I've been away for 9 months. It feels like 2 days. A little over a month ago, I was sitting in JFK airport awaiting a flight back to NC. It was 5:30am and we'd just given an art talk on Intergalactic Soul. I glanced over at my partner Jason and he was asleep uncomfortably in the airport chair. My other partner Q, was wandering throughout the airport. Me, I just wanted an orange juice. the simple things. We were exhausted and had just caught a red eye flight out of Portland, Oregon. Jason and I had literally been up for 24 hours. It was then when it hit me, a little over a year prior, my design position was terminated at my job. I remember sitting in the meeting with my art director & communications manager and them telling me that my talents exceeded that sports job, they told me to go be a super star. I didn't think much of it, because I was so devastated over the news, it put me in such a different place. I remember getting two 6 figure offers for other design positions and I didn't even care about the money, despite needing money. People thought I was crazy, perhaps I was, but I listened to the universe and my most high and it didn't feel like the right situations for me. I wanted to be able to build on our own ideas. I wanted to stay in touch with our own souls in our creative efforts.
We talk about Black Excellence all the time. but I wanted to represent my Black Excellence. It meant a lot to bear the strength my parents gave me, my grandparents and all those generations before me. Bearing that strength during the most difficult times and to fight through anything because you know the ills of the universe have nothing on you. We keep fighting, creating and inspiring. I'm not the first person to lose a gig and I've definitely been through harder challenges but I'm very passionate about such things and that's a trait that I can't help. All I can do is rely on my Black Excellence and just strive for greatness. We're here. I thought about how far we'd come in 9 months. 9 months is enough time for a new life to be created. The irony...and by the way, I never got that orange juice I was searching for. Here are a few new illustrator space badge designs. #intergalacticsoul #BE #community
