A Work in Progress

by Connor Franta

But there is one thing they can’t hear: the silent beat of creativity within you—that calling beckoning you to trust your gut, follow your heart, and do what your soul demands.

When I get an idea, I roll with it, whatever the circumstances. I become obsessed with the thought, and it seeps into my every pore. I find it hard to put into words, but I get a kind of innovative high when I take a cool photo, film a particularly artistic video, or even just think of an inspirational idiom. I can’t get enough of the act of creation.

Here’s what I’ve learned: you need to enjoy another person so much that you want to be around that person as much as you’re around yourself.

Love is about sitting in silence and enjoying every second of it simply because your partner is sharing it with you. Love is about reading another person’s mind and finishing his or her sentences—because you know that person that well. Love is about wanting to be as physically close as possible because you can’t get enough of the other’s smell, feel, or mere presence. Love is about putting another person before yourself because, quite simply, when that person is happy, you’re happy. Love is about staying in on the weekend, ordering Indian food, and putting on a new documentary because you wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. Love knows no gender, race, shape, or size. Love is love—an energy that fuses souls. And when you fall into its warm embrace, you won’t want to let go.

your thoughts, wants, needs, and desires are valid. If you keep coming back to a lane in your life that you’re too afraid to take, perhaps accept that life is leading you there; maybe one day, try taking it. Get past the fear of the what-if and just do it.