GETTING BEHIND SOMETHING GOOD

To me campaigns in crowdfunding sites are a clear example of people going after their dreams, and being the kind of person that chases his dreams I like to get behind people whenever I can. While perusing my social media platform of choice (Facebook) I came across a bit of interesting news. Daresha Kyi, a friend, co worker, and mentor of mine started a campaign on indiegogo.com. Daresha is someone that I hold in high esteem because she really taught me a lot when we worked together on a major television show where she served as Story Producer. 

Curious and eager to help in any way I immediately went to the indiegogo site in order to learn more 

about her campaign. The campaign's purpose is to raise funds for her and her partner Kedar's baby known as TRU IMIJ ARTWORK. It was refreshing to see a campaign about something other than the next great flick. As I read on about the purpose of the campaign I began to realize that this was about more than just raising funds to create a viable business, it is about raising funds to help make the world better through the universal language of art. 

Rather than talk about it in my words I'd rather quote some of the words of Kedar, Daresha's partner and the talented artist whose work is the powerful engine behind this project. Kedar states that "As someone with a speech impediment who was unable to read until I was an adult (because no one knew what dyslexia was or how to treat it when I was a child), art has always helped me express my thoughts and dreams. Whenever words failed me, art saved me." Seeing that completely changed my outlook and took me from wanting to help a friend to wanting to help a far greater cause. I read on and noticed the following statement: "Once we're up and running, we intend to donate 15% of our profits to an established charity, such as charitywater.org which provides sustainable clean water and sanitation to people in developing countries. As our sales increase our goal is to eventually donate as much as 40% of our profits to various charities."

I knew this project was special and I knew that it was about more than just making money, but the making a difference part was cemented with the above statement about donating to various charities. We live in a society where we rarely think about benefitting others through our gifts, so this was something that I saw as both touching and admirable. I'm writing this entry in order to solicit support for this campaign.

I want to urge everyone that reads this to go to the indiegogo.com site and read the story behind TRU IMIJ ARTWORK. Support is anything from helping out with a small donation to sharing the campaign link on your social media. I want close by saying that it's campaigns like this, with the goal of helping others far more than ourselves, that ultimately give the greatest amount of satisfaction. 

THE TORTURE THAT IS WRITING

I must have read enough about writing to teach a small village. I spent countless hours working on an MFA with the focus on Creative Writing and one thing never changes, writing is pure torture. Some people love torture and I guess writing is that type that drives you insane but you just can't get enough of. There are so many dimensions to writing that just seem so wrong.

The first thing about writing that bothers everyone is subjectivity. You can write something that you hate and everyone else loves and something you believe to be your best and everyone thinks is absolute crap. No matter what you do or don't do you always have that nagging "I want to be liked" feeling when crafting a story. There's that desire for perfection that you end up having to cut out in order to do what's right for the story.

It doesn't really matter what you do you will always find a flaw with what you write and when someone else point's it out you will be infuriated but the fact is that fresh eyes see far better than a tired mind. Writing is a passion and like all passions it can be unhealthy in multiple ways. Ultimately writing is that ex girlfriend that you loved but drove you insane, that parent you idolized but could not stand and ultimately it's that one fantasy that will be as painful as it is joyful once it becomes reality.