Here is a pic of my latest ink. People often ask which of my pieces are my favorites. I love all of them all equally. Kinda like kids I guess. Seriously, they all are close to me and represent something special. This tree concept was birthed from a verse in Proverbs that Langston Hughes used as inspiration for a poem. The verse say’s “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Langston Hughes took the word Dream, put it in place of Hope and titled his poem A Dream Deferred. When I read the entire verse with the word Dreams in front it really hit me. I believe God has given everyone a gift, talent and dream to change the world in some way. I’ve often come across people that seem down and out or bitter towards everything. I started to realize that this verse really does come to past. When people don’t accomplish their dreams because of apathy or fear it truly does take a toll, whether they realize it or not. The next part of the verse say’s “desire fulfilled is a tree of life”. If you’ve ever seen someone accomplishing their dreams they seem to have a ripple effect in many ways. They encourage others, give others oppurtunities, lend advice and years down the road you can see their influence reach far beyond anything they could have imagined. In essence functioning like a healthy tree. A tree that grows and produces healthy fruit. This tree represents that for me. I never want to be that person that waited on the perfect time to pursue my dream and always made excuses. I do want to be that person that does major things with the little bit of wisdom and talent that God has granted me and hopefully be able to make a difference in this world. So with that, my tree shows one side dying (heart being sick) and the other starting to show signs of health (tree of life). Hopefully I can continue to go about this mystery and journey called life and see many of you succeed and live achieving your dreams. I leave you with Langston Hughes poem and a favorite quote of mine.

A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful”