death of corp life & starving artists

dear friends,

whatever you do, please continue to dream big.

you have the capacity to do great things.

it's hard to actualize and find the north star that grants you hope. but realize, you create your own hope with the power of your own dreams.

dreams are powerful.

you are powerful.

and I hope in these letters I can at least show a sliver of that light to you.

merry late christmas and a happy new year.

your friend(ly),

jakester

P.S. here is a little gift from me; this was the rough outline I created on a flight while in the clouds. I only show you what's on the surface; there's much more depth and details from my spiral writing.

This week's live life letter will serve as the bridge from reality to the undefined.

Don't get lost now, my friend - towards the end I will provide a foundational guide to the digital renaissance and some personal anecdotes.

the Google Overlords have tagged me — reply to this email with a silly message.

I have a theory that this might help me get through to your inbox directly.

Imagine.

you are stuck in a labyrinth. a maze that is imposed onto you.

you are forced to figure out what seems to be an infinite puzzle that continues day in and day out.

you are stuck.

the path ahead seems so overwhelming, it's unbearable. each day you have to get up, knowing that any action, any performance, any form of motion is all for nothing.

you are worthless. you are worthless. you are worthless.

these words continue to sing in your head like a mocking symphony.

am I worthless? is it all worthless, the work I do?

Who did you imagine while reading this?

the corporate slave or the starving artist?

How much of this maze is self-imposed? How much of it is placed onto you by outside pressures? How much conviction do you hold in your belief that you can get out? Or have you accepted this fate you find yourself in?

Imagine.

The world and it's people are getting restless. They are getting angry. And it's leading to more atrocious acts of violence. We, as a Generation, see these acts and we begin to see these acts as Heroic.

Why wouldn't we? We want violence. It's in our nature. It's in your nature. We want change. We want it so bad. You want it so bad. For the world to change. Why shouldn't we feel this way? We should feel this way. These evil acts are only a means to an end.

No. You're wrong. We cannot believe this is the only way for humanity. You speak in a deathly tongue, you Devil. You will not intoxicate me into your way, into your paradigm, into your domain.

I refuse to accept that this was the only way. That this is the only way. There must be better ways of going about it.

You cannot deny me. You cannot deny that this violence has led to an uproar. You cannot deny it. This swirl of violence. The murder of corporations. This is only natural. This is the life cycle of life and death.

You cannot deny me. For if you deny me, you deny Death itself and no wise mortal men denies Death and has lived to tell the tale. If there was another way, that way would've been done.

I have no words.

Why have you chosen this Poison human?

[J] this path you have decided on grants you an elixir of life that breathes life into you, that makes you feel alive.

you give yourself up to this. you give pieces and pieces away each time you pick up your brush. each time you give yourself to the act of expression. to the act of writing out your own play, your own narrative for the world to see.

the eyes of society. they watch and wait for the spectacle. ever-consuming.

Yet, you gain nothing in this material world. The world doesn't care about you.

You imitate Him in your "act of creations" but still you remain so far from His Glory, His Power, His Wisdom, His Wealth.

What do you do it for? What is it inside of you that gives you a reason why?

[J] why, you ask?

your voice pains me like a dagger. you stand their on my left shoulder like an annoying parrot I cannot shake off.

I know my answer. I hold Hope in my Heart. I know my Why — yet, your doubt and reason pains me to my core. it pains me down to the depths of myself. and the conviction in my Why slowly gets chipped away. Do I know Why?

Here comes the Laments of the Shadow - Dread, Emptiness, and Devoid.

I am attempting to speak to you from the outer reaches of the story itself in hopes of giving you more clarity and a warning of what's ahead.

I am an amalgamation of everything before me and a vision of everything ahead.

I am the precipice, the marriage between life and death.

This is the Turning Point. The Point of No Return. The Point of Transformation.

There is Hope on the Edge of the Depths, within the Depths of Your Own Soul — Your Own Hero's Journey. The Light, it awaits you as the Shadow Looms.

dread, emptiness, and devoid - 10.22.24

when did life become so empty?

we are but a shell, devoid of any membrane of all that was. why has it become this ghost town? when did you become a ghost?

the significance of each day is gone. where did it go?

the storm inside, the morning light?

