After a couple years studying letterpress, working commercially, and then starting my own letterpress business, it had me thinking I knew a few things about my favorite method of printmaking.

The Royal Press showed me otherwise.  I was happily surprised to be completely surprised. No, not surprised, more like awestruck.

Letterpress-ers, get ready to nerd out.  All others, please feel free to skip this bit:

They had a Linotype machine the size of two refrigerators upon which one would type, and then it would select letters from a drawer inside, send them down a chute, and upon your command, heat and melt the lead letters to form an entire single block.

They had a rule-making machine.

They had presses so old and so big they crashed in on my current reality and blew it to smithereens.

They had walls and walls and walls of lead type, greater than any collection I’ve ever seen before, including UC Santa Cruz’s Cowell Press, the Weisensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin, the Print Museum in Dublin, Ireland, and the city collection in Berlin’s massive library.

They had four languages of type: Chinese, Arabic, English, and Jawi.

My jaw was on the floor the entire time.

Aside from the technical brilliance, this place just echoes beauty in every corner.  It’s everything I love about letterpress and more.  Sunlight streaming in overhead, paper flying this way and that, dusty shelves with records from the company’s last 50 years, employees deep in thought and work, history engrained in every nook and cranny of the building.

The Press is 76 years old, and Ee Soon Wei, great-grandson of the original printer, is on a mission to revive and enliven this beautiful but dusty printing haven.  He wants to pass on the traditions of this amazing method, as well as preserve an extremely special family history.

He’s well on his way–he’s currently preparing a Revival Plan to restore the press to a living museum, one in which artists can work and live in residency for a couple years at a time, where tourists to the beautiful and artistic UNESCO city of Melaka can visit the space and learn about this ancient printmaking method, and where the heritage and story of the space is celebrated.  The Discovery Channel will begin filming a documentary of the revival process next week.

I’m giving away two Royal Press mini-posters (seen left).  Post a link to this site on your facebook/twitter/etc and leave a comment below letting me know you did to enter–I’ll randomly select two winners on Friday, April 27.

Check out the Royal Press’s website for updates and make sure to visit if you’re ever in Malaysia.

Do you ever save the best tasting bites of your meal for last, or postpone wearing your favorite outfit for that “big day” next week, or wait for a REALLY special occasion to drink that fancy wine?

Me too.. I used to do it all the time. And after years of doing it I see the effects. I was always too full to enjoy those last bites at maximum potential, my favorite clothes are in perfect condition because I never wore them but so much time has passed I don’t even like them any more, and the wine went sour long ago.

Why’s that? Because TODAY is the big day. Today is the special occasion. If today is the day you want to wear that fancy dress even though there’s no party, or if today is the day you pop that bottle of champagne at a small spontaneous gathering of friends with no birthday to celebrate.. fucking do it.

Don’t wait for that ultimate special moment–a better moment is never going to come, and if it does, you’ll probably be disappointed that it didn’t live up to your huge expectations. Who knows if you’ll even want it later? Don’t wait. Don’t save the best for last. Use the best first. There will probably be more bests that pop up along the way–you probably won’t run out of bests to try, and even if you do, run through the exciting possibilities first before resorting to less appealing options.

Imagine a huge plate of food–let’s say its a big fresh salad brimming with cherry tomatoes, spinach, candied walnuts, chickpeas, grilled chicken, the works.. as a whole that salad is great. The chicken is average but your favorite is the candied walnuts.

You have two paths you could take on your salad-eating journey.

You eat the chicken first–you want to get it out of the way so you don’t have to think about it while enjoying those tasty walnuts. You scarf it down, thinking about how boring it is and how you can’t wait till you reach the end and get to eat the walnut. By the time you have those few prized morsels left at the end, your stomach is gurgling with fullness. You don’t really even want to eat any more but you’ve GOT to now, because those delicious walnuts still remain. Finally after working so hard to get to the walnuts, you pop ‘em in your mouth. Munch munch. Hmm those really weren’t as good as you remember on the first bite.

Or.. you could scoop up your favorite bites in the first part of your meal, when you’re hungriest and most appreciative and conscious of the flavor and texture of the sweet crunchy nuts. You savor each bite slowly and work to make a good well-rounded bite each time: a few leaves of spinach, perfect amount of dressing, maybe a piece of feta topped off with the glorious shining walnut. You’re feeling really satisfied now as you reach the end of your meal and realize you don’t really want or need to eat the last few bites of boring chicken because you’re content.

