getting them to care. It takes work and persistence but the solution is super simple. Care about other people and they’ll end up caring about you. Now go communicate with them! Thanks for reading my blog. If you'd like a free paperback copy of my bestselling book Super Artist go here. Unquestionably one of the strongest voices the art world has ever seen, Frida Kahlo transcended all limitations, every barrier and became an international icon. However, she was sick with polio at age 6 and spent much of her childhood being bullied because of her physical limitations. A few years later she was in a major accident that nearly killed her and left her once again recuperating and with even more physical challenges than ever before. Despite her health issues, despite her meager beginnings and every obstacle that stood in her way to achieving success, she fought back in those solitary moments she was confined to her bed. She picked up a brush, dipped it in paint and quite literally painted who she was — Frida. The artist conquered illness, disability, financial constraints and most famously, gender-biases. Her work was exceptional because it bore her soul, took the pain she went through and projected it boldly out into the world as if to say, “Life can be extremely painful but I continue to stand up to it.” The bravery of her images are haunting reminders and empowering statements of what happens to a creative spirit; yes it gets beat up, but ultimately it can never be extinguished.
For more stories like this Join My Mailing List. Although this incredibly impactful artist is no longer with us he definitely left his mark upon the world. One of the things we can learn from his career came in 1972 with the release of his ground-breaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. On that album and during concert performances Bowie transformed into an entirely different character, a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust, a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. What may have appeared shocking at the time is now widely considered genius today. His willingness to take on a different persona and be someone else for a spell captivates and empowers people till this day. It’s important to know that we can be fluid, that there is no limitation to our imagination or our ability to transform and be anything we want to be. At the end of the day we write our own story and it can take place on any planet, any stage, we just have to have the courage to create.
For more stories like this Join My Mailing List. Catherine Weaver has done it again with this wonderful follow up to her impressive first book, Gold Dust. Reading this series is a great treat for me as a Californian because I get to read about places from my childhood and see them transform into portals which lead to a magical other world. I wish I were a kid again because this book would have made me look at my environment in a totally different way. I would have super-imposed my own worlds everywhere I went, letting my imagination let loose and that's why what Catherine Weaver has done is so important. She breaks down the barriers of reality for her readers and gets them to imagine what else might be. This fun, action-packed adventure is sure to please anyone seeking more than an escape. It's for anyone that would love to harness the power of magic, be able to unite worlds, heal friendships and find courage when all hope seems lost. Throw in leprechauns, Amazon warriors, gold, magical portals and rock concerts and you've got an attention-grabbing story for sure. I also highly admire the mixture of Eastern influences with Western traditions, the transformation of California into an island and how it's still about a girl trying to navigate through her world of parents, friends, boys and school (both real and magical). Do yourself a favor and get this book for the young people in your life, then get a copy for you, so you'll stay young. Imagine, create, build universes and never stop using the magic inside you; Catherine Weaver never does. Phoenix Down is pure magic. Get it HERE. For more about Catherine Weaver go to http://catherineweaverauthor.com Like you, I have watched my newsfeed fill with political memes, rants and debates for the last two years and gladly welcomed this election cycle’s conclusion. I welcomed its end not because I supported Trump but like many people, I was happy to know my newsfeed would get back to its usual self. Being who I am (Georgetown University Government Major / former Congressional Candidate) and knowing what I know (American History / Constitutional Theory / the Political System) I am always asked my thoughts on politics and politicians every election cycle. However, unlike many of my friends on social media, I stayed away from posting about it. No memes, no rants, no debates. I posted about art, culture and the awesome things I saw people doing in the world. But now that this presidential election is over I want to take the time to let my friends and anyone that might care to know exactly why I was silent on the subject and at the same time let people know about the biggest, never-talked about story this election. Many people seem to think we live in a democracy. It’s spoken of so often on television that we don’t think twice of it. We think the government gives us a right to pursue happiness but they don’t — that’s in the Declaration of Independence (not the Constitution). We might also think that this is “the home of the brave and the land of the free” but those are just the lyrics of a song (not the Constitution either). When you read the actual Constitution you discover many surprising