Well, it's a lovely and rainy Saturday morning. My garden is getting watered which is one less thing I'll have to do today.

I love being challenged. When I find an artist who's mastered a technique better than I have, I find myself wanting to be influenced by him. I love learning new ways of executing my work as much as I love sharing the knowledge I have. It makes us all better at what we do. We all grow and it's beautiful.

What I don't understand is when people who are not passionate about what they do become jealous when genuine artists excel. When I was in college 'J' made a lot of protests because I was given more attention (awards, scholarships, and invitational exhibits) than anyone else in the class.

We both majored in photography. I took photography because I LOVE the arts. He optioned for photography because, in his own words, "How hard can it be to take a picture?" He was looking for an easy way to obtain a college degree to appease his parents.

I took my cameras everywhere I went, even during summer vacation. I traveled and made appointments with potential models for photo shoots. I trespassed just to get the perfect shot.. I pulled out all the stops because I loved it.

'J' on the other hand never bothered picking up his camera unless there was an assignment. When we had to take pictures of nature, I bought infrared film and shot every place I could find. 'J' on the other hand went to his back porch and took a picture of a waste dump behind his apartment. On top of that, he had it professionally processed instead of developing and printing it himself. And still he claimed that it wasn't fair that I get all the attention... he had much of the class on his side too.

This brought me to an epiphany about myself. As long as I'm being the best I can be, I'm comfortable with people hating me for it, not only that, I can find myself thriving off of it. It was almost as if I measured my success by the level of animosity I received.

I was taught that 'nothing is more irritating than a good example' and how true it is. You can see it everywhere, these days they're called 'haters'. People who excel make many enemies. I personally would rather ally myself with excellence rather than tear it down. It makes a better world.