The same works with bigger life choices too.

You have two options. Save the best for later, or enjoy it now while you’ve got it. Don’t save the best for last in your life–if you’ve been dreaming of climbing mount everest, don’t save it till after you’ve slaved away for 40 years wishing all the while that you were up on that mountain. Maybe in 40 years your joints will be too stiff, maybe you’ll die in a freak accident in 10 years, maybe mount everest will be off-limits to the public.

Yes there are going to be 1 million reasons why you shouldn’t do it. Yes it will make you uncomfortable. Yes there will be hardships. Yes there will be unknowns.

But the alternative is never climbing the mountain. It’s never living that crazy idea that popped into your head. Its regret and coulda, woulda, shoulda looking back.

So for the sake of your own contentment, save the best for first. Go out and thrive. And make no apologies when you enjoy the hell out of it.

Yesterday I visited a great company that makes letterpress cards like I do.  A rather large business, I’ve seen Hello Lucky cards stocked in stores in many cities and was happily surprised to see that their print studio, retail store and design office is right in the heart of San Francisco, which I visited briefly this week.  Since we have a lot in common, I thought I’d just stop by and say hi.

I didn’t have much of an agenda or expectations, but since they’re obviously doing something right, I thought it would be fun to see what I could see.

My non-existent expectations were blown out of the water.  I got to meet and talk nerdy with one of the master printers, explore the design studio, and meet some of the great folks that work there.

That alone was golden, but at the end I mustered up the courage to talk to the woman who  handles wholesale orders.  Even though a big part of me said it was probably useless–maybe she didn’t have any tips that I hadn’t heard, maybe the company didn’t want to give away any secrets, blah blah blah endless list of excuses and reasons not to–I still did it.

And I’m so glad I did.

One of my main objectives for the last few months has been to get wholesale buyers for my cards.  Teaming up with The Hipstery for wholesale back when I was printing in Germany worked out so well–it was fun and lucrative, so I am eager to expand in that direction.

And even though its one of my main priorities, what have I done about finding wholesale customers in the last 4 months?  NOTHING!  Until yesterday that is.  I was unsure, didn’t have any great leads, and just generally clueless as to how to approach this.  My strategy looked eerily like Southpark’s infamous gnome flowchart.

Phase two was missing, and I didn’t know what it was.  I knew what I wanted, but it was  uncharted territory for me.  Then I spoke with Heather, who has direct experience with what I’m working towards.  I simply asked if she had any tips on getting wholesale customers, and she turned over the very same Hello Lucky catalogue I was already holding in my hands and pointed to a list of Reps who find wholesale customers for you on a commission basis.

WHAT?  I had no idea that even existed!  A concrete plan of action for Phase 2!  Aha!

Could it be that simple?  Who knows.  Maybe this Phase 2 won’t work.  But I have something solid to work on now, and I will do my best to discover and test all possible Phase 2s until I successfully reach Phase 3.

The thing is, I didn’t realize my flowchart of action was missing a step until that very moment.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know.  And that’s a tough spot to be in, it feels a bit hopeless, like you’re searching for an unknown object in a big dark room.  But rather than continuing to search blindly for that unknown object, perhaps it is more appropriate and productive to find out what that object is first.

The only way to find out what you don’t know is to search for information.  Perhaps you have no idea where to start, like me.  Just start somewhere, anywhere, and one clue will lead you to the next.  Put yourself in scenarios that could possibly shed light on your unknowns.  Read Even better talk to people with experience doing what you’d like to do.  Yes, its scary being in the dark, but more often than not, people are willing and happy to help you.  And once you have that A-ha! moment, it gets easier. You’re finally able to turn the light on.  Its easier to work with the light on.

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Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub.
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.

- Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Good Design is not about

• costing the most
• being the most intricate
• having the most features

It is about cutting out the unnecesary parts to leave only what is useful.

It is the bare minimum, executed with attention to the tiniest detail.

It appears effortless.

It is less, but better.

It is timeless.

It is honest.

