Yesterday, I was going through some folders that I need to organize because, to be q u i t e transparent with you, my hard drive is a mess. Anyways, onto more exciting things:

While organizing, it reminded me how many times I've been asked how others can get the jobs that I do.
(I urge you to ask someone how they're doing before you go straight for the question. Love you, thanks.)

After exchanging thoughts with people, I've learned that most assume two things:
1. You have a lot of followers. That's why you get hired
2. There's a linear path to get there

Sure. I have a big audience, yet no one is welcome to undermine me here because I'm also so talented; I was raised to have an unmatched work ethic, and I love my work.
To add, this journey has never been an overnight fling for me. AND! What I feel most artists won't admit is that in the very beginning, my work sucked. Truly sucked. There's a folder titled "DIOS MIO NO" in my hard drive that houses a certain period of work that I just refuse to revisit.

I don't want to address number two because that kind of thinking just screams ignorance, and I still have to pay my rent. So I'm only choosing one here.

Yet I wholeheartedly believe that throughout my journey, accomplishments or any overcoming in my career so far is due to these two things:

1. I practice
2. I am the role before I get the role (this is the "delulu" they talk about).

Practice is so underrated, man.
This is what would frustrate me the most when replying to messages. Not because they disagreed but because they would assume that I did it some other way. How do I see it? The result I get is determined by how much time I put in. So when I started to treat my body of work like a part-time job, I began to block out days or hours to spend on learning, ideating, and then sometimes doing or taking a pause because the block I worked within really challenged me; a girl who listens to Marvel movies in the background, to focus.

So yes, practice is everything in this house.
It's why I can confidently say that I've improved, and when people compliment me... I believe it. Or how I can hone in on my skill set, ignore imposter syndrome from time to time, and truly understand how I can see an idea and problem-solve my way to it. I continue to spend most of my time practicing or acting as if I'm the newly appointed creative director for some brand. It'd be a disservice to me to not be delusional-- what if it could aid my sense of imagination?

Since some of my friends have become such amazing parents, I've been revisiting the essence of childhood. These little beings have such a knack for showing you an astonishing range of emotions while wearing a princess or superhero costume they will be one day.
Kids aren't delusional; they're honest, and they love themselves so much that they already are the things that they want to see in this world.

Now, wouldn't I want the same for myself?
Couldn't I be more honest and more loving towards myself?
Could there be a multiverse where I love myself so much that I am already the things I want to see in this world?... Exactly.

And that is how I like to believe; you, too, can get the jobs like any artist you are inspired by.