Beware. Your Circle is Your Cycle.
Creator: Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516) | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“Alright, alright, alright.”
It’s Monday and you’re slaving away at work (per usual).
You feel extra corporatEY today.
There’s a place you want to visit, a 30-block Skid Row full of gigachads, life coaches (whatever the fuck that means), and CEOs shitting on the workforce that brings value to their most prized possession.
Yeah, LinkedIn.
Haaaa, what’s not to love? Seriously! 7 AM unwarranted DMs about an opportunity to earn USD 37/hr working for Ben Dover & Associates.
No experience required! Kindly. Do the needful.
But the thing that really drew you in this morning was the occasional corny post that only the live, laugh, love crowds can measure with.
“There’s always an opportunity.”
“You don’t lack time. You lack DISCIPLINE.”
“Work Hard, Play Hard.”
I have not failed; I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
If you don’t shut the fuck up and go back to maximizing shareholder value Henry!
Oh, that feels good.
But there’s one corporate saying that strikes you as both overplayed yet almost true, albeit in a way you still can’t clearly define.
“Your network is your net worth.”
Hm. That’s not true. There’s no tangible data to support that claim.
America is a capitalist nightmare and only generational wealth, sex, the vile exploitation of the workforce, and daddy’s black card will place you in a higher tax bracket without relying on luck and talent alone.
Most of us hardworking creatives with no safety net can attest to that.
BUT.
But, there is something you could fish from this muddy pond.
Your circle determines your cycle. Having wealthy friends won’t guarantee success but having healthy friends will safeguard your happiness and self-love (!).
Your relationship dynamics directly affect your ability to create, to manifest joyful ideations, to open up to new possibilities and gain more insight as to what makes you truly worthy of a fulfilling life.
People who support you can quickly become the blurry frontier between a breakthrough and a terrifying failure.
Honest feedback from individuals who are not afraid to talk their talk and walk their walk can make you a better artist.
A benevolent friend who is willing to defend your reputation and credibility often proves to be the most effective countermeasure against those who want to sink your career for the sake of playing God behind their screens and keyboards.
You have control over who you allow in. This one decision? YOU are fully responsible for.
Over the years, I’ve let go of many toxic relationships to support my growth and preserve my peace. Think of people as values you introduce to your equation—what of them? Do you wish for them to be variables that will quickly be solved or constants that will make for the framework of your calculations?
It’s reliability versus volatility. It’s consistency versus shortcomings. It’s order versus chaos.
Despite how the dramatization of writing appears in most mediums, it is INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT to create in mayhem. You need a routine, a structure, a way to hit milestones at a measured pace so you won’t burn out.
You need to feel good about yourself and your art. Not as if being babied; more as in being championed.
As you ardently desire to cross a new threshold in your life, ask yourself this one question:
