I’ll keep this one short and sweet. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. A man like me doesn’t climb to a place like this by coincidence. That much should be obvious. Less obvious is the wicked combination of individual ingredients that have shaped and molded me over the years. Only one factor can reside at the top of this hierarchy of constraints and influences. Throughout my ascension there has been but one true element driving my behavior, commanding my actions: fear. Overwhelming, soul-crippling, carnal fear. Whether it’s been the fear of failure, the fear of abandonment, the fear of mockery, or the fear of being exposed as a fraud, every step I’ve ever taken was propelled by the thrust of fear. And I couldn’t be more thankful. You see, fear isn’t the dogged demon that groupthink and the mainstream media has made it out to be. Rather than cowering in its wake, I learned as a young man to embrace it. Without fear I would be nothing. You can see it in my eyes. I am proud of my shackles; I’d rather be lauded and deeply afraid, than pathetically low and “happy.” My art is a direct result of a life lived in fear: A life well lived. The greatest gift of all is that in this release of self to my own unknowable, uninhibited fear, I’ve actually conquered the most legendary and timeless of humanity’s demons: the fear of death. I am ready to die, I am not afraid to finally leave this wretched life, but only because of the undeniable success I have already known. Trust me: the embrace of death can come only with achievement, else it is an eternally hollow embrace indeed. Thank you fear. I owe it all to you.

Let me know in the comments below: What are you afraid of? Can you not embrace it?