Love for knowledge is a love for power.

I don't think I have ever taken the time before to admit just how important knowledge is for me. Now I have come to realize it has shaped every part of who I am and how I live my life. I am an artist, a father, and a jiu-jitsu practitioner. Those all seem like disconnected pieces of my identity but they are all influenced by my unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

When I was a kid, my mom taught me how to draw a carnation. Before that, I don't think that I had ever tried to perfect a drawing as much as that carnation. From that moment on, I spent any amount of money I had on drawing materials. I purchased magazines that had drawings and I'd try to copy and mimic every image, every stroke, I worked on it until I got it right. Since then, there has never been a day that has gone by that I didn't draw something.

Later on, in my teens, the new medium of choice was music. Back then, YouTube wasn't around with its' infinite access to tutorials. I had to teach myself how to create music because I wanted to feed that hunger for knowledge and so I bought beat machines and keyboards. I spent countless hours listening to music to attempt to copy and mimic their style. Wanting to perfect Dr. Dre's drums and Dj Muggs sound, I just continued learning.

These days I spend most of my time trying to perfect the art of jiu-jitsu. Although I am as committed to learning and obtaining as much knowledge as possible, the years of life experience under my belt have shaped and shifted my perspective. I am no longer just seeking knowledge for the sake of knowing and perfecting everything. I am not focusing on learning what is applicable to me. I have come to learn that not everything is going to fit my specific needs and capabilities and I have had to learn to be ok with that.

That is something that is even more prevalent in being a father.I am constantly trying to learn how to be a good father. Not just through my experiences while raising them but also through reading and learning. We can raise righteous human beings without the iron hand that most of us were raised with from parents/coaches etc.; my children are living proof. I had to learn that my expectations had to meet their developmental needs. Not due to softness but to learning and understanding that our expectations of a 5-year-old should not be the same as a 13-year-old. I had to open myself to these new ideas when I was learning this.

My love for knowledge is a love for power. There's a feeling I have when I learn something that is very pleasing to my soul. By maintaining that hunger for knowledge, I believe I've achieved success in my career. To keep moving forward in my professional and personal life I believe I have to continue seeking that knowledge.