The Amateurs Collection: Short Stories

Introduction

For Mama, my flawed muse, and for Daddy, my flawed mentor.

Also, for all the amateur artist.

Keep fighting, keep creating, and keep dreaming.

INTRODUCTION

The beauty in flaws are what the series, "An Amateur's Collection", is centered on. Accepting my flaws as an artist, a person, a son, a brother, a lover, and a friend has been the most challenging aspect of my life. I feel that I am not alone in this struggle. In a world that demands perfection, how do we accept who we are?

Perfection is ugly. Perfection is gross. Beauty and love lies in the realm of imperfection and fault.

The purpose of this series is two fold. First, to stab my insecurities in the cancerous center mass. Insecurities will always live on. To be human is to be insecure. Though my insecurities have held power over my life for far too long. Decisions I make have been rooted in my desire for perfection for far too long. This series is me cutting the cord. I will take back my life. I will make choices no longer based on fear. I will make choices based on confidence and love. This series is my blade to fight back and wield the power of love.

My second purpose for this series is for others to feel the same confidence. My hope is that other amateur artists will see my confident presentation of flawed work and will stay steadfast on their own ambitions. We all start off as flawed beginners, and we may never leave. This is true for not only artists, but humans as well. It is the dedicated and resilient that prevail. We will fail again and again. We will learn again and again. I hope my series can help you accept your faults and motivate you to continue fighting, continue creating, and continue dreaming.

Thank you, for giving my flaws a chance.

This book in the series contains seven short stories I wrote during the earliest stage of my evolution as a writer and artist. The stories are flawed. They contain grammatical and formal errors. The narratives and characters can be muddled. Elements of the stories can be contradictory. Though each story is a part of my soul. I present my heart with each story.

My hope is that the heart and creativity of each story speaks to you, and that the flaws might even exemplify the experience. For flaws are what makes life worth living. Flaws accentuate beauty. Flaws are beauty. Is the blood from the prick of a rose thorn not as bold a red as the rose itself?