A couple of nights ago I closed the shop late (9:30pm) and then stayed after hours to work on some paintings. Time just drifted by, as it often does when you’re having fun, and all of a sudden it was 1:40am. I packed up my stuff to go home, where I planned to annihilate a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles (because that’s healthy right before you go to bed), maybe watch a couple YouTube videos (or 13), and then pass out on the Tempurpedic. But then I went outside and it was raining.

The streets were empty and it filled me with that opportunistic energy that you have to do something with. If you let the chance pass you by you’ll be struck with a bad case of the FOMO (fear of missing out) and that’s no bueno. You can’t just pass out in a Cocoa Pebble coma when the streets are empty, rains coming down, and the stillness of the town makes everything beautiful. So, photo adventure! I wasn’t really ready to go home anyway.

Inspiration in the middle of the night is a funny thing. It can be very similar to those genius million dollar ideas you have as you’re taking the last swig directly from the second bottle of Rosé. The next day your million dollar idea seems, realistically, more like a $3 idea.

And there is nothing wrong with that, really. I’ve dedicated my life to making things, good or bad, in the pursuit of having something to show for my time on this Earth. It really is about the journey (making things), not the destination. I always like making the thing more than I like the thing itself.

Do yourself a favor next time you have the urge to make something and just make it. That’s the fun part. It doesn’t matter if the outcome totally sucks. You’re not doing it to make a masterpiece. You’re doing it because something inside you is telling you to. So, if it strikes your fancy to drive around town for an hour in the middle of the night to take photos in the rain, by golly, do it. Just try to be done before your lady calls you wondering where the fuck you are at 2:30am.

See ya!
– Jeff

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