Dieter Rams 600 Chair

I had the honor of seeing Dieter Rams’ original designs at the San Francisco MOMA yesterday and it was pretty powerful for me.

Part of me hesitates to write that last bit because I don’t consider myself an art or design snob.  If we’re being totally honest, even though I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, museums usually bore the crap out of me.  I think they’re stuffy and that my friends make art that’s better than half of the stuff behind fancy plastic barriers.

So when I say that seeing Dieter Rams’ stuff was the bees knees, I hope you know I mean it in a genuine way.  But it wasn’t special because his aesthetic WOW-ed me with its grandeur.  In fact, if you stepped into that room without any prior orientation, you’d probably assume you were just in IKEA.  Surrounded by rows and rows of everyday electronics and furniture, you might as well be in an office in Anytown, USA.

Getting serious at the Getty museum in LA.

What got me so excited about the Dieter Rams exhibit was the restraint.  The pure functionality of each piece.  The familiarity.  Each item, from a chair, to shelves, to hair dryers, to radios, to speakers, to televisions, to electric shavers–they all existed purely in their simplest form.

There was no showing off.  Nothing was gaudy, loud, or in your face like so much of today’s aesthetic.  They were sleek, discreet, and toned down.

“Design should not dominate things or people, it should help people.” – D. Rams

Just like Michelangelo sculpted by removing unnecessary blocks of stone, so did Rams refine and reduce to the essence of a machine, so Jonathan Ive left only the essentials in creating Apple’s quintessential products, and so you can sculpt your project, home, or life.

None of them did it alone, they took the building blocks of their predecessor and continued to subtract.

“Prefer subtraction.” – Leo Babauta

Good design does not only work in art and products.  A lifestyle can be sculpted too, which is why the term “Lifestyle Design” makes so much sense to me.  I am constantly sculpting my life, molding and reshaping, trying new things and shaving away what doesn’t work.  I practice incorporating many of Rams’ 10 principles of good design in my graphic designs as well as in every aspect of life.

“We need new structures for our behaviors.  And that is design.  We have enough things. The unspectacular things are the important things, especially in the future.” – Dieter Rams

Good design goes even deeper than lifestyle and a lot farther back than famous sculptures and Dieter Rams and iPods though.  Evolution has been sculpting our bodies, our minds, our environments, and everything in our reality for at least a few years now.

It hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been quick, but over the millennia, evolution has done a pretty fine job of smoothing out the rough spots for our human design.  We’ve got systems inside us whizzing and buzzing and reacting and interacting that keep us pumping day in and day out.  From the tiniest electron at the very core of our atomic building blocks, no detail has gone unnoticed.  Everything works in harmony (though obviously we still get sick sometimes–its a good design, nobody said it was perfect).  And yet its so simple we don’t even have to think about any of it.  The hard work is already done for us, by us, in conjunction with everyone who’s ever lived before us.

When you hone and refine, test, create, learn, make mistakes and repeat.. you evolve into more sophisticated, yet sleeker ways of living.  You are capable of more, but do less.  Strip away everything but that which is absolutely necessary.  That is the beauty of good design.

As human beings, we often overestimate what we can accomplish in a short period of time, but we drastically underestimate what we can accomplish in a year or two.  - The Minimalists

It has been an incredible year of intense change, rapid growth, love, loss, gratitude and contentment.  Here are the most kick-ass, memorable parts paired with some of my favorite shots from 2011.

Landed my “dream job.”  I worked 9-5 as a graphic designer and letterpress printmaker in Dusseldorf, Germany, making fancy-ass wedding invitations.

Landed my “dream job” as a letterpress printer & graphic designer.

Quit my dream job. I realized it was someone else’s dream, and what I really wanted was to sustain myself through my own creativity, my own decisions, and on my own time.  To have time to live and experiment and give back and do crazy things.

Moved to Berlin.  Fell truly, madly, and deeply in love with a city.  Met amazing people, danced till sunrise, ate enough falafel to last a lifetime.  I recommend you move there like Maneesh says, or at least visit it.

Moved to Berlin. (You should too.)

Sparked the creation of a group of 4-Hour-Workweek entrepreneurs which still meets weekly and has grown to over 150 people.  Found some of my closest friends, mentors, and inspiration within it.  One of the most life-changing and amazing things I’ve ever experienced.

