JIP's Picks: The Sartorialist

Two things that I’ve always found beauty and inspiration in are people watching (courtesy of the Bobby Parker) and photography. I don’t know why…in people watching there’s just something about observing the life around you without being directly involved in it, while photography allows you to capture some of the more precious moments life has to offer (or not so precious…see your friends’ Facebook pages).

I’ve never personally had the patience to learn photography, but I think the combination of the two things above is some of the most impressive form of art out there. That being said, check out The Sartorialist blog.

I first learned about The Satorialist from reading GQ, and I was always intrigued by his pictures of fashionable people caught in the street of whatever city he was in at the time. The photographs were truly real…people in their natural element. So once I found out he had a blog I decided to check it out, and the rest is history.

The blog has all kinds of photos of people from various cities going about their daily tasks and routines. One thing that is different, however, is that many of these people don’t appear to be trudging through their day. If you look through enough of the blog you get a sense of people being truly comfortable in their own skin…they have an “I did it my way” attitude about them (word to Sinatra). These people appear to be confident individuals with a sense of who they really are. That’s surprisingly rare in a society that is basically fueled by the latest trends.

One of my favorite profiles was of a driver the The Satorialist had on one of his many trips. Check out how he describes this gentleman below (see the gentleman's picture here—copyright issues J):

One of my favorite encounters on this book tour was my driver in San Francisco.

As you can see he was very elegant and practically oozed self-confidence, dignity and pride in his work.

I love people who show pride in their work, regardless of the job.

This man's car was spotless, his shoes were shined and he knew exactly where he was going. He wasn't dressed like that for me, he had no idea who I was, this was just another day and just another ride done in his own stylish way.

I've said this so many times before, and recently in the intro of my book. Even though this blog is about fashion I don't really think about fashion when I look at this photo. I think about how he is communicating his sense of pride and self-worth; not by how expensive his clothes are but by how he wears his clothes, his posture and his politeness. This man is pure style.

Now shouldn’t we all be like this guy? I think so. Be confident in yourself and your abilities, and let the world see that in you and your personal style. Individuality makes the world go ‘round…

Cheers to my individuals out there,

JIP

Monday Morning Inspiration: Desiderata

Happy Monday all...I hope you all had a solid weekend. There's nothing like catching up with old friends (shout out to Sunshine) and watching Alabama beat up on LSU.

I wanted to start this week off with one of my favorite poems, Desiderata, which is Latin for "desired things" (read about its history here).

I was introduced to this by my lovely mother during my freshman year of college, and I have read it several times a week since then. I find that it helps to keep me focused and to make sure that I am continually working towards achieving happiness in life by controlling the things that I can control.

Remember: the universe is unfolding as it should; don't stress out about it.

As the good Rev. Efrem said yesterday, God has bigger and better plans in the works for us all.

I'm sure you'll all enjoy this (especially on a Monday). Cheers.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

My Two Cents on Relationships

Since everybody knows that JIP is a relationship guru, I’m going to let everybody in on a little secret: relationships aren’t that hard. There. I said it. I honestly don’t think they are. The actual relationship in itself is not the issue; the extra ingredients that we like to add to it are the real issue. We go out of our way to make relationships way more stressful, drama-filled, and unpleasantly eventful than they have to be. Why do we seem to enjoy doing this?

Let me preface this by saying that I’m talking about people in monogamous relationships; if you have some sort of arrangement with several guys/females, great for you…there’s no way around your drama. But I believe that one of the main problems with relationships today is that everybody has their own agenda. You have people fighting to maintain the upper-hand, creating an unnecessary power struggle. You have people testing their partner to see what they are able to get away with, creating insecurity and trust issues. You have people leading each other on for their own personal gain/satisfaction, creating pain and eventual heartbreak. This all begs the question: why are you really in a relationship in the first place? If your intentions are not pure aren’t you really doing more harm than good?

I’ll call my proposed solution “The Pursuit of Happiness model” (word to Kid Cudi): if we all put our egos aside and genuinely searched for a person that makes us happy, then we would all be fine. That’s the hard part… finding that person that is your match. Once you find that person there will be bumps and bruises, but that’s life. But those bumps and bruises shouldn’t come from running games on each other, infidelity, or trust issues in general…those are unnecessary problems.

Under this model, people would still break-up of course because everybody is not made for everybody else, but the pursuit of a happy relationship would be much more pure because it would be built off of good intentions. It’s a shame how much people talk about how they’ve been hurt in past relationships for things other than just not being made for each other. Then the cycle just perpetuates…they pass their pain and anger from the past on to the next person and so on and so forth.

Now I know as well as anybody that it’s basically impossible to get everybody in the world to adopt this new way of thinking…there are too many evil forces out there for that. But what we can do is apply this knowledge to our own personal interactions. Life is hard enough as is; we shouldn’t make our relationships that way.

Who knows though? Maybe one day we will completely change our collective mindset and the world will be a much happier place. In the meantime we can dream, right?

Cheers to happiness and the pursuit thereof,

JIP

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday all,

I try to be positive about this day that a lot of people kind of just drag through. We're all just as blessed to be alive as any other day (although I'd rather be getting paid while watching football than be at work).

Anyway, I threw a couple of new poems on the blog today for you to check out...let me know what you think. Also, I hope to talk about some relationship issues as well this week...I've been meaning to do that as well.

Shout out to Jon Becton...I'm not sure DC is ready for your takeover.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

JIP

My Home

The subtle sounds of the night are all too clear;

I hear the crickets performing their nightly concert for all who care to listen.

As I look around, the fireflies illuminate the darkness that has overtaken my presence;

I gladly accept the feeling of being a minor player in this major production.

The thick air of the summer night is all too familiar to me,

The sense of peace I feel in this very place, the sense of calm and nighttime charm,

I love this place I’m in…I’m so proud to call it home.

Early Retirement

Let’s see…you don’t go out to the club anymore,

You left that life of debauchery alone.

You traded in your bottles of alcohol and the club scene;

You replaced them with the warming sensation of a lady to call your own.

There comes a time in life when you have to realize that you can’t have your cake and eat it too,

Just make sure when you hang up your jersey for her,

She hangs her jersey up for you, too.