Meet NATHAN WATERS

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful NATHAN WATERS a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi NATHAN , so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

Stop, sit still. | Take a deep breathe and tell me..what you see. Do you visualize something negative? After that, I would like you to then ask yourself, “Have I even thought to consider something positive within this time of visualization?”

Then ask why is it that I can only visualize and taste a negative reflection rather than a much more powerful one ? Residue of only what you aren’t capable of? How dare I only dwell in negativity when there are plenty of higher moments to be thankful for such as “Being the only one in the room who looks like myself.”

I sometimes will try to have this conversation in my head while speaking to someone who I know looks down upon my kind. I personally have attempted to practice doing shadow work to air bend these forms of “imposter syndrome” as fire to my motivation. I have no time to waste within forms of weakness. That would only be deception to me as I have plenty to focus upon.

The base of this strength comes from my cestors and elder gods who have installed gifts within me. If you are to be invited in the room, there must be something about you that both sides enjoy. This can be considered an approach as to how I potentially try to be effective in these types of rooms you see. Truthfully, I have no idea what I am doing, but let’s ask ourselves, “Who really does?”

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Names Nathan Waters and I was raised in South Central, Los Angeles. I have been creating all of my life without even having the awareness of what creation was within my younger years. Growing up within this westernized educational system, creativity was hard to come across.

Going to Saturday school every summer for the vast majority of my life, being in school programs rarely gave freedom to focus on music. One thing I can say is that I took a course in High School that taught the basic foundation of a DAW called “Ableton.” From there, my mind started to formulate these color palette while being in class learning about subjects I will never care for.

In life, we’re learning how to have patience with experience(s) we have no love for in order to get closer to what we truly love. For me, that is music and photography. ”

Please remember the importance of trying our best to say no to opportunities we know that don’t align with who we are.” I’m learning how to remain patient while paying my dues during this creative journey.

I have been recording everyday with the pure intention of letting out who Nathan Waters is. Taking the time on simply being yourself within your creations is difficult because it’s easy to copy somebody rather than being yourself.

For me, I only strive to practice being me. Inspiration is everywhere, but who are you really ?

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Reflecting on my journey, I distinctively believe resilience, persistence, and proper posture are some of the qualities that have been very impactful for me. These qualities also have allowed me to properly respond to adversity but to then enjoy the highs of hard work.

Having resilience when life is going against what you wanted the outcome to be allows us to push through uncomfortable disappointment. Unfortunately, we all have this habit of setting so many expectations rather than proceeding accordingly. Often times, I can harness disappointment into motivation which is where my level of persistence past the irritation of certain experiences. These qualities are not always easy to practice when you don’t feel like doing so.

A lot of us won’t admit it, but we would like a lot of situations to be easier than what that actually are. I love mediating because that is one of the best ways to practice posture. Remaining still and calm during my journey taught some of the different stages of stillness during chaos.

My advice to all of us who are early in the journey would be to slowwwww down because life moves fast. We can notice a lot of moments, details, and life lessons when we slow practice stillness. A way one could practice stillness is reading a book in a public setting because the volume and our ability to focus will be challenged greatly.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Within the past year, I’ve grown in areas of admitting when I’m wrong and being more accepting of constructive feedback. The aspect of others speaking to us about ourselves especially when we struggle with holding ourselves can be rough.

I speak for myself when I say that I can often be stubborn but stubbornness during potential learning moments conflicts growth. I want to continue growing in life and being open to feedback is a strong way to learn. As mentioned before, I have been recording a lot recently which coincides with being open to feedback because I often play my demos for close friends and family.

They will speak to me about areas where I can improve or consider which can be very helpful. You don’t always have to listne to the feedback but not taking the suggestions personal can potentially take you much further.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nnathanwaters.net
• Instagram: nnathanwaters
• Twitter: nnathanwaters