Sparked the creation of a 4HWW Entrepreneur’s group. With Maneesh, Rachman & Tim Ferriss.

Started my first business.  Out of my love for jokes, letterpress printing (and the desire to be my own boss) grew Ye Olde Gangster, the world’s first collection of gangster-rap birthday cards & love notes.  Got featured in some awesome places, was selected to sell at Neurotitan’s brick-and-mortar, and teamed up with the Hipstery, the raddest company ever.  Got two menterns to teach and learn from and keep things running while I start the next adventure.

Launched Art Outlines, a collection of handmade outline illustrations I draw for folks to use in wedding invitations, website design, books, etc.

Launched Art Outlines.

Broke up with my boyfriend.  Stung like hell for a while, then turned out to be a blessing.  My new freedom allowed me to refocus my energy, meet loads of new people in a new city, and clarify my priorities.  We subtracted the parts that weren’t working but kept the parts that always rocked, meaning our friendship was able to regain its full strength and we each had space for fresh opportunities.  He’s still one of my favorite people.

Won a trip anywhere in the world from my favorite author, Tim Ferriss. I ignored the voice in my head that said I wasn’t good enough or big enough to win a competition of this magnitude, and with a little (no, A LOT) of help from you my friends, managed to win!  You guys rocked my world and I won’t waste this opportunity: I am using this ticket to share something awesome with you.

Spoke at an international Etsy conference with my favorite Etsy blogger, Danielle Maveal on small business, passion, and making it happen.

Learned German.  It’s nowhere near native level, but I moved to Germany without knowing a single word, and by the time I left a year later, I could read and write and communicate just about any idea (as long as the listener was patient).  I keep up now by reading my great friend Sebastian Michel’s blog, Mr. Minimalist.

Traveled.  With my brother for the first time–had stinky cheese with our friends in France and a picnic in Switzerland.  Harvested honey at my friend’s parents farm in Germany.  Couchsurfed with vegan anarchists in Czech Republic.  Climbed the Swiss Alps in the pouring rain (scared shitless, literally thought I was going to die) with new friend.  Traveled all over California and stayed with old friends from college in Oakland, Santa Cruz, & San Francisco.

Got to try life on the farm with my friend’s family in Raakow, Germany.

Learned Capoeira.  Sucked at it, but enjoyed getting sweaty, meeting new people, and trying something new for a few months.  Started an exercise routine that sticks.

Launched The E.A.T. Team, a project where I’ll use the ticket I won from Tim Ferriss to  travel across Asia, Australia, New Zealand and USA in 2012 to interview artists and chefs for an inspiring cookbook I’ll co-create with one of my best friends.

Met some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.  This is the most meaningful part of the list for me.  I’ve learned and changed a lot over the last few years, 2011 especially, and meeting people who embraced these new ideas that I loved fueled my fire and I am incredibly grateful for that.  It’s not often you “click” in a deep, fundamental essence of being like I do with my friend Sebastian Michel of Mr. Minimalist.  I got to live and work and play with Adam Fletcher, Maneesh Sethi, Rachman Blake, Mars Dorian, Marcel Phillippe, Fab & Vivien, and a few awe-inspiring people here and there who don’t live on the internet ;)  I also met some of my favorite authors and entrepreneurs, including Leo Babauta, The Minimalists, Tim Ferriss, Charlie Hoehn, Corbett Barr, Camila Prada, Nicola Rowlands and more.  The cliche of surrounding myself with like-minded people turned out to be an extremely worthwhile one to pursue–it’s like having a big non-cliquey family who cheers each other on.

The big life changes don’t happen over night. Give yourself some time. Put in a lot of effort and keep at it. You’ll be surprised with what can happen in a year. - The Minimalists

The biggest lesson I want to carry into 2012 is living without expectations of myself or of others.  I feel like every single second, no matter who you are, there are enough blessings in your field of vision to last a lifetime.  Knowing that you are, have, and do enough in this moment, you’re set for life.  Happy New Years and here’s to an epic 2012!

Exercising in a beautiful place makes it easier. Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz, California is my all time favorite.

Today I completed a 30 day challenge for fitness.  I hate being sweaty and I hate running and I’ve never stuck to a regular workout routine before this one, and that’s because my goals and expectations were way too high in the past.  For this month, I decided to set the bar SUPER low.