things, but especially this — the word democracy doesn’t appear, not even once. What is a democracy? It is government by all the people. It is supposed to be a system where everyone gets together and votes on issues and whoever gets the most votes wins. Now, you may think that I’m about to bring up the fact that Hillary Clinton got more of the popular vote than Donald Trump and that’s not us being a real democracy. No, (that happens to be true though) but I’d like to point your attention to something more glaringly problematic with what people consider our democratic system. In the 2016 presidential election there were 130,305,000 votes cast. 130 million people is a lot of people but let’s remember that there are actually 318 million people living in the U.S. There’s a lot of kids and other people not eligible to vote but when you look at how many people were eligible to vote this election year you get this number — 231,556,622. That’s right, 231 million people could have voted but only 130 million people did. If not everyone votes, that’s not a real democracy right? What else does this mean? Well, the election went like this: 231,556,622 eligible voters 130,305,000 people voted ———————————————————- 101,251,622 decided not to vote (44%) 59,626,052 voted for Hillary Clinton (25%) 59,427,652 voted for Donald Trump (25%) ——————————————————— Donald Trump wins with 25% of the vote. So basically 1 in 4 people (a minority) voted for Trump to be president. 1 in 4 people (another minority) voted for Clinton to be president. Here’s the kicker though: almost 2 in 4 people (44%) decided (VOTED) not to vote for any politician. They basically decided it didn’t matter who won, and guess what guys, a majority of Americans are right. Why? Because you don’t change a country by changing its government or its politicians. You change it when the people change. The government is supposed to govern, to control what is already happening. The people determine what is going to happen, not Trump or Clinton or any of the other politicians we’ve had over the last several hundred years. You have to ask yourself, what exactly is a government governing? The government will only be as good as the people it governs. What Elon Musk is building right now matters more than the laws that will pass in Congress this year. What artists, entrepreneurs and innovators create and produce will be of more value than anything the president will speak about. At the end of the day it will be the ideas of individuals, the production of people and the changes in culture that will bring about the things too many people are looking to the government to accomplish. Government is not the creative engine we think it is. It’s not true leadership, only the illusion of it. Who really leads? Probably YOU. The type of person that would read a blog because they care about what’s happening in the world and are interested in things. The top CEOs read a book a week and their knowledge and curiosity enable them to lead others. If you made something today, if you created something that will help others, you are already doing more than any politician ever will as he discusses what law (limitation) to add to the millions of other laws that no one but lawyers will ever read. Laws written down on pieces of paper will never create more jobs or uplift a country. Only innovation, inventiveness, creativity, imagination, hard work and real production from actual people can make a country a better place to live. So when you look at the actual numbers of this year’s election, know that the numbers tell the real story. The facts are 1) our president-elect received 25% of the people’s votes and 2) most people voted (by not voting) to ignore the politicians and the government altogether. Why didn’t I get caught up in the political memes, rants and debates so many others found themselves in? Because I studied government at Georgetown, I worked on Capital Hill and even ran for Congress myself (Trust me, I wanted to make a difference and tried the way most suggested to me) and I discovered first hand that the only real way to make change in the world has nothing to do with convincing people to like and agree with you. It has everything to do with liking other people enough to know that the way you really help them is not by making speeches but by taking actions, by building a better world every day with what you actually build. I say it continually but, artists run this planet. Not the politicians, the bankers, the governments or the armies. It’s the creators that get things moving and operating and send mankind to greater heights. Voting is okay but understand you don’t have to wait every four years for the president to make the kind of world you want to live in. You do it any day of the week, all day long, every second you breathe life into what YOU make. Creating always trumps voting :-) To read more inspirational stories of how great artists have made it Join my MAILING LIST. For a huge boost of inspiration pick up my book Super Artist - How To Take Flight As A Creator. by David Carus
