What I am about to share, is a letter to myself that I wrote. My mind is in a state of constant discovery and it is exciting.

Discussing life with my kids the other morning on the car ride to school, I came home and went for my morning walk with my dogs. While walking them, I began to think about all the mixed thoughts you are about to read. So I came home and started writing down the thoughts in my head. It is spontaneous and long, but it is my hope that it may answer questions that I think many of us have. I wasn’t going to post this and just keep it to myself, but I have received so many personal e-mails from struggling artists that I thought it would be good to share. the true essence of this is about enjoying the moments we are having right now.

Thanks
Stephen Silver

“Please sir, may I have some more!!”

This is a line from Oliver twist, it stuck out to me because I am constantly trying to explore the way our thoughts and our mind works. I stumbled upon the thought, that as humans, we are always searching for more,even when we get what we ask for, we embrace it for a while but then we want something more. Why is this?

Looking at several scenarios and watching the Biography and History channel, I have noticed that the wealthiest people seem to always want more, thus creating and producing more, and receiving it, but many of them seem to still not be satisfied. Why? Is it because of the need for something more.

I realize more often that there is one true thing to plant in our minds and that is to enjoy what we have right now. No matter how much or how little we have. Life is a series of events, and things will happen. I have seen it. Why are there so many divorces, is it because someone got what they wanted in the beginning and then it didn’t go as planned so now they want something more. What about the job we wanted, that we now have, but now we want something different something more. Do we spend too much time looking into the window of other peoples lives and think to ourselves we want more, we need this we need that. Is this just the true nature of mankind and anything else would be fighting it?

True happiness and content, I believe, can only be achieved when you truly enjoy what you have right now.
How can this be achieved? How does one relax with their eyes wide open? What is the feeling we think we would have by having more, is it the exact same feeling we are having now, I think so, why wouldn’t it be. All the things that we have accumulated in our lives, we wanted at some point in the past and now we have it, did it change anything? for a little while.

As an artist, my whole being is the pursuit of bettering my art by experimenting, exploring, understanding, thinking, telling, discovering new answers, looking for more.

Why does it have to take some form of tragedy within a life for us to appreciate what we have, we know life is short, so what’s the rush, before we know it the end is here. Granted yes, money they say can buy you freedom, does it? or does it bare more responsibilities, more stress, more drama, more expenses. If you really want something or to do something, why not make a list of everything you thing you want or need, I mean everything. See how many of those in reality you can have right now, it may stating something such as “I want to be outside in the fresh air more often in front of a campfire”.

Why are we so competitive with each other? Why does it even matter what someone else is doing? can’t we just do what we do, make our lives the best we can make it. Why does it feel good to win something or gain notoriety, why is this important. What does it mean? We live in a world where unfortunately everybody is taking notes off other peoples business, you can never be someone else. You can only be you. Why does it matter what other people think, how does that effect you?

Through simple enjoyment of what one has, I believe “MORE,” just happens. So why put any crazy thoughts in your head, a thought that can drives one nuts. Why create the story of future events that haven’t occurred yet, unless Doc Brown can make us a time machine and travel into the future. Why even waste that energy in frustration, is it going to solve something. NO, it will create worry in your head.

Is it the monotony of the 9-5 day job, working five days a week, sometimes more, in the same routine of daily activities that brings us the longing for more, can it simply be a matter of changing one’s daily routine. Maybe you become more spontaneous and do things like walk up the side of a mountain you pass by every week that you always might say, one day i’m going to climb that, yet never do. I feel I have discovered that it is the same routine over and over that creates this need for more, but that routine never ends, you will always be creating a schedule. So how do we change our routine, what do we need to do to make it all fun, new and right now. Well, I Believe spontaneity is the answer.

Those of us with children understand routine to the max, especially bedtime. Yet there is a real beauty in having kids that I am constantly reminded of, and that is, I get to be a kid again. You explore new things, things an adult usually wouldn’t do unless they were with a child. Things such as swinging on a swing in the park and running across the bridge, going down a pole or a slide on a playground set. Finding farting to be so funny and boogers hanging from a face that seems to have a bit of humor, shooting a Nerf gun and walking down the aisle of a toy section in a store, jumping on a bouncy again until you’re exhausted. Playing video games again and watching movies from when I was a kid wanting to introduce them to my kids.

Before you know it, it may be all too late. That longing for more never got you anything that counted. I heard on a show the other day,”You can’t take your bags of luggage in the Hearse”. The Egyptian kings got nothing in the end but robbed.

HERE TODAY, the title of a Paul McCartney song, to his dear friend who had passed,John Lennon. Why do we spend so much time reflecting on what was. Can’t that was, be right now? Do what you have to do, and enjoy it! This I believe is the key. Live it, feel it. Every action becomes a new memory, so the secret is to create millions of memories not just dozens. And most important is sharing with other people the experiences of it all.

Stephen Silver