I was talking to someone close to me not too long ago.
Mid-conversation, they said something simple:
“I’m not a reader.”
They didn’t say it like they were ashamed.
They said it like it was a fact.
Like saying “I’m tall” or “I have brown eyes.”
And that moment stuck with me.
Because I used to believe things like that too.
Not about reading specifically…but about who I was allowed to be.
Most of what we believe about ourselves wasn’t chosen.
It was absorbed.
From parents.
From environments.
From what was praised.
From what was laughed at.
We inherit identities before we ever question them.
So when someone says “I’m not a reader,”
what they’re really saying is:
“I learned somewhere along the way that this isn’t for me.”
But here’s the truth I’ve been sitting with lately…
Reading isn’t about intelligence.
It’s about permission.
Permission to slow down.
Permission to sit with thought.
Permission to expand beyond what you’ve been told you are.
And the same applies to everything else.
“I’m not creative.”
“I’m not disciplined.”
“I’m not spiritual.”
“I’m not a leader.”
None of those are truths.
They’re conclusions.
And conclusions can be revisited.
So the real question becomes…
Who told you who you are?
And more importantly…
Are you ready to disagree?
-Love
For a long time, I thought creativity was something that just… happened.
Like lightning.
You either caught it or you didn’t.
And when it hit, it felt magical.
Effortless.
Almost divine.
But what I didn’t understand back then is this:
Inspiration is real…
but it’s unreliable.
And if you build your life around waiting for it,
you’ll create far less than you’re capable of.
That realization changed how I move.
Because now I see creativity differently.
It’s not just expression.
It’s a system.
A rhythm.
A relationship between discipline and openness.
There are days I don’t feel like creating.
Days where nothing feels “inspired.”
But I show up anyway.
Not because I’m forcing art…
but because I’m building a container for it.
And more often than not…
That’s when something real comes through.
Not when I’m chasing the feeling…
but when I’ve made space for it.
That’s the part nobody glamorizes.
The consistency.
The repetition.
The willingness to create without applause.
But that’s where the transformation happens.
Because eventually…
You stop waiting for creativity.
And creativity starts waiting for you.
-Love
There’s a narrative I see a lot right now.
“Everything is controlled.”
“The system is broken.”
“We need to escape.”
And while there’s truth in some of that…
I think it can become a trap.
Because if you believe everything is controlled,
you can start to feel like you have no control.
And that’s dangerous.
Not because the system doesn’t exist…
but because it’s not absolute.
What I’ve been realizing is this:
The system has influence.
But it doesn’t have total authority over your awareness.
And awareness is where everything starts to shift.
The way you think.
The way you spend your time.
The way you interpret reality.
Most control isn’t physical.
It’s perceptual.
It’s in what you believe is possible.
What you believe is normal.
What you believe is “just the way things are.”
Once you start questioning that…
You don’t need to escape anything.
You start moving differently within it.
You become more intentional.
More selective.
More aware of what’s shaping you, and what isn’t.
And from that place…
You don’t feel trapped.
You feel strategic.
Because the goal isn’t just freedom from the system.
It’s sovereignty within it.
-Love