Today’s artists may consider it a challenge to get noticed and build a fan base. You’ve heard that people don’t buy like they used to, there’s a million things competing for their attention and what you really have to do is know the right person. The picture being painted is that your chances of making it big are about as good as winning the lottery and you’re not successful unless paparazzi chase you. It’s easy to get discouraged if you think you need millions of fans to be a success. The truth is you only need one. Ever hear of these four guys from Liverpool? The Beatles are widely considered the greatest rock band of all-time but before they had thousands of screaming fans waiting for them at the airport and the British Invasion taking full effect, they needed a hit record to catch on in America. Beatles records were sent to radio stations and they were all huge failures. Nobody was interested in listening to the greatest rock band of all-time! That is except for one 14 year-old girl living in Maryland who discovered the Beatles and called her local radio station and asked why they didn’t play their music. The DJ she spoke with obtained a copy of I Want To Hold Your Hand and the record took off like a rocket, establishing a foothold for the Beatles in America that quickly spread to other cities. In a short time they were the biggest musical act in the country and had thousands of screaming fans, but it started with only one true fan. How about the story of Sixto Rodriguez? Who is that you might ask? He was a little-known folk singer from Detroit in the 1970’s with a couple of albums that sold practically no copies in the Unites States. He thought his music career was done and went back to working construction. But someone liked his music and began making copies of it and gave it out to friends. His music became huge in South Africa and an entire generation of people grew up on his music and he became bigger than Elvis there. Rodriguez had no idea until decades later. His story became the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man and the Dave Matthews Band has even covered his music. Dave Matthews, one of the biggest musicians in the world said he grew up listening to Rodriguez when he lived in South Africa. All of this happened because of one true fan. Don’t focus on the fans you don’t have. Focus on the ones you do have. So David Letterman isn’t interviewing you on his show tonight and you’ve only got 24 likes on your Facebook Page and the only people that follow you on Twitter are from Indonesia — it doesn’t matter. Make great art and find one true fan that loves it. You never know who they might share it with and how far the word might reach. So forget the sold-out audiences that aren’t there and see the audiences that are there. You probably already have a true fan and have been too busy to notice. Speak to them. Smile and wave and let them know they’re important — because they are. To read more inspirational stories of how great artists have made it Subscribe to my Free Newsletter. For a huge boost of inspiration pick up my book Super Artist - How To Take Flight As A Creator. by David Carus
He has been called the biggest movie star in the world. He’s worked with every big name director and star in Hollywood. For decades his films have consistently generated millions at the box office. It’s safe to say the kind of success Tom Cruise has experienced is no fluke but instead the result of hard work. So what did he do to make it? Tom Cruise didn’t come from elite Hollywood royalty. In fact, his family was poor, his parents divorced and his career path wasn’t easily laid out for him. When he decided to get into acting he wasn’t immediately handed the role of Maverick in Top Gun. There were lots of smaller roles to be played before he solidified himself as a star. His first big screen role was Billy the arsonist in the movie Endless Love and Cruise was only on screen for 47 seconds! Some actors might have been frustrated about getting so little screen time but Cruise decided to take his character and create as best he could with him so his 47 seconds would be memorable and they were! So much so that it helped him land his next role in the movie Taps. Once again he was only supposed to play a minor part but after seeing how committed the actor was on set (he was out-marching the other cadets) Taps director Harold Becker gave Cruise a larger role. With it he established that he could play a killer, so much so that when he expressed interest in the title role for Risky Business, the director Paul Brickman said no way. Despite this Tom Cruise showed up unannounced, created an opportunity for himself to audition and landed the coveted role. He slid across that floor in his underwear and let America know a new star had arrived. By the time Top Gun hit theaters there was no stopping the actor. How did he pull it all off? He used hard work, committed himself to the roles he played, no matter what they were or required and showed a passion for creating movies. He built each character, was determined to become that person and did what it took to see them through. He’s one of the few actors that does his own stunts. Why? Because he knows that’s what it takes to make the best picture he can make. He once said, “That’s what works for me: the power of my own imagination and my own ability to believe.” He makes it look effortless, like being a movie star is something you’re just born with but on closer examination we see that he just showed up more times and spent longer hours than anyone else to get the job done. He made up his mind that he was not only going to be an actor but that he was going to be a great one. You can tell the level of responsibility he has for his work because he also produces his own films. Despite whatever happens in the tabloids or press the guy continues to get in front of cameras and create. His films are the work of a true professional and stellar artist. One who keeps showing up eager to make something great and no matter the limitations finds a way -- he creates! To read more inspirational stories of how great artists have made it Subscribe to my Free Newsletter. For a huge boost of inspiration pick up my book Super Artist - How To Take Flight As A Creator. by