Phantom mentors
“I look at where I'm at today and realize that most of my success is owed to the mentors that was in my life.” - Kendrick Lamar
As I’ve been blogging I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction of it. I want it to be open to everything that defines the art life to me. That is the beauty about the art life is that it is defined by you. To me, it is a way of life. It’s who I am. Over the years it has either hindered personal relationships or grew them. My opinion on it is that it is okay either way. Everyone is different and has different needs, whether that’s giving or taking. For me, I know it takes a certain understanding to get who I am and where i’m coming from. I’ve known since I was a kid that I had a drive that didn’t make sense to many, I was always into production from filming with a VHS camcorder with my brother in the mid 90’s then making copies of the tapes, which led to skateboarding and that led to me learning about photography and how that’s all I wanted to do. That’s ALL I wanted to do. Started this website January 1st, 2006 by the way.
The most important thing I’ve learned and you could apply to your life whether you are trying to live the art life, or just living life. Is to believe in yourself and your needs, people tend to think this would be selfish thoughts. To me being selfish is ignoring someone else’s needs for your own gain, if something isn’t vibe’n communication is so important.
Having mentors is so important, lessons learned can be used in all situations moving forward. These days its so easy to have a “phantom mentor” that’s what I call someone that motivates you online that you don’t have direct contact with. Might not make sense, but to me it makes so much sense. If youtube was around when I was a kid and I could watch interviews with legendary humans I would have freaked out, I would have learned things I couldn’t have learned elsewhere. It’s to the point in time now where it seems weird that back in the day I would have to wonder if a video interview of Stanley Kubrick existed. Now, if I have that thought I can know and watch in seconds. The whole idea of a phantom mentor is getting information on guidance things that you can apply to better yourself.
Books are also a great way, best selling author Tim Ferriss made the book Tribe Of Mentors that features “short life advice from the best in the world” some people in the book are David Lynch, Stephanie McMahon, Robert Rodriguez, Arianna Huffington, Tony Hawk, and many others.
A mentor can be anyone in life though, and some can be for a small portion of your life, some can actually be with you throughout your life, Don’t forget about things you’ve learned from mentors even from the past, because the knowledge is useful throughout life.
“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life.” - Denzel Washington