How does one thank The Internet?
This omnipresent entity in my life has delivered an education so perfectly mine, I want to thank it. Honor it. Have it over for pad thai & whiskey gingers.
Of course, it’s really the folks behind screens across time and space I ought to be thanking. Humans are excellent in that way. They taught me how to develop websites, design graphics, bake puddle cookies, throw hoop tricks, take photos with all my cameras, navigate by seasonal constellations, and make galaxy playdough.
For free.
Because they could, and because they knew, somewhere in the infinite expanse of cyberspace, there was a me who wanted to learn.
THANK YOU, kind human. This playdough is magnificent.
Beyond the practical education is where I get all teary-eyed with gratitude. There’s a handful of digital citizens I’ve lovingly lurked around for years, without whom I’d be twice as lost and half as awesome.
Who they are and what they’ve taught me:
Jamie Beck. She’s living proof of one of my best loved theories: you can create your own dream life through photography.
Jessica Hische. Freelance creative careers are immensely fulfilling as an authentic, talented member of the art & design community.
Susannah Conway. She teaches me about the freedom in vulnerability and the art of sharing your life.
Danielle LaPorte. Self-realization is a practice, not a moment.
Havi Brooks. Secret names for everything is a wonderful way to live. Asking for what you want is how to actually get what you want, even if you’re asking the air.
Jessica Mullen. Daily gratitude will always, always, always remaster your mind. Lifestreaming is a process of loving your life out loud.
Nikki Pamani. It’s okay to be awesome on a regular basis. Also: Life is usually ridiculous and mostly hilarious. Celebrate accordingly.
Alex Franzen. She took me under her technicolor wings and led me on the magic neon carpet ride of digital entrepreneurship. True Life: I was a Franzian minion. (& The Weissness, too!) Her brilliant tutelage made Youngblood Sourcery possible. There aren’t enough thanks in the multiverse to give my sensei.
Hillary Weiss. She’s the word-weaving half of Youngblood Sourcery. Together, we make digital magics of an assorted variety, and IRL mischiefs of an unprecedented volume. She’s taught me too much to attempt listing, though if I had to sum it up, it’d be filed under “Ways to Be a Magnificent Friend” and “How to Keep Shit Real.”
I want to practice being a photographer, painter, digital creator, muse, curator, and writer.
Most of all: I want to share my journey and gathered learnings. Somewhere, out there, there’s a you who wants to figure it out, too.
This is me signing up for all of it.
Welcome to my treehouse in digitopia. Hi mom!