David Carus The one constant love of my life has always been reading. As a kid I’d leave the library with a huge stack of books almost as tall as I was and race to finish them all before I had to take them back. When I got a little older I was through the roof when I discovered I could buy paperbacks for $0.25 at the local Goodwill and started amassing my own library. It was reading books that empowered me and it was always my most successful action in life to get where I wanted to go. So you can imagine my excitement when I recently woke up and realized where technology has taken books and what reading them looks like moving towards the future. The idea of electronic books (ebooks) is nothing new. They’ve been around for a few years, but today it is easier than ever to read them and that is changing everything. I remember my first ebooks were internet marketing related and I could only read them on my computer so they’d go unread. Who wants to read a book on their computer screen? It’s not a comfortable experience. But then things changed when smart phones and mobile devices hit the scene. Now you could read an ebook anywhere, just like real books! When the first iPad came out I couldn’t wait to start reading ebooks on it. I laid down on my bed with my iPad, ready to be swept away to the future, but it wasn’t what I expected. The ebooks cost nearly as much as regular books and after awhile my hands started cramping up because that first generation iPad was pretty heavy. So I gave up using my iPad for reading ebooks and used it instead for watching Netflix, checking email or writing notes. A couple of years later I couldn’t help but notice some of my author friends were publishing ebooks using Amazon. They’d send a message asking me to download their ebook and many times they were free. I didn’t know how I would read them but I clicked the purchase button on my phone. I’d always planned to be a published author myself so I became more interested in ebooks the more I saw them mentioned across the internet. Amazon Kindle kept popping up and so did Nook. I found out I could download a free Amazon Kindle app on my phone and read those ebooks I’d purchased. Having a toddler is pretty challenging and in recent years I’d found it harder to read as much as I wanted but suddenly with that app on my phone I could get through tons of reading quickly and easily anytime I had a spare couple of minutes. I always had my phone with me so I could read anywhere at anytime. It was life changing. I started to read more than I’d ever been able to read before. It was because I didn’t have to carry around physical books, prop them open or worry about losing my place. Reading ebooks had some big advantages. You could carry hundreds of books weightlessly in your pocket. You could jump from one book to another and your place in each of them would always automatically be kept. I used to hate reading books with difficult vocabulary because I’d need to have a dictionary close by to look up words. When you read an ebook all you have to do is press your finger over a word and the dictionary definition pops up! You can even make notes and highlight sections of the text. You can make the font bigger. When you’re reading in bed at night you don’t need a special reading light because your mobile device is already lit, and you can adjust the brightness! I was loving the experience of reading ebooks so much that I bought a Kindle. My iPad had cost $500 but I got my Kindle Fire HD for $120. It was the perfect size, built for reading ebooks and the store was affordable and easy to use. It didn’t take me long to see that reading books on a device like a Kindle was a huge leap into the future. For the first time in my life I didn’t feel the need to buy physical books. Why would I when books were easier to store and faster to read for me digitally? I understand people will always want to read physical books and some couldn’t ever imagine themselves reading books electronically. I hear it all the time. People say, “I just like the feel of an actual book.” I know that feeling all too well. Books are awesome! With that said though, I think there are a lot of people that might view ebooks the way I used to view them: as unwieldy, sub-par and less accessible. For anyone that hasn’t tried reading them on a mobile device like a Kindle, a Nook or one of the smaller iPads out now, give it a try. I think you’ll be blown away like I was. I’ve been so excited about digital publishing that it’s made me dust off my old manuscripts so my books can be part of this revolution. It’s still early in it, so if you’re an author you should get moving too. There will be those that hold on tight to hardcovers and paperbacks but as more people discover ebooks they will only continue to grow in popularity. It will become the primary way people read. There will always be physical books just like there will always be vinyl records but they will become more rare, reserved for those books we want for our special collection. I can’t imagine letting go of all my physical books but I know for the most part, I’ll be buying ebooks from here on out. I can access and read them faster. What’s more important? The books themselves or the knowledge gained from reading them? The world is about to get even smarter. For anyone interested in reading my books, make sure you’re on my mailing list. You’ll hear about them first, have opportunities to read some of them free and all are geared towards inspiring artists. You can join here: davidcarus.net/mailing-list I’m a dad. I have the most awesome son in the world. He’s two and a half years old. Throughout his life I’ve noticed him