Bigger Than Art

Well, well, well, we are back with another post here on The Finished Product! This week is a little bit different. From the art itself, how-to tutorials, and meaning behind customization doesn't do any of the work justice without one part. That part is my story. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it although it may be a heart-felt story, just know there is always good to come out of any situation.

For 2 years now I have been dealing with unknown medical issues... Beginning at North Central College in 2019, I was dealing with a sickness but a sickness with a means to an end. After constant denial from doctors and hearing I was going to be okay stating things such as "You're young, you will kick it!" and "You aren't dying you are too young." That all changed in 2019. After being released from one hospital believing it was a viral throat infection and never checking my lungs didn't catch the most dangerous of conditions. 24 Hours later I wad admitting to Palos Hospital in Illinois where I was first diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and was on the final hours of sepsis taking over to a rate of fatality. Shortly after finding this out, I was ran through dozens of tests with no answer, only unknown reactions. A fever of 106.7 and a weight decrease of 40lbs and still nothing...just magically better one day with everlasting damage....

2 Years later at The University of Tampa I had experienced something similar, this time even more deadly... The start of Fall semester leading all the way up to October were I was told the same comments until it was too late for a reversal on the sickness. Admitted on the spot after weeks of no answer and hearing that it was happening again destroyed me. Once again, old pneumonia destroying my lungs, reactive arthritis, and a 35lb weight drop... this was only the beginning. Over 100 tests and procedures combined in the span of two weeks with no true determination of what is going on with this young and healthy 20-year old student. Finally the time came where I was released...relearning how to talk, walk, and act normally after isolation and constant treatment that is ongoing. So where are we today and why am I writing such a deep story one may ask after all this lovely art content.

Today, I am undergoing similar symptoms and have to continue my courses of treatment for at minimum 3-5 years. There is no set date on an answer, there is no determining how many times one can survive this much torture, but there is one light in all of it and it is what I put into my work.

My art is a part of me that has been around since the day I was born. Whether it be painting, customizing, designing, or constructing, I have loved everything to do with art and the everlasting impact it makes on creative minds and peoples lives. Through all this pain and suffering I have maintained my art creations and projects to have the strength left in me displayed for the world to see. Art that is either personal to one or art that may impact millions, it's all the same to me. Having a legacy of my creations around this Earth showing how no matter how many times I have been knocked down to my last breathe, I have came back stronger and more determined. My art is a piece of me that can live freely forever. Pieces that take every emotion, feeling, occurrence, and make something beautiful.

My story is my downfall, and my art is what I turn to in those moments after or during to create a drive like one has never seen before.

I hope you all enjoy this short story on my story and how I have overcame it all, and that is what this page is all about. This post is meant to open up a side of me that users can see, connect to, and realize that we are all human and we all have a story. What you make out of that story is the true representation of one's self.

Thank you all again for tuning in this week and I hope to hear and connect with some of you that share the same passion, drive, or relation in any way. Keep Grindin' & Stay Hustlin'.