The goal was simple: walk twenty minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Instead of promising myself I’d run an hour a day 6 days a week even though I felt up for it on Day One, I knew there would be days I’d give that goal a big hunking middle finger and damn it all to hell.  Not only did I set the goal really low, I arranged it around my shower schedule to make it even harder to find an excuse not to get a little sweaty.  I accounted for the terrible lazy werewolf that lies inside me and comes out more often than I’d like to admit, and made it virtually failproof.

Ready to try cheerleading?

So even when I was sick, even when it was raining, even when I was on my period, even when I had a JAM-PACKED day with “no time” for exercise.. well I was always able to manage a tiny 20-minute walk.

In the past, no matter how much I knew I “should” do something, like floss my teeth every night for healthy gums and to avoid costly dental visits later in life, no amount of “motivation” could get me to do it consistently.  You’ve probably gone through the same scenario as you try to form a new habit–you start out at breakneck speed, kicking ass and taking names. You are a rockstar, king of the world, no one can stop your unbeatable machine… for the first 3 days.  Then something comes up or you get sick so you miss a day, then you get pissed that you missed a day, and you toss your would-be habit into the gutter with the rest of your failures.

Well, I found that if I promised myself to floss just one tooth per day as Ramit Sethi suggests, I was able to once-and-for-all commit to daily flossing (and usually end up flossing every tooth).  And I figured that if that worked, the same behavioral change could be applied to my exercise routine.

The Results:

In the end, there were only a handful of days where I only walked for 20-minutes.  In reality, I often ran and walked intermittently for an hour or more.  I even did my routine on some of the off-days.  Many times, I got excited that I fulfilled my twenty minutes and that positive boost gave me the energy and desire to keep going.  Because I started small, I left myself room to expand or contract as I saw fit, all the while making baby steps in a positive direction.  

Some of my favorite benefits from this fitness challenge include:

• Time to think.  Detached from computer, just me and the road.  And the trees and the streets and the birds and the sun and the rain and the people and the sights and the smells and so on and so on.  Letting my mind wander from the things it usually thinks about.
• Added flexibility.  See photo!  Stretching wasn’t part of the goal, but it kinda just came with the territory.  I’ve never been a runner, but I soon discovered that running without stretching hurts a lot.
• Sustainable while traveling.  I was on the road in northern California for the majority of this challenge, and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to pursue it–I knew I would be surrounded by lots of good friends and good food during the holiday season.
• Weight loss.  Just a smidge, but a noticeable smidge.  Proud to say I can now close the button on my favorite jeans from college.
• Social aspect.  Sometimes my days feel crunched for time (working on that one too, stay tuned), and taking a tactic straight from one of my favorite books, Never Eat Alone, instead of scrapping social time or exercise, I combined them.  I invited my friends to join me on a hike, which made a totally different exercise experience keeping the challenge fresh and varied.
• Exploring new places.  As I said, I was traveling for the major duration of this trial, and in the past, I’ve used traveling as an excuse not to exercise.  ”I want to use the whole day to see new sights!”  Walking or running can be done anywhere and doing it while on vacation can heighten the experience–you get to see new places and faces while you maintain your physical balance.  I explored parts of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz that I never saw before thanks solely to this challenge.
• Not hating running.  Ugh, I’m almost embarrassed to admit this one, but also excited.  I no longer hate running.. I’m not gonna go so far as to say I love it, but once I got into it, I realized and experienced some of the benefits you hear about it all the time.
• New techniques.  Discussing this challenge and my new interest in running with friends brought up some interesting discussions, which led to learning and testing “the one best way” to run.  I realized I had been running incorrectly, and it was causing a fair bit of knee pain for such a light jogger.  I just tried my first set of 100-ups and barefoot running today.  It’s a fresh experiment so I’ll save the conclusions for another time, but so far I can say that it was an interesting experience and I enjoyed the feeling of lightness and accuracy of minimal footwear and connectedness to the ground.  My ankles are sore from this new technique (not landing on the heels), but I am looking forward to trying this again soon.

I’m not 100% sure what’s next but I will maintain this new habit for the forseeable future.

