Not A Starving Artist

Held at Gun Point

I just experienced one of my most wth moments in my life. I left the NewMediaRockstars office around 6:30ish to meet up with my pal Janice to catch up over dinner at Love Letter. Once the food came out a man wearing a black hoodie, jeans, and had his face covered (I honestly thought he was just some punk kid dressed up as a wannabe ninja).  Out of nowhere he pulls out a handgun and walks over to me and sticks the weapon into my arm.  He tells me to get up and go into the kitchen.  He does this to everyone else in the restaurant.  

It was so strange when all of this was happening.  Everything felt so slow-mo like.  While walking into kitchen I remember asking Janice, “what’s going on?” It didn’t really occur to me that we were being held up.  It felt like more of a practice or rehearsal like when we used to have fire/earthquake drills in grade school.  While being held I didn’t feel scared at all.  In fact I felt my mind going into auto-pilot mode.  I went straight into prayer mode and recited the Lord’s Prayer over and over in my mind.  The energy surrounding me was so heighten.  All the ajimas were holding each other and ducking their heads.  One of the cooks had his hand under the back table on what I assume to be one of those security button things.  Another old woman crouching under the same table was trying to dial out 911 while the others were telling her not to risk it.  

The man eventually left with just the money from the register.  I’m oddly surprised that he didn’t run off with the rest of the items that were left in the eating area.  This whole fiasco didn’t really phase me until after he left.  From there my mind went into anxieties and worries. What if he fire at me while I was going into the kitchen? What if he fired at my friend who was inches away from me?  What if he fired at anyone for that matter?  With situations like these any small action could have lead to another end result.  Luckily, the result of this mess was that just money was stolen.  No one was physically harmed.  

I’m still a little shook up from this event, but in some strange way I feel empowered.  By empowered I mean that I am reminded of my own mortality.  I’m not going to be around forever and eventually I will die, and go to the maggots in the ground.  With this reminder I feel that I have no reason not to do everything in my power to chase my dreams.  

I WILL BE A TOP PHOTOGRAPHER

Life can be cut short at any moment.  There is no reason for us as people to live in fear.  We’re given only one life and one chance.  Why not seize the moment and do everything and anything we can to live it to its fullest.

Simultaneously lets not forget to love on each other. After tweeting that I was being held up I got a flood of messages from friends asking if I was ok. (Thank you all for caring! ) If I was shot or had died tonight, what if I never got another opportunity to see these people again?  Would I ever get to tell my parents thank you for raising me to the best of their abilities and that I appreciate them despite our differences? I remember thinking about the people that mattered to me, and how I probably haven’t told them how grateful I was for our relationship.

I feel like our human mortality can be right around the corner at any moment.  Lets never forget to live life and love on one another.