Eddie Pinero

You see the world as you are.

And how lucky to have taken a step back, a trip below the surface, to realize again that I am the painter, not the critic.

My world had become black and white not because we live in a black and white world, but because sometimes we forget to put the color in.

Sometimes we don't give ourselves permission to expand beyond the parameters we've created for ourselves.

So with the breath and the oxygen will come a new appreciation, a liberating gratitude.

There's nothing so sweet as remembering that both the castles in the air and the chains at our feet are imaginary.

And hey, you get to choose which one to believe in.

See, what time has taught me is that there is strength in our vulnerability, in the times we fall or lose ourselves.

And I know the inclination is to panic, perhaps assess too quickly, to not hear but talk, to not listen but attempt to solve.

which leads to the application of band-aids on bullet wounds.

When we are low, when we are lost, it's our chance to better understand ourselves.

It's the metaphorical equipment room where we stock up prior to our next ascent.

And if I could emphasize one thing, it would be that our perceived understanding of life, it oscillates.

Sometimes we feel like we get it.

We do.

And sometimes we feel like we're sprinting with our eyes closed.

It's a riddle we will never fully come to solve.

But I do know one thing.

We can't change the unpredictability of the world.

But by observing, by listening, by getting back up, we can change ourselves.