personal manifesto - ben sang

extremes are cool, but the grey area is cooler most of the time

 - the uncategorizable yet recognizable is where you can most easily spend the most time exploring

expose yourself to everything

 - knowing the surface of something only helps you try to bullshit things

be naive in order to gain experience

 - try things you don't understand and attempt things you know are above you. failure is the best way to quick improvement

be sincere

 - be honest with yourself. not every piece you make needs to be all that important

imitate everything that you like

 - if you like it, you're more likely to do it well

don't be a bitch

 - you just gotta get over it and do/make/become what you envision

never brand yourself

 - visual branding can help, but for now, stay awayyyyyyyy

when weighing options, do what scares you more

 - a kid named Muhammed told me this and he was so right

trust your gut

 - it's almost always right, and when you're used to listening to it, you know when it is

believe in conscious streams

 - the unrelated become very related as our minds drift. use this

steal shit

 - art, supplies, space, time, anything

rely on collective consciousness

 - if you can understand it, someone else can too. if you have an idea, someone else does too

go outside

 - breeeeeeathe baby

be ballsy

 - try things that others won't to learn things that others won't

get into trouble

 - usually a result of the previous point. you learn a lot about the way things really are when you break the rules

be persistent

 - if you stop trying, you'll never get there

flex

 - if people are shitting on you, shit on them through your work. not directly, just purposely do a really good job of subtly pissing them off

be loose and dance

 - be freeeee let gooooooo

push yourself

 - the more often you push yourself, the more you condition yourself to regularly achieve that which beforehand was undoable

make unrelated shit

 - you don't have a brand, you like lots of things, make them regardless of their content in comparison to previous work

read books and speak to people above your own level

 - reading books is like filling your head with a really smart person's thoughts. speaking to smarter people keeps you on your toes and reminds you that your own intellect and creativity are relative

obsess

 - the only way to find things that other people generally don't is to go much deeper than others generally do

move on

 - just a bad day, a weird phase, whatever, it leads to the next great opportunity

save trash

 - seeing the byproducts of your own habits puts things into an interesting perspective and gives an interesting mix of fodder for your work

make lists

 - you'll forget a lot of what you don't write down, so write it down. your brain is like a personal assistant. a list is your personal assistant's personal assistant

make goals 

 - be aware of where you are and push yourself harder. as you make more goals you become more aware of your own power

share and spread success

 - this one requires being selfless, which is hard for me right now, but giving aid to others historically seems to bring about your own success

do what feels good

 - because it feels good, and if you feel good, you do well usually

make art in any context

 - just don't believe people that say you can't. pushing art into new or exciting realms is a very freeing sensation

vandalize everything

 - leave your mark everywhere. others may not understand it, but you will in time

make things your own

 - don't let your things be curated by someone or something else. they are yours. you are the only you

have more influences than anyone else

 - the secret to being the most "original" is the distillation of the greatest variety of influences

believe in yourself

 - you're you and as far as we know this is your only life. every cell that has ever interacted with your existence and every universal and minute event previous to your birth has led to your existence, you're very special. you can't realize your full potential if you don't believe in it

surround yourself

 - curate your own world to be a personally stimulating one

study

 - be self educated and learn the things you wouldn't otherwise

try new things

 - in my experience, trying new things teaches you a lot more about yourself than that thing

everything is an investment.