It didn't go anywhere, your Light has been shifted. The things you see have changed. Yet, nothing has changed itself.

The paradigm paraglides past paradise. Your paradigm parades past paradise.

Please pay attention.

The play is not done, you must continue to play. Is this just a game to you?

this mirrored reality has split, splintered into pieces.

the flower blooms, flows thru the ear. the message looms, flowing like water, it falls. the glass liquid bends and splinters.

"you are a sinner" sings the bell. the paths diverge. 2 message 3:19.

You hear a message, you see the signs. The flower blooms, the water falls.

What is it that you do?

You have everything you need. Why must you feel devoid of everything?

Dread, Emptiness, and the Void - You can feel this, but Why?

Life is full. Choose the voices you hear. Choose the signs you see. Choose the path you seek - What are you hungry for?

You can smell the scent of what you thrive for. What you live for. When the flowers are full and the water sings, the rhythm of life bleeds.

It was dawn, Spike and Jake had slept under the night sky after one of their ordinary daily adventures.

Suddenly Jake woke up from a dream - rather, a nightmare of what's to come.

S: are you okay Jake?

J: I feel a bit uneasy if I am being honest Spike. I can't remember my dream, but it felt really odd and unsettling.

S: did you eat something weird? any drugs or mushrooms?

J: no Spike, I don't take drugs!

S: well, I am unsure of how to help you my friend. The dream world is uncharted territory for a mere space monkey like me.

J: I appreciate your concern. it's still too early, I think I will just try to go back to sleep.

S: the sun is rising Jake.

J: indeed it is.

Jake falls back into a deep slumber as the red sun continued to rise over the horizon.

You launched into the sea, leaving this warm place behind.

You felt the danger in the air. The burden of the world.

You looked back to see your strange friend spouting words you did not understand.

你必须继续前行。

充满希望吧，我的朋友!

希望是充足的！希望是充足的！

充满希望！充满希望！

充满希望。

Suddenly, a gash of red filled the air.

The friendly islander was slain by the beast right in front of your eyes.

An immense anger and sadness came over you.

You wanted to fight.

Fight for this stranger who had such a caring look in his eyes. But a part of you felt relief that you already set on towards the ocean and the fallen star ahead. Away from the terrifying beast.

This inner conflict rung in your head so violently that you couldn't make sense of this disorientation. This waving spiral of emotions.

Onwards you must go.

Be Full of Hope, my friend!

Hope is plentiful! Hope is plentiful!

Full of Hope! Full of Hope!

Be Full of Hope.

These were the words he spoke. As if he knew he had to be sacrificed.

The Tragedy of the Altruist.

"Why did it have to be this way?" Charlie thought as a tear shed down his cheek, his first encounter with Death.

From the pain and guilt, Charlie was overwhelmed and his mind splintered. He fell asleep from the pain and guilt. A voice began to speak. A dreamlike nightmare.

Those that know how to use fire will wield it.

Use the fire in the sky. You must betray the God, Star King Novus, who reigns over your Mind and Soul.

You are no different than Judas, my friend. A sinner down to your core. Your God needs you to betray him in order for him to overcome Death itself. You know little as to what is to come. Did you not wonder what would've happened if Judas did not betray Jesus?

Those 3 days of Transformation in the Tomb, Transcendence of Our World.

Your God wants to be overcome. Yet, you cannot fight a God head on Charlie. You must betray him.

Use the fire in the sky. Your God is in your Gaps. The Gaps of the Unknown.

…

Suddenly an image of Charlie is shown stabbing Star King Novus with a flaming sword, the flame of the whirling sword.

Charlie awoke from a wave crashing into the ship as the sting of the saltwater engulfed his body. There Charlie was, alone in the ocean blue.

The journey into the Digital Renaissance is no easy feat. It may require immense sacrifice just to enter the arena or into this space. Much of what we know is unknown.

There is no guarantee of success or monetary gain — yet the risk and barrier to entry is not as high as it used to be a decade ago - or less than a few years ago.

There are more incentives and reasons as to why an individual should branch off the traditional corporate 9-5 job with the advent of AI and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).

