Oh yes, it’s the final countdown! The excitement grows while the daily hours of sleep diminish, that pit in the stomach growing bigger and bigger!
It’s the point of no return, when you let off the hand of your baby and let them walk alone on the street for the first time. Will the make it? Will they fall? And if so, will they just stand up and try again?
I’ve drawn 52 portraits in 52 weeks (and a few, but who’s counting), a year worth of portraits. I wrote 51 blogs, sometimes with the help of my friends or family, and by the time you’re reading this, the 52nd will shine in its polished glory (That’s a lie, my blogs have always been first draft only until now, no polishing there, and this will be no exception). I’ve satisfied the extrovert part of my personality and challenged the introvert one. I’ve laughed and I’ve wept, I’ve hoped and despaired.
But enough of me, I’ve written enough about how I’ve become me with the help of these amazing people over the last year. Today I just want to point out the importance of what we do, in the hope that you will support us to get this company started.
I’ve come from a dictatorship, and I know what catastrophic consequences this form of government has on its people. Everybody should know, actually, it’s not just history, we still have several authoritarian regimes around the world, and the media presents us with enough visuals to see what it does to countries, to people. Yet all around the world there is a rise of sympathy for authoritarian leaders, who absolutely do not care for anybody else except themselves. They don’t care about people, they don’t care about the environment, they don’t care about art and diversity and self-expression. They seek to silence everybody who dare to talk against them through threats or even worse, through harming lives.
I’m sure that the majority of people on this planet want to live in harmony with each other, want to earn a decent living, want their children to have a safe, but also free future. In order for this to happen, we have to change. We have to rid ourselves of racism, of any kind of discriminating thoughts, of selfishness. We have to start living with each other, supporting each other in order to be able to thrive. Together. All of us.
We all know this, yet we find it hard to actually do it. We find it hard to give up some of our comfort in order to enable others to have at least a bit of comfort as well. That’s why I’m writing it again: WE HAVE TO CHANGE!
Make a start. Make deliberate decisions. Think before you act. Take responsibility for your actions. Hold yourself accountable. You don’t have to do it all at once, do it in your own pace, but do it.
And show what and who you stand for! That’s why we do what we do, in order to help you show your values and your principles, to motivate you to start a conversation with the people around you.
We can all make progress if we do things not only once, but again and again. Like I did with drawing. I started with Caity Lotz and I finish my first year full of portraits with her, to prove to you and myself that progress is possible, if we just stick to it and do the work.
I hope you will continue with us on this journey to better ourselves and everyone around us.
