Meet Alexander Perez

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexander Perez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexander below.

Alexander, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

I keep my creativity alive by divorcing all of my creative practices from result. This maybe isn’t the best career-focused method, but thanks to this I can write, draw, play music, whatever with my whole self. If it develops, great, if I hit roadblocks, I manage them without the high stakes that used to drive me once upon a time.

I got far enough in my playwrighting career that every application felt like I was teeing up the rest of my destiny, only for rejections to take all the air out of me afterwards. I know that’s a part of the industry, and I took it on the chin for the most part, but everyone has those opportunities that feel more within grasp than others for whatever ephemeral reason. We’re only human.

To that end I abandoned the rest of the creative things I like to do but am not doing as a “career”. I draw, I write poems and songs, I fiddle around with my guitar and keyboard, etc. As a parent, it’s hard to find the free time, let alone energy to practice. When I did find the time, my mind was intruded by the thought that I had to focus on writing and nothing else. If I did indulge, I was spending it on mediums that weren’t going to “get me anywhere”.

I began looking to eastern philosophies, primarily Tao and Zen, for ways to halt what felt like an endless rush to a finish line that had yet to be drawn. It took a few months of restless ‘meditation’ where I sat and tried to quiet my mind by force. Little did I know the point of meditation is less about calming raging waters and more about embodying a piece of debris at the mercy of your cognitive rapids and making a (sub)conscious decision not to get snagged on anything that comes your way. This slowly but surely translated to my everyday, frustrating situations and that helpless “stuck” feeling all resolved with a few minutes of quiet. As a teacher of mine once said “We have very little time, so we must move very slowly.”

Since letting go I’ve been as busy as ever. I can doodle with a heart unburdened by definition. Each completed creation is basically an academy award to myself, a best picture winner to those who I choose to share it with. Every small act of creation is resistance in a world bent on self-destruction. I can calm down. Whatever this is likely isn’t going to be my next masterpiece, heck it’ll never be anything if I don’t finish it first! If I don’t finish it, ah well, something better got my attention and I’ll finish that instead. That said, never say never. Keep an infinite sock drawer of past ideas and revisit it often.

Deferred ideas never die, they’re merely slow roasting until the time is right.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Right now I’m focused on my visual art mostly, reaching into animation. I love learning new practices and software so this new challenge fits the bill. Currently I am creating webcomics under the moniker MediumHarsh on Instagram and Tapas. I am also a part of a loose collective known as Xomik Buk that publishes 2-3 collections a year. Most recently my art was published in their third Mega Anthology!

Professionally I am transitioning after a layoff in Spring of last year. With the job market being what it is, I’ve stayed busy by getting an IT Support Professional certification from Google and have begun to audition for film once again to pick up small gigs here and there. With that said I also just had a production of a short of mine premiere in Connecticut this weekend so I’m not doing too bad! It’s an interesting time to be me.

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?

1. Humility, learn from the mistakes of others. Your teachers can and will sometimes be wrong, don’t fight them, learn from their flawed perspective; even if the lesson is “avoid jerks like that”.

2. Good friends, I had my share of fun but I also (by choice or accident) always kept a circle of friends whose decisions and careers inspired me in a positive way. You should be consistently locked in a friendly artistic arms race with at least one or two people, otherwise how do you know you’re getting any better? How can you ever hope to GET better without stoking the fires of competition?

3. Therapy/Medication, Without my mental health care regimen I’m virtually helpless and at the mercy of my own emotion. The older I get the more I am aware of how my state of mind affects everything I touch, even if I think they’ve been successfully compartmentalized. Get over yourself and to a dr. Learn how to take care of yourself which might mean cancelling some plans the day of. Your friends will understand, see #2.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Yes!

Everyone’s got their own neurological profile, I myself am Autistic and ADHD so my overwhelm comes in 4k!

Aside from the medication/meditation of it all, getting distance from triggers is key, sometimes that means literally leaving your apartment if that’s what it takes. You’re on fire, get in the water, it doesn’t matter if your phone is in your pocket. Others might need some firmness for support. Me? The opposite. I need soft, I need blanket, I need pillow.

What does this mean for you? What DOES it mean for you? Figure out what gives you comfort. Tier it out for small to large scale emergencies. Unfortunately the best strategy to overwhelm is avoiding it altogether. This might mean getting a nice set of headphones to help you lock in when distracted or when the airport is too loud. It might mean scheduling your life with ample space between appointments even if you don’t get as much done as you “could”. Accommodations are for everyone, don’t leave yourself out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Alexperez.carrd.co
• Instagram: @mediumharsh/@redsavage0
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-perez-bb827aa4/
• Twitter: No
• Other: https://newplayexchange.org/users/27387/alexander-perez