Artists & Innovators Leadership Project: Living a life of purpose and paying it forward

Go Fund Me for the journey to AILP

I’m always working even when it seems like I’m not, and I go underground for a while. Work is happening, and I'm making progress. Sometimes moving forward requires you to look back to see what could have been done better and to consider what we wish we'd done. You know. Those deferred dreams. But before I focus on making an impact in business, technology, or even education, I want to start with the human conditions that create the changes we desire to see in the world. I am making strides with the creation of my nonprofit organization, Artists & Innovators Leadership Program (AILP) (fundraiser link below), which creates programs that will foster support networks for young artists and future entrepreneurs. This takes a lot of time, energy, resources, and dedication. 

Love looks different sometimes

 by TRU Ess

When I collapse into myself

A savior isn't always the answer

Not always is it necessary to save me

I don't need them to say "It will be okay." 

Sometimes, love looks like their tears intermingling with mine

Sometimes, love doesn't need you to be strong

Sometimes, love needs to fall with the knowledge that I can get back up 

But this moment requires quiet stillness 

with the softness of a paired heart that may not understand completely 

but holds space for the weakness of the moment

love, sometimes, looks like the covering of brokenness 

without the need for reassembly to erase what brokenness looks like

Sometimes, love doesn't look like forcing things to fit

Sometimes, love looks like scattered pieces that, in the scattering, 

create an unfocused image of beauty

Sometimes, love has to look different when we are transforming how we understand ourselves in the world

Sometimes, love isn't a held hand

It's a closed door, and a shared seat by the window as the storm rages outside

Sometimes, love is a glance of understanding as debris flies by in chaos

Sometimes, love is shared in the messiness of who we are trying to become

And sometimes, love just looks different because we are no longer the same as we were

When love looked safe