A Letter From Our Chief Creative Officer: The Bright Side
I travel a lot both for business and for pleasure. Sometimes both. In fact, I’m fortunate to be able to say that, for the most part, pleasure has been a business. That’s not to say it isn’t without its challenges, but if it were easy, then anybody could do it.
We’re all aware that social and mainstream media don’t thrive on good news. The old “if it bleeds, it leads” vision for content is not only alive and well, but it’s also empowered by algorithms whose only purpose is to keep you there between the ads. It’s no wonder so many people constantly repeat and are mired in negative outlooks, not only about the world today but about the future as well. I, however, am not.
As I write, I’m about as high up off the ground as you get in Tokyo, with a view of the city and the Imperial Palace National Gardens as the city comes to life below. Tokyo is a vibrant, bustling, dynamic city that is also graceful and calming. At night, the streets of Ginza are teeming with young couples, hand-in-hand strolling past the bars and restaurants packed into every conceivable crevice, and some into less conceivable ones. Like all great cities it represents perseverance, determination, ambition, and dreams. And let’s not forget, it blossomed from one of the darkest moments in human history.
Tokyo is a bellwether for the future and it’s not the only one. Even if we are almost all now removed and isolated from the harsh struggles in parts of the world, none of us come from a place that wasn’t once more difficult than it is now. There is evidence every day, in every place, and in everyone’s life, of the possibility of a bright and prosperous future. You must choose to see it.
It’s been perhaps the biggest awakening of my adult life: you can choose to be happy, to be positive, and to welcome the future as a challenge, rather than see it as an insurmountable barrier. In fact, this optimistic mindset is pervasive in my friend group, many of whom are also entrepreneurs. Try it, I guarantee you’ll like it.
— MICHAEL LAFAVE, CCO & Co-Founder
PHOTO BY LUIS MORA. SUIT BY BOSS.
The post A Letter From Our Chief Creative Officer: The Bright Side appeared first on Sharp Magazine.