This video was filmed 13 years ago – the year was 2011, when I was still painting graffiti. I was pretty chunky too, haha. I like how my piece came out btw. Oh and the comments are funny too now that I look back at it; I actually avoided reading them for a long time because feelings or even watching this video because of my weight. Of course most guys always have something gross to say.
Time is so wild.
Painted with WINK and Angel179 for Art Primo.
My life is pretty boring these days. I’m still trying to think of how to work less while making the same amount of money or even more and I still want to take a year off work. But I’m super thankful to have this creature in my life. Her name is Mika and she’s a black tortie British Shorthair. You can follow her on IG @mikatortiecat. I couldn’t decide which pic I liked better so I made both into a gif.
What’s life like for me right now? Well I still can’t afford to buy a home in Los Angeles but at least I live where I want to live and it’s close to work so that’s a tradeoff I suppose. If you want to be in LA, you simply can’t have it all unless you’re rich AF.
I can hear my mom saying that I should’ve bought a home in 2003. Knowing myself at that time I was still hella irresponsible though and just wanted to paint and do whatever the fuck I wanted to do. I mean, why do parents project their dreams unto their children? She made me feel like THAT was supposed to be my ultimate goal in life.
Also it takes me a long fucking time to grasp real estate terms and concepts. I’m in my mid-40’s and I’m just barely starting to understand it. Sheesh.
And maybe I’m okay with living where I live WHILE not owning the place. Maybe we can normalize that homeownership is not as attainable as it used to be. Besides, we entered this world with nothing and we’re going to leave with nothing but our souls. So why even put myself through all that?
The so called American dream is dead and your life doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s.
It’s strange, isn’t it? The things we’ve spent time building up crumbles eventually as soon as people start to make fun of it.
Perhaps I’m too overly concerned…sensitive…about what people think but at the same time, you also have to put your feelers out there to see what people actually think.
It can be a downer on your energy for sure and it makes you want to hide (at least for me).
For example – my crystal shop. A few months ago on Reddit, I put up a photo of crystals for sale – some were natural while some were aura treated. It was then reposted in a subreddit forum called Mineral Gore. The purpose of the subreddit is to post unnatural, manmade or enhanced mineral specimens so people can comment at how ugly and atrocious they are.
One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. Again, to each their own.
But still, it personally affected me and I never wanted to post again.
The point of this post is that people ARE out there…UNCONSCIOUSLY making you feel bad for the things that you personally love. And when somebody shares their opinion that you don’t necessarily agree with regarding that thing you love, you’re most likely going to feel like shit and you’re going to want to hide.
Just understand that most people aren’t doing it on purpose or personally attacking you, they’re just sharing their opinion and preference.
But it still comes off harsh.
Reddit is a strange place…well, all social media in general. It feels good to have your posts or comments “liked” or “upvoted”, it feels awful to have them “downvoted” or when people leave shitty comments.
It’s hard to not take things personally, but I’ll keep on working on it.
(Yes, that’s me in the background with my husband taking a photo of this claw machine filled with kawaii stuffed animals).
Yes, easy right?
But much harder and more of a challenge to actually stick around and take up space in your own community.
Let’s be real here, do you really want to move; especially if you’ve lived in LA for so long? I’ve thought about the logistics of getting a house that I can actually afford…in the desert, but financially it would still cost the same. And besides, why the hell should you move just because some out-of-towners are taking over your neighborhood. Fight back!
By supporting local businesses, supporting your friends who are all grown up now and have started opening up their own businesses; supporting small mom and pop shops who have become a fixture in the neighborhood. Support them by buying something, don’t ask for free stuff; understand that they have to make money and have bills to pay too.
Fight back by taking up space, why not start your own small business if you have an idea that you think people would love? This is your city, too!
Most of us have gone beyond the self-centered mentality – when you were young all you cared about was yourself. There was a time when it served you well.
Now is the time to give back and help out.
I hope this puts things into perspective a little bit. Here is an excellent read: 9 Tried & True Methods for Fighting Back Against Gentrification
