What Can You Go Big On?

I think it’s valid to say that nowadays everyone does everything. Painters are no longer just painters and cooks are no longer just cooks. The innovation leveraged by our species is that of great character, but that is not to say it doesn’t come with many great caveats. Whether or not you have ever called yourself an artist or a creative in your life, I will go ahead and just say you are one—or maybe we’re more of one at some point in your fantastically fascinating complicated, and joyous life.

Hell! I bet you were a magician at one point, or maybe a detective solving crimes. I was choosing my own adventure and escaping into jungles in South America cutting through vines, soaking up the mud underneath my soles. And then I was a cowboy, belt buckle shining as far as the eye could see. If you were lucky enough to witness my cowboy era, then you know what a devilishly handsome sight it was.

Painting by Mark Maggiori

While I am no longer an explorer of jungles or having fast draws in the desert, I wear many hats. My imagination as a child reminds me that we can be many things, but we must choose with great intent and with the same attention to detail as we did in our youth.

No kid wants to be a detective and goes without his badge or his magnifying glass. There’s no half ass-ing the responsibility of the role he wants to play. As an artist and entrepreneur, I have learned that there is no way I can do absolutely everything all the time. Therefore, I must lay out what is most important to me and go big on the ideas that are essential. 

So, today, and every day from here on out, I ask myself, what can I go big on?

Last week I went to the bookstore on my friend Haley’s recommendation and went to check out The Hollyhock House at Barnsdall Park—my favorite park in LA. I have sat in this park many times but have never toured the Frank Lloyd Wright house that sat there.

Afterward, I lay in the grass under a tree that I liked with a couple of books I had just bought and a notebook a traveler gifted to me.

A sister and a brother were playing hide and seek, running inches from my face as they went searching for each other. Another kid, a little older, wearing a Celtics jersey, sat still on the incline of the hill looking out towards the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory. He jolted up and began dancing Capoeira. I think he had just gotten picked up from school… maybe that was his way of letting out all that energy from sitting inside all day.

What I love about Barnsdall Park is that it is full of life. It’s full of people having picnics, reading, dancing, meditating, stretching… there is no shortage of people just being at this park. More than anything else, I am met with great clarity when I sit there.

I shed a few tears every time I sit there, too. Not because I am sad or anxious or anything of that sort. It’s because it feels like I should be there. That I am meant to be there. And that makes me happy to the point of tears.

It's a place that invites contemplation and self-exploration, which is why I find myself drawn to it repeatedly.

As I lay there under that tree, with the laughter of playing children and the capoeira dancer's graceful movements as my backdrop, I couldn't help but wonder, "What can I go big on?"

This question often resurfaces in my thoughts. In a world of endless opportunities and distractions, we're all akin to magicians, detectives, cowboys, and explorers at heart, ever-changing and ever-adapting. But, as we grow older, we can't merely switch roles without preparation.

Think back to that childhood detective. Would he venture out without his badge or magnifying glass? No, he wouldn't. He'd go all in, dedicating his heart and soul to the role he's chosen. As artists, entrepreneurs, or, well, simply as individuals, we face a similar dilemma. We can't do everything all the time, which means we must make choices. Choices that reflect what's truly important to us, and choices that lead us to go big on what's essential. Choosing what to go big on is the easy part, I think it is choosing what to let go of that takes the most effort.

Next time you begin in some artmaking, ask yourself what is absolutely essential for you to spend your time on and what can be let go of. It’s a good start.

Less but better. -Dieter Rams

This is a reminder for all of us. It is “What can I go big on?" and “What can I let go of?” We know that we can’t be everything. We know that we can’t do it all. And we’re not supposed to. Lean into what makes you the most effective artist. Dive deep into a concept and worry less about the nuance. Focus on what is absolutely essential to you and the rest will follow.

As always, thank you for being here!

Your pal,

Eli