Addiction

I know I am not the only one fighting internal battles with addiction, always being someone with addictive streaks that come out to play. I've definitely had the character building experiences of dealing with people who let their addictions bring out the demons inside. And I've also been someone who has hurt the people around me because I've succumbed to my addictions; including myself. For the longest time I grappled with WHAT to desire in life. Most of my teenage years I was obsessed with fitting in through alcohol, money, sex, drugs, and a multitude of activities and mindsets that were conducive to a really hollow lifestyle that externally masked my internal brokenness. It wasn't until I fell in love with a girl, got interested in astronomy and photography, and read a few powerful books like Outliers & the power of habit that I started to see a real paradigm shift in myself, and subsequent positive changes in my life. I'll continue being the crazy weird and imperfect addict as I have always been, but the big changes I can identify in my life have been turning the negative things about me into positives. I just took those addictive qualities and rerouted that energy into a few mantras and passions I have in my life. I still wake up with random bruises and cuts and huge raccoon like dark circles under my eyes, but it's because I've been up obsessively shooting astrophotography or studying astronomy haha not getting in fights or being as destructive as I have been in the past. I think realizing that we are all inherently imperfect, and the fact that that is OKAY, is huge. It's huge because from there, you can begin to address the internal battles and vices causing problems in your life with an honest and self loving attitude... and from there you can become powerful when you find a way to use your vices and 'weaknesses' as strengths and opportunities for growth. You never totally change you just become cognizant of your imperfect nature, okay with it, and strive to be better and bring good into the world in spite of your capacity to bring bad. You'd be surprised at the power you can find inside yourself through positive perspectives and rerouting the negatives in your life so that they are actually advantages 😊❤️

'Art can be an incredibly dynamic way to face inner conflicts head on, a chance to transform them into whatever we want them to be.' @killparismusic