What baby steps can you take today?  My idea in sharing my 30-day challenges is to inspire you to try some experiments of your own.  It’s only been a personal achievement and helped me until I hit “publish”, but if it inspires even one of you to take action then that makes it even more worthwhile for me.  Let me know if its gotten you thinking or doing and please share a link with your friends if so!

Without glasses, my world looks a bit like this.

Tonight I bicycled home blind.

Well, almost.  I am not legally blind, but I don’t think I’m far from it.  I wear glasses or contacts to help me navigate through daily life.  I got my first “sight correcting contraption” at the ripe age of 11; until I put on those glasses, I had absolutely no idea my vision was “impaired.”  That was just the way life was, and it didn’t dawn on me that there was a different, better, clearer way to see the world around me until I noticed that my classmates could read the chalkboard when I couldn’t.  In other words, I didn’t know I had a problem until I compared myself to my peers.  But imagine my delight as I put on my (super sexy circular bug-eye) glasses for the first time.. “HOLY CRAP!  Everything is so CRISP and SHINY and BEAUTIFUL!  I have been missing out on a LOT!  …Woah!  There are letters on license plates?!” and so on and so forth.  It was a glorious moment to behold.  This was the way everything was supposed to be seen, and now I could enjoy it too!  A level playing field!  Hooray!

As the years passed, I thought about how annoying it was to have to wear these things all the time.  How unlucky was I that  I had to wake up everyday and flail blindly till I found my specs; or that I couldn’t fall asleep wearing them or I’d bend or break them; that I had to waste time cleaning them every day; that I must pay  heaps of cash for these stupid ugly things I didn’t even want; that I couldn’t just roll out of bed and SEE!; that others were born with “perfect vision,” but not me.  Life was unfair, and it irked me.  As I grew older, I dreamt of the day when I could afford laser eye surgery and be rid of my burden forever.

This evening, I found a new perspective.  Two, in fact.. a physical perspective shift introduced a mental perspective shift.

It’s not a new idea in the world of personal development that a new mental perspective provides a fresh outlook on life, and as I trekked my 1 hour bike-ride home from a day of printing through the city, I realized that I was being a huge grump.  I  was impatient, rushed, nervous, and thinking rude thoughts about people who got in my way.. not nice & certainly not my ideal version of myself at all.

When I realized what I was doing and that I wanted to stop being a jerk, I remembered that I could use a perspective shift.  So after a few failed attempts, I found one that worked: instead of thinking about how the people on the street were “making” me feel (nobody can make you feel anything, you decide that), I tried to imagine how they were feeling.  And I didn’t have to imagine once I started really looking.. it was a fun game to read the emotions on people’s faces, and it made me feel good that I could relate to each and every one of them that way.  It also felt a lot less selfish, and got me out of my own head.  And since I was unabashedly looking into people’s eyes, I couldn’t help but smile when I imagined their stories, and they usually smiled back, which just formed a sweet positive feedback loop.

But that’s not even the perspective shift that really caught my eye (no pun intended.. kindof).. because as I was making my way through the Tiergarten (Berlin’s enormous, beautiful central park) I decided I wanted another perspective shift.. so I took my glasses off.  Immediately my world transformed from people whizzing by on bikes, dogs, cars, leaves, trees, dirt, & ground into a soft landscape of light and colors.  The way the light from the sunset filtered through the gaps in the leaves looked like shimmering diamonds or stars, blinking on and off in soft cascading rhythms.  I slowed down to savor the sight (and, let’s be honest here, to avoid crashing into a tree).  When I got onto a small side street, I was mesmerized by the floating lights the lamps created, which bounced off parked cars, which were intersected by headlights of oncoming traffic, all the while neon signs beamed from the sidelines.. I felt like I was on drugs.  I was stunned by the beauty and the stark contrast to what I was used to seeing; like the first time I saw the Grand Canyon and the Swiss Alps.  And here I was, just on the same-old regular trek that I have ridden almost every single day for the last 6 months.

As a photographer, my first instinct was to capture it with my camera so I could remember and share the sight and experience.  Then I remembered that that was impossible.. it was something only I could see.  I was occupying the same space as the people around me, looking at the exact same things they were, only seeing it in a completely different way.

It dawned on me that my new world looked exactly like my camera’s bokeh, which is defined by Wikpedia as “the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or ‘the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.’”  Simply put, it’s the blurry bit in the next two photos.

