Photoshop 4 Got Me Here!

All of us have a core memory we return to when things get hard… when we feel like giving up...

For me, it was the summer of 1996.

I was 18, in a small, humid port in the north of Iran. I sold my beloved VHS camera and used the money to buy a PC just good enough to run Photoshop 4.

I was determined to master Photoshop. I was obsessed with rock album covers and film posters… and I wanted to design my own.

There was no internet. No YouTube. All I had was a thick-ass book translated into Farsi and a cracked CD (yep, jailbroken). Iran wasn’t… and still isn’t a part of global copyright law. That was the only way to get the software.

I installed Photoshop. It worked. I opened it and… magic pulled me in.

I spent that whole summer learning. One technique a day.

Every day I woke up at 7, had breakfast, went down to this boiling-hot basement and stayed there until evening. Just me and the screen. And I couldn't even share any of those cool graphics I was creating every day, because the internet didn't arrive until the early 2000s.

Still, that summer lives in me.

When I feel broken or tired of starting over, I try to tap into that energy again.

What was that? Showing up daily, just for the love of learning, not for winning or anything else. That’s something I’m sure you can relate to.

It’s that strange thing J. D. Salinger was pointing at in the spiritual tale of Franny and Zooey.

Remember the Fat Lady? That’s who you do it for.

That summer, I was just doing it for the Fat Lady.

And I think I need her again.

We all do.

Because we're standing on the edge of something big. And the only way to meet it is by going back to that raw curiosity.

What was it for you? When was that moment?

Go for a walk. Take a shower. Blast something loud and dance or air drum like you used to.

Then find that place inside you.

Bring it into now. Frame it. Let it lead again.

Sometimes you need to tie that feeling to something real… just to feel it again and make it part of who you are today.

For me, it was the Pump album cover by Aerosmith. I found a copy of the exact tape cassette I had on eBay. Now it's on my desk, where I can see it anytime I need to remember.

That was it! Forward this email to someone who needs it today. That’s how we show up for each other.

Talk soon.