When you say nothing at all

In my bedroom, right above my bed there is a framed picture of Bob Marley with a quote that reads "You just can't live in that negative way...make way for the positive day." The reason that picture hangs where it does is so that when I wake up every morning, it's one of the first things I see (after I fumble around for my glasses). It's a very simple and straight forward message, but it can mean so many different things.

The idea of living your entire life in an absolutely positive manner is a nobel one, but I'm afraid that it's just not realistic (at least for me). There will ALWAYS be circumstances, events, etc that cause us to get upset, angry, sad, etc. It's just the natural course of life. I do believe, however, that for every action, there is a reaction, and we absolutely have the power to control how we react to the circumstances around them. Over the past few years, I've really become a fan of the notion of altering your perception to suit your overall goal. If you want to be miserable and upset all the time, then you will perceive everything as a negative experience. If you want to live a positive life and be as happy as you can be, then you take your experiences (even the bad ones), look at them objectively, extract the good, and discard the bad. You don't forget about it. You just choose not to focus on it.

I wanted to convey these ideas through artwork (since it's the only way I really know how), and the first attempt was through t-shirts. Little known fact, I'm actually a big fan of compositional shirts that take names, logos, etc and use them to form designs. I call them "words on a shirt." The WWE of all places currently has a t-shirt for one of their top superstars, John Cena that simply reads "Rise Above Hate." Three simple words that can mean so many different things to so many different people. It really is a stroke of genius on their part. Such a powerful message, slapped onto a t-shirt of one of their biggest personalities. People all over the world will wear this shirt to support Cena, but indirectly will also be supporting a very positive idea. Whoever came up with this should be commended for their brilliant work.

In trying to follow the same suit, I wanted to create messages that conveyed positivity, but said something more than just "smile" or "be happy" because I feel like that's a bit bland. I asked a friend of mine to help out, because truth be told, she's way more in-tune with this sort of thing. When it comes to this, she's on a level that I truly aspire to be on - she just doesn't realize it. We went back and forth for a few hours on what the message was about, and although she nitpicked it to a degree, I knew that she would come up with something either directly, or indirectly. I was right.

This friend of mine has a blog in which she writes about a variety of subjects mainly relating to life and self discovery. For the past few years I've monitored this blog, and even written down several things that she's said in attempt to go back and reflect on them later (don't think she knew that - surprise!). While reading a recent entry that she wrote, I came across the words "protest indifference" at the very end. Literally, the blog ended with those two words. As soon as I read that, I sat back and just smiled. Once again, she has said so much, by saying so little.

With a little tweaking, I came up with the first shirt. Those two words just work so well together, that it really amazes me that I couldn't think of that. Then again, I'm not on that level. From that idea, I pieced together the idea for the second one. With some out-of-the-blue art direction that was actually good, from another friend, I settled on the second design. I feel that both are strong, and both convey good messages without being overly wordy. Basically, they're open to interpretation and that's what I wanted.

To my oddly-in-tune-with-the-world-around-her-even-though-she-doesn't-know-it friend, sometimes you say things that make me scratch my head. Sometimes you say things that make me laugh. And sometimes you say things that impact me to my core. Whatever it is, I really am in awe of your brilliance.

Even when you say nothing at all.


Word.