Bokeh: the blurry bit in this photo.

So am I going to ditch the specs all the time now?  No–both perspectives are valid & I enjoy being able to switch between them.  And as my growing business brings me closer to being able to afford that laser eye surgery I so desperately longed for.. well I guess that’s crossed off the shopping list.  Since it seems I have the opportunity to shift my physical perspective in a split second…  that got me thinking about my mental perspective on my vision.  Maybe my burden is actually a gift.

Update: I’ve tried this a couple times in the last few months, including today in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  Each experience has been like dreaming while awake.

As I stood staring at the seemingly mundane, I must have looked quite strange to passersby who saw things with “clear” vision.  But I was in my own world, seriously focused on the present moment, and enjoying it all too much to care.

If one can change their physical perspective in an instant and be teleported to a world of imagination, adventure and possibility, they can change their mental one in the same way and reap the same benefits.  Are you feeling stuck like I was?  Make a conscious decision to change your perspective–physical or mental and see what happens.  The world you see is based on it.

As the Gorillaz said, just remember that it’s all in your head. ;)

One of the new holiday cards in my shop.

As things have expanded, I’m looking to hire a Mentern (Mentee & Intern) in the San Francisco bay area or Los Angeles for my growing gangster-rap greeting card business while I travel to Asia and Australia to write a book on food and art.  Basically I am looking for someone like me a few years ago: a creative, smart, motivated individual who doesn’t want to settle for anything less than the most awesome life they can imagine.  For me, that meant quitting my dismal 9-5 life that society promotes and carving out my own place in the world, to be able to pursue a passionate existence.  I’d like to offer my knowledge and expertise to someone interested in pursuing their dreams in return for help running my online shop and as an assistant organizing my projects.  Not only will you learn tricks of the trade “on the job” from managing the shop & tasks below for an average of 5 hours per week, I will chat with you weekly for an hour & provide 1-on-1 coaching to help you reach (or figure out) your dreams and start making money with your own business or at your dream job.  I want this to be a mutually beneficial partnership, where we both grow & succeed.

What you will work on:

• Fulfill orders
• Correspond with customers
• Create content for the mailing list
• Research physical stores to stock cards in
• Update the facebook fan page (jokes, sales, etc) & website
• Browse Etsy for cool items, think of creative themes & create Treasuries around them
• Read & contact art/design/gadget blogs, magazines, & newspapers for features
• Research & contact chefs & artists to interview for the aforementioned book
• Copy write & create etsy listings
• Update Flickr
• Write blog content
• Update website
• Maintain flexible: I will have different and varied projects for you.

• Reliable, timely, and excited to use your own creativity.  I will give you tasks, but for much of it, I want you to get to exercise your unique skills & innovation.
• Desire to make a positive impact in your life & the lives of those around you.
• 100% honest, all the time.  I will be with you, and you will be with me even when it gets awkward.  That’s the only way we can make progress and learn from eachother.  As they say, the truth will set you free ;)
• People person (good on the phone, in writing, and not scared to say what you mean)
• Bonus points but not necessary: knowledge of Etsy, graphic design, wordpress, photography, printmaking/letterpress, blogging, SEO, facebook fan pages, twitter, art world, html etc.

This is an ideal Menternship for you if you are interested in most of the following, as I kick ass at and can help you with:

• Defining & pursuing your ideal life
• Supporting yourself through art, design, creativity
• Graphic design, fine art, illustration, bookmaking, printmaking, photography
• Running an etsy shop for yourself
• Living and working on your own terms (avoiding the 9-5 to create your own path & enjoy life, or finding & landing your dream job)
• Starting, running, or building your own business
• Making money from a passion
• Learning about entrepreneurship, freelancing, marketing, and advertising
• Building a network of supportive people
• Learning about printmaking, letterpress, paper
• Traveling while still making money from your business
• The “4 hour workweek” lifestyle introduced by Tim Ferriss
• Minimalism, a “less is more” lifestyle (have less things, but more experiences)
• Reaching your full potential/living as your best self

If this sounds like you:

1. Please check out my creative endeavors here, my earlier blogposts, and my about page  to see if you’d like to work with me.
2. Email me without hesitation at melissa@yeoldegangster.com a paragraph or two telling me about yourself and why we would be a good working match.  Attach a resume just so I know what you’ve been up to, but know that I’m choosing based on business compatibility and how much I think we can benefit one another, not what brands you’ve worked with.

