James Jin Images

I was in California for my sabbatical last year when @scoutforsythe picked me up in her Prius at the mall parking lotand that was our first time meeting each other. We had a really great time shooting around the beautiful scenery of California, and I took this photo when she graciously offered to share a piece of her lifeher hometown beach. I learned a lot about the importance of being authentic and being present in the moment that day. I’m figuring out where I want to go this yearpreferably somewhere warm in December and within the U.S. I am always interested in building human connection and learning new thingsif you have any location suggestions or would like to offer an invitation to your hometown, please let me know!

In high school, I was one of the kids who would use the word ‘gay’ to describe something that was not cool. I remember yelling to a friend in the hallway one day, But he’s so gay, referring to one of my teachers, and then turning around to see the said teacher as he hurried back to his classroom from the water fountain. For the rest of the semester, he never said a thing about it. I don’t know if it was the embarrassment that my teacher had caught me saying something behind... his back or the shame of realizing that I had really hurt someone, but I remember that moment very vividly and regret it deeply to this day. It took me a lot of time to learn from my mistakes, but I am proud of the person I’ve become in standing up for people’s rights to be who they are and want to be. I will choose to call people out and engage in discussionbecause if it wasn’t for the people who did that for me, I’d probably be the same person I was 15 years ago. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without all the wonderful, vibrant colors that you all have shared with me, and I thank you so, so much for your generosity. Happy Pride, friends.

Self-awareness is painful because sometimes we don’t like what we see. It makes us feel uncomfortable, and it’s in our DNA to run away from things that make us feel uncomfortable. But we must learn to see ourselves accurately in order to accept the things we cannot change and improve the things we want to change. Self-improvement is the lifelong journey of learning to sit in that growing pain instead of running away from it.

One of the things I’m trying to get better at is initiating connection with people. I feel like I’m always scared to reach out and say hi or talk to people I haven’t talked to in a while. I’m always preaching doing things that scare us, and I want to practice what I preach. So it’s been a really great experience connecting with the wonderful artists at @perfartsproj. As a behind-the-scenes person, it always felt like I had to hide, but I’m allowing myself to be seen and share what I can with the faculty and students. There are moments where it feels really scary, but I’m practicing to dance with fear rather than running away from it.

As you probably have noticed, when it comes to creative / collaborative work, I’m a big fan of working with people I’ve already worked with. More time you spend together, more trust you can buildwhich in turn allows you to go places where you couldn’t go before. I’ve been brainstorming some fun shoot ideas latelyand I can’t wait to create with some of my favorite artists when I’m back!