As I journey through this path of acceptance, I smile because the famous artist Basquiat comes to mind.
I’ve been very intrigued by his work over the years. Looking at it left and right, top and bottom, trying to make sense of what at first glance looks like chaos. And then I realized something profound.
A Basquait looks like chaos compared to the defined lines of a classical masterpiece.
But does it make a Basquiat wrong to not fit the classical mold? Does his work showcase evidence of a lack of talent or is it simply a different perspective?
This painting, titled Olympic valued at $110.5 million dollars.
I share this with you because sometimes our own path isn’t a straight line. It will not fit the mold of what a typical successful person will look like, speak like, dress like or act like but that does not make you any less worthy.
Your life can sometimes look like chaos. It can get dark, and confusing, and reflect a mixture of experiences that all feel disparate, and yet it is a masterpiece and like a Basquiat piece that courageously and unapologetically expresses a mix of text, iconography, symbols; a catastrophic melange of neo-expressionism and graffiti that reflects what Basquiat once said “I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.”
Basquait remained true to himself and his expression and that is in large part why his work is prized because truth, no matter how messy it may look, when it is expressed, holds beauty and is valuable in a world so desperate for acceptance, perfected patterns, predictability, and a status quo way of expressing ourselves.
This is why I created Aphrodite Code. I always felt like an outsider growing up. An outlier. I was dismissed by professors as just another beauty who didn’t fit the look of an academic woman with brains.
I was undermined by co-workers who thought I was too young to hold that position in corporate. My classmates or peers thought I was too dark, my eyes were too Chinese and I didn’t fit their idea of beauty. But what all that taught me is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the beholder is you. If you can accept yourself as you are without comparing yourself to that ideal vision of the world, you can thrive.
Great brands are not usually better, they are different.
Aphrodite Code members are typically outliers. They don’t fit the mold of their society, but we have one mission that bonds us “to make a positive difference in the world while achieving our version of success”
A desire to create impactful work while dancing to our own beautiful song or creating our own art. A desire to leave a legacy and to give back and we know the only way to do it in a big way is not to play solitaire but to join forces together as women on the move.
Whether your life is more like a Monet than a Basquiat it doesn’t matter because there is no right or wrong. It does not make one better. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And that is what makes life beautiful. In Aphrodite Code, you don’t have to be perfect or have the perfect business idea.
You may even feel like you are failing right now or that you can’t find your own path to the top. Maybe you are on top and feel alone. Whatever art you are working on within your life, we are building a gallery with diversity and total acceptance for each expression.
I invite you to join the movement that is Aphrodite Code, and let us rise together.
Basquiat became famous because of his powerful inner circle. He didn’t do it with his friends he grew up with or his spouse, he was part of an elite club that was his rising tide.
We invite you to be a part of our rising tide experience. Apply here today.
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