...and the world says "Welcome to 40!"

I'm currently listening to a song that says "If you say that it's over, I won't die"...At the age of 40 I've realized that everything won't stay the same in life and I have to be ok with that. It's like your endurance is one of the most valuable elements needed for you to keep fighting for anything in this lifetime. I've often asked myself how the final goal looks and what the different pieces to the puzzle looked like and the answer has always been foggy for me. It's like I've never gotten a clear idea or answer. Because of this, I felt like it was necessary to spend more time developing myself and my relationship with Christ. These two things will at least bring revelation to my journey if not the actual goal. Even though I don't know the final goal of this journey, I knew the helper used to guide me, and His request is that I spend as much time with Him and use my faith to prosper. As I continue on the journey the answers have just kind of started to appear. No, never really any "YOU'VE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!!!!" moments, many of the experiences were nothing like that. Instead, most of my experiences forced me to think deeper into a situation before deciding to continue. A lot of the time, the think deeper moments were very uncomfortable moments that required me to actually develop my PERSPECTIVE. You know, they say "A man's word is his bond"? Well, I felt like it was necessary to understand what I stood on in order to protect my WORD and my perspective.

When you hear someone talk about their journey, you hear a lot of them talk about how many people they've lost. LOL, I'm no different. Either I was in my learning phase in developing my own perspective and did something that could have offended someone. Or I was in my mature phase in developing my perspective and it didn't align with someone else's way of thinking. Either way, people who I considered valuable to my life were being removed, changing my world and the flow of energy in it. This was something I had to get used to because nothing was guaranteed to last forever but I was still on this journey toward a good life.

In growing up, a healthy perspective has been important. Developing one has been a challenge but it's been beneficial to have other perspectives around me. It's helped me understand that there are different points of view in the world and I could learn from them. Honestly, I have learned a lot from others with different points of view on the world.

I've found myself always returning to the question, what do I consider to be important in my thought process and I've always returned to the thoughts that included integrity, willpower, understanding, and grace. These words have always brought some kind of magic to my life. Magic that allows me to understand that we are all human so I should try to find the good in everything that I do and with everyone that I come in contact with....I won't go too deep into the rabbit hole but this subject was sitting on the top of my brain today so thought I'd kind of get some thoughts out of the brain! I'll continue the conversation in other posts...

Happy Monday!

- Carter

Maaan, We Lost But We Really WON! - Celtics Nation

If you know me, you know that I am a Celtics fan. At the beginning of the season last year, I didn't know how far we'd get in season. When Kyrie Irving left the team in 2019 it made me wonder how well the team would hold together. While there, I noticed that Kyrie was in a very positive head space just based on his posts and I believe a few show drops. So I had no other choice but to see the residue of his positive energy lasting on the team. Kyrie played a huge role in the team making the playoffs the years that he was there and when he left, the success wasn't so available. This made me want to stick with the team more. I too was in my growing season and knew that it took some discipline and courage to really step out in the world and proactive the art of positivity. So I was inspired to live out my journey with this team as they lived theirs.

Well, as I said earlier, the season didn't start out well at all. We were on some hit-and-miss type basketball. It wasn't a consistent team. Plus they had a new coach Ime Udoka who was also trying to guide the team into a direction that he believed in. I felt like the team was still learning from each other for some reason. To me, it seemed that there were players who were the stars and the players who wanted to be the stars. Players that the plays were built around and players who wanted to create big moments for the luxury of being seen (Remember, this is just my perspective). This intrigued me because, in order for this team to even touch the NBA Finals, some things had to change from a mental standpoint. I felt that coach saw an opportunity to turn this team into dynamic team...And he did. There would have to be a brotherhood built in order for them to succeed. In my opinion, something clicked on January 29th, 2022. This was the first win of a 9-win streak!!!! The team was on fire. and I look back and realized that this was the first streak that was longer than 3 games. So to me, it seemed that players were checking in one at a time. They started to build this culture that looked and felt like a brotherhood. I'll never forget the moment Grant Williams activated and was all in. Then I'd recognize Al Horton step up to the plate and be a leader of the team and help direct them mentally to be better. The teamwork between Smart, Taytom, and Brown is unstoppable but seeing Rob Williams activate and truly step into his rightful place as a Center-Forward and be the wall he was meant to be has been such an honor to watch. I don't know why I feel this way but I truly feel that Rob activated during the Bucks series. He was dealing with some bulldozers lol so he had to stand up to his true potential and handle the rim.

I say all of this to say that they recognized what they needed to do to even touch the NBA Finals and they did it. They all made a contribution equally and they all played their hardest to get there. AND THEY MADE IT!!!! The fact that they were the Eastern Conference Champs ugggghhhhh!!!!! it's REMARKABLE!!! I was so honored to see the journey in full. It was like a Disney movie. LOL. I thought this would be a great post. This is the true reason I love the Celtics as I do. They're putting effort into building a team that is solid and filled with the willpower to make it to the NBA Finals! Had to get that off my chest because it lives on the top of my heart!! Don't give up on yourself...make it a point to connect with your team and open the environment enough to understand each other. Conquer together and WIN! We did'nt win the Finals but we won as a team and I respect that!!

I gotta stop this conversation, it's getting too emotional! lol

- Carter

Welcome to the New Pad!

You've reached the new home of Artifaxx Apparel. We've changed some things up a little bit so it's a bit easier to find everything in one spot. As many of you know, I've been doing graphic design for 15 years now and every year has uncovered a new talent and love for this craft so why not show it all off on one site. Before we get going with these posts, its always necessary for me to put it out there that this is a safe space for open conversation and it's my goal to give others a safe space to talk about what ever we feel is necessary. Because it's our space to put it out there.

As the owner of Artifaxx, I feel that we are adults and communication is extremely important in our lives of 2022. I feel like technology has given us a space to express ourselves freely so I'm ready to do that now. At the age of 40 I've been through so much and I want to help guide others into an atmosphere of freedom in order to get them to the point where they can appreciate their whole being as themselves. To let you all in on my professional career, I am currently in the world of Property Management as a Training and Talent Development Manager. I am responsible for building and facilitating training classes. It's a pretty fun environment because I get to invest positive and useful knowledge to those who are just trying to be successful at their jobs. We are required to grow mentally before we can be an asset to others so this career path is something that helps me truly express my gifts.

Welcome to the party and ummm...Welcome!

We'll have fun here...Feel free to jump into the conversation.