having quite an effect on people. It started on Facebook when I’d post pictures of him. He always generated more likes than anything else I’d post. He even got the attention of an artist friend of mine in London who asked if he could be part of her latest work (art below). As he got older and had better control of his body and words, I’d take him to the park or to the store and people would ask how old he was and say how mature he was for his age. Lately he’s been creating some incredible effects and I was lucky to film one of them and post it on YouTube. Some of my friends expressed interest in reading what I had to say about parenting and raising such a super kid, so I decided to finally tackle the subject. It also gives me a chance to tell the story behind the YouTube video I just uploaded. I’m sure everyone will love and be amazed by it. So here goes my viewpoint as a parent. Parenting is something I never thought much about but when the time came to be a parent I suddenly realized no one had ever clearly explained how all of this would be. Sure, people that have kids will laugh and say things like “Good luck waking up in the middle of the night,” or “There goes your free time,” but too many details were missing. Having gone through the whole waking up in the middle of the night thing, changing diapers, rocking my son to sleep in about a million different ways, I can understand why people don’t elaborate on the experience. It’s because everyone is faced with the most difficult task they will ever have to do and no matter what happens, the job has to get done and by the end of it you’re at a loss for words as to what exactly happened; it becomes a big blur. Well, I learned a few things that helped me get through the blur and they helped give me the happiest kid you’ll ever see. My son’s name is Sage. Sage basically means an old wise man. I was flipping through a book about seven years ago when I saw the word and thought how it would be an awesome name for a boy. I should also mention his middle name is Kal-El which is Superman’s real name. I wanted my son to be smart, strong, able, caring, dynamic and help people. I wanted him to have a different kind of name because I thought of him as an individual. I didn’t want him to be me. I wanted him to be himself. I didn’t talk to him like he was a baby. No goo goo’s and ga ga’s. I talked to him like he was my friend, like an adult. I gave him space and independence but always stayed close enough to prevent him from hurting himself. When he did get hurt I didn’t baby him or show him sympathy; I just put his attention on the next thing. I didn’t invalidate him. I didn’t make him wrong or make him feel like he’d done something bad. I validated him. All the time I told him things like, “Good job!” or “Alright!” or “You did it!” I knew he was watching and learning from my example so I tried my best to be the best person I could be around him. I wasn’t perfect and I didn’t expect him to be. We both did our best to not be too serious and have fun with what we did. I got excited when we were going to do something and he’d get excited too. It wasn’t easy and there were times I felt like throwing in the towel but I knew my worst was someone else’s best and tried to keep things in perspective. Overall, it took patience, good communication, good control, no punishment and lots of encouragement. A couple of weeks ago my wife and I took Sage hiking and towards the end of our walk a family was walking towards us. Without saying a word, Sage walked up to the son and hugged him. Then he walked up to the daughter and hugged her too. The family and the kids were dumbfounded. I had to break the silence and told Sage, “Say, good to meet you.” He extended his hand out with tremendous purpose and said “Good to meet you,” to each person one by one. It was the most beautifully moving thing I’d ever seen in my life. When we walked away I told my wife, “My god, I wanted to cry,” she said, “Me too.” Recently, we took a trip into Manhattan and came across a couple of street performers in Union Square. We stopped to watch a man playing a piano and another doing an interpretational dance to the music playing. The man dancing had big bushy hair, only wore underwear and tennis shoes, and had a fairly large audience watching him. I noticed Sage was excited to see him dancing and I could tell he wanted to get into the act. He did and I was able to film him as he made his way into the circle and it was a proud moment for me to watch him performing on the streets of New York City at 2 years old. Here's the YouTube video of him dancing: I try to approach things as an artist. Parenting is definitely an art and you either become the starving artist parent, pointing at all of the barriers, or you become the master or genius artist parent, pointing at all of the freedoms. Watching my son running through the park with other kids, giving voices to the toys he plays with at home, saying thank you to the clerk at Trader Joe’s, or dancing in front of a crowd of people, makes me think I helped to give my son a little more freedom than most. I used to think he was my greatest masterpiece but now I realize he’s really his own. I just gave him a brush or two, he supplied the paint.
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David CarusI'm David Carus. From overcoming one of the most dangerous cities in the country and graduating from one of the most prestigious colleges in America to leading an educational movement as a teacher and running for Congress at the age of 25, I decided the best hope our world has is through art. Archives
June 2017
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