Meet Vernon Blount

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vernon Blount. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Vernon, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

At many points in my life, I’ve had to confront the reality that if I am to rise to the calling of greatness on my life through my gifts, I must embrace the pain that comes with change, loss, growth, and surrender to something greater.

More specifically, I’ve overcome fear of using my gifts, persistent depression, a volatile and intense emotional disposition, the shame that came with that as a man, a tumultuous military career, the death of my best friend, and above all, a total acceptance of myself along with this life as I seek a true relationship with God.

Contrastingly, my resilience also comes from a loving upbringing. I have two amazing parents who – although no longer married – gave me a balanced identity of empathy and power. They raised me with solid ethics from my Christian background. I’ve been blessed with spiritual discernment that I attribute to my mother’s keen ability to identify with the feelings of others and my father’s commitment to the truth.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I work a day job to fund my artistry and business “Green Box Planet, LLC” or simply “Green Box Planet” (GBP).

I started taking photos when I was about 15 or 16 (I’ll be 30 in November of this year), and most of my work was either abstract, portraiture or landscape photography. I’ve recently taken a step into videography and all the learning that comes with it. I’m stepping back into portraiture as well, which is a photography domain that I believe will serve my professional network, skillset and business well. Eventually I would love to do more editorial photography and album cover art. Right now I’m freelancing and establishing the foundation of my business.

I have a website greenboxplanet.com that houses what I would consider my portfolio, but at large, I want to create lookbooks and zines and also prints, photos and artwork for homes which will be the product/commerce component of my business. Essentially, taking the visual arts component of what I do and giving people tangible assets. Long term endeavors include films, podcasts, shows, shorts that I’ll ultimately house under my production/publishing company GBP.

My mission is to give people a way to see the world that’ll allow them to accept it and understand it via looking at it differently. And then ultimately they will accept and understand themselves more and then others and the cycle goes on and on

I do a lot of abstract art which is my favorite and what I’m more aligned with. But pov is very important to me. Appreciating the minutia of things and taking something that just looks cool to me and presenting it to someone else and sharing that. Whether they like it, love it, or don’t get it. But a different take is always interesting to me. Or even a similar take from a different person can be refreshing depending on how they package it. But it’s all about connection to the outside world for me. And then ultimately connection to ourselves through what we see and empowering ourselves to appreciate what’s within and without us through discernment of what we see

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

My my parents established my spiritual connection to God. My relationship with Him has carried me through life’s ups and downs. We spent many days in church, and it taught me that God is love. He’s not all the other noise surrounding spirituality like tradition, opinions of others, doubt and unbelief, etc. What’s most important is to know Him; to surrender to Him so that He may order our steps.

I wasn’t taught discipline or raised to be disciplined. Joining the Army AFTER I graduated college was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. To be honest, the military wasn’t for me, and it showed up everyday in my tenure, but I definitely learned how to do what needs to be done in spite fear, sadness, and just sheer unwillingness. That was a tough road, and my exit was even more arduous, but I learned the importance of staying the course; the role that discipline plays in taking us across the finish line.

Acceptance and total embrace of who I am was something I struggled with from a very young age, more specifically my emotional self. I always felt everything and everybody, and it would consume me to the point that I went numb. I rejected my emotions, and I even identified with them, which manifested as poor self-image at times. Our outlook on life is an extension of our self-image. Because I was unable to accept myself, I was unable to accept life and its many trials. In my adult life, I’ve come to accept the yin and the yang of all this. Everything has its place; our joy, our suffering, our understanding, our confusion, you name it. But living one foot in and out foot out of life only results in more pain that we can handle. We have to embrace it all and realize life isn’t happening to us. It’s just happening, and I fully accept that as my reality.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I work as a photographer and videographer. Direction and creative direction are even greater passions of mine (i.e. commercials, music videos, magazines, short films, documentaries, books, music production etc.) I enjoy coming up with creative ideas and overseeing the vision of a project. I also value working with others and people who listen and authentically share their ideas no matter how scary potential rejection can be. The creative journey teaches us to be present and take things one moment at a time. I’m looking to work with others who embrace and fit this mold.

If anyone is reading this and would like to collaborate, visit my website greenboxplanet.com or email me at greenboxplanet@gmail.com. My personal Instagram account is @spiritedaweigh (reference to the film “Spirited Away” directed by the renowned Hayao Miyazaki)

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Vernon L. Blount III

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