Thanks & looking forward to hearing from you,
Melissa

Define the ideal version of yourself in writing so you know how to be that person.

Only when you know the meaning of a word can you use it properly in a sentence.  Similarly, when you have defined your ideal self, you can tap into your full potential.  Having an actual written-down definition of who it is you aim to be provides some serious mental clarity and allows you to act from a place of understanding rather than confusion.  Also, it serves as a reminder on those days when you feel lost, feel like you’re not enough, feel down and out.

What are the qualities you want to embody?  What does your best version of yourself do and think?  It’s not a finite list, you can add to it whenever you want, and you can change it over time.  Even if you don’t feel like that person all the time (I know I don’t) you’ll have a base to return to at all times.  Don’t be afraid to write down anything–don’t take yourself for granted.  Step into your greatness and leave fear behind.  You don’t even have to share it with anyone if you don’t want to.

Here’s my definition of my ideal self.. what’s yours?

I am patient.  

I am relaxed.  

I remember to breathe deeply.  

I appreciate right now, the present moment, for that is all there is and all that ever will be.  

I express my gratitude in a myriad of ways, be it a smile, a note, or a comment–to myself and to others.  

I am decisive, without second-guessing myself, because I know that it doesn’t matter which decision I make–I can always adjust course afterwards if I don’t like the outcome of a decision, and if I choose based on “what I’d like to experience” (aka what my intuition says) versus “which is the best/right decision”, its easy.  I know that making decisions is easy because if one opportunity falls through, I know there are literally endless more opportunities.  

I am strong–mentally and physically.  

I am beautiful.  Even if I was burned and scarred and mangled I would still be beautiful, because if I say I am, I am.  Because my beauty is my presence, not my appearance, and my presence is always enough.  

My spirit is safe, at all times, because nothing that could ever happen to my physical existence could touch it.  In this way, I am immortal.  

I am generous–I give to provide value to others, who are extensions of my self.  

I appreciate the things, people, relationships, circumstances, and events in my current situation while they exist and when its time for them to pass, I let them go freely.  I am always free to recall the joy they brought me (without a sense of longing for what was).  

I am not afraid of new changes; I embrace them with a sense of curiosity.  new things are mere experimentations–they are opportunities for growth, creativity, and learning.  Since growth, creativity and learning are my top priorities and favorite aspects of life, then by geometric proof, New things = Growth, Creativity, and Learning = Top Priority.  

I do not take my worries seriously–I listen to them, thank them for their presence, and let them go.  I only take the work of being “unserious” seriously.  

I take many breaks.  

I value nothingness, solitude, and silence.  

Equally, I value the company of others.  

I strive to grow and learn, but know that I am enough.  If I died today, that would be okay, because I live consciously.  

Working harder does not make me a better person.  Value comes from learning and sharing.  

I act with intention and purpose, thoughtfully, but do not over-think things.  

I forgive myself when I make mistakes, even when I deviate from my ideal self, and then carry on as best I can, as my ideal self.  I forgive others because resentment serves nobody.  

I offer help and share advice when requested, but I do not try to change people.  

I don’t question why the way things are the way they are; I accept that the answer to all questions is just “because.”  Instead of asking why, I ask, what am I learning?  

I am respectful.  

I consider the needs of other people, and I do not step on others in my haste towards my own advancement.  That is, I do not value my time over my peers.  

I am kind, but I do not sacrifice myself or my needs to please others.  I must be whole, wholly content  to be able to give to others.

I embrace my differences as strengths.  

I do not get angry at myself when my energy is low–I recognize both sides of the spectrum as equal and necessary.  I know that there are two sides to everything, and that one is not better than the other.  I recognize that I need lows to appreciate the highs.  

I am completely honest and transparent–with myself and everyone else, because that is the only way to grow.

I am proud, but not boastful or arrogant.  

I accept all circumstances.  

I express my love and gratitude.  

I am imperfect, but I am perfectly myself.

I’d love to hear your definition of your ideal self.  Please do leave a comment or send an email.