There are more incentives and reasons as to why an individual no longer needs to follow the classic story of the starving artist with the advent of the Internet and current digital landscape for Creators.

Realize your limitations and work within it to expand them. Accrue the confidence to go beyond them - go at your own pace but have the knowledge and wisdom to know when to push your pace and when to relax it.

People often underestimate the power of timing - the balance between planning and spontaneity.

For some, it might be a sudden change in what you become; a crucible moment or life event can shift your whole paradigm, but a big decision can act as that same catalyst — a change in environment and surroundings.

For me, it was 10 years ago - I never looked at life the same after that pivotal reflection point.

For my Dad, it was when he was rejected by the bank's management training program when he was in his early to mid 20s. He made a decision to a different path; he claims it was by accident that he fell into entrepreneurship — who knows?

Follow your Own Intuition and Spirit.

This is likely half, if not the majority of the battle — the trick is that the mental and spiritual battle is never completely won.

This is just life.

You have the capacity to win battles at pivotal points, but life is an ongoing marathon. It may not always be a war, but it's helpful to think strategically and design your life in ways you desire.

To give the digital renaissance more context, it is more like a rocket ship attempting to leave the atmosphere — it requires a ton of initial energy to overcome gravity and atmosphere to reach orbital velocity in space.

Now you can explore the depths of space, the space in your mind, just be weary of black holes and don't fly too close to the sun. Don't be like Icarus.

If it was not clear already, I have found writing to be my favored medium of expression — it's honestly such a meta-skill to learn because it has many applications to other mediums such as:

script-writing for videos, thinking more clearly, philosophy, prompt engineering with AI, communication, the list goes on!

I highly recommend learning this form first before any as it doesn't require as much time as compared to the other art forms - you can build your metaphorical legos much more quickly.

This is important when the time comes to monetize and to make it sustainable with the lifestyle you desire.

To make it your life's work.

It allows you to hone in and be consistent in your output when you are working towards a bigger aim and mission.

This will almost act as your guiding light that illuminates the uncertain path ahead.

Experience is the best kind of wisdom.

And creating projects helps you become incentivized to launch before you know how. Before the shadows of doubt and fear take time to settle in.

You must project yourself into the future. Run the simulations in your head. Envision your dream becoming reality. Run the model into failure after failure. Repeat until you find a strong signal of success within the bandwidth of your own mind.

This is an iterative process - the dance between a beginner's mind and of having the confidence of a master.

main aim for 2025 - write a book that is epic and awesome - to grow myself in an immense holistic way [these live life letters will play a crucial role - raw living draft]

there are two main perspectives I can take on with my current writing journey and for the path forward.

the nuance is that I often oscillate between these two viewpoints, almost similar to a compatibilist - the belief that free will and determinism are compatible — [although bit of a cope out answer on the question of fate versus free will] :P

I find this oscillation to be very freeing and fun - the interplay between my own will while uncovering the treasures of my own mind. I can imagine a world where this book is already written. A vision of the future. The vision I had back in October.

Perhaps the most likely case is that the outline has already been laid out for me in my Mind's Eye but it still requires my Own Will to fill the gaps between.

the next three live life letters will explore further into the rabbit hole of the human consciousness, the collective spirit, and the self.

in my attempt to go beyond infinity, I have the intention on exploring further the depths of my own subconscious and unconscious.

Could you Imagine the Book I could write in less than a year's time?

we live in such a cool time — you get to see [and perhaps build] with me as this project develops and unfolds into the future!

cast of characters / voices

000 - the meta self [God-like Eye, the Creator, Narrator, Universe]

001 - friendlyjakester [red kid spirit, creative self, inventor, philosopher]

002 - crazycharlie [blue calm spirit, practical self, problem solver, entrepreneur]

003 - the shadow friend [???]

004 - the hero [???]

005 - spike the space monkey

006 - the devil

it's time to go back into the spiral of fun and play — to the world of abstracts and the frontier of the mind!

the soul knows no bounds.

What makes a good teacher?

Professors throwing sponges at each other — I want to play this game at my birthday.

I think this video will help you understand the concept of spiral development and the stages of consciousness.