In the words of Greek philosopher Epictetus, “No great thing is created suddenly.”

But how does one start the process?

You can look for inspiration in the environment around you or perhaps imitating the work of others. My ethos is different. I encourage that one looks inside themselves for that power and to tell the story and create from within.

It’s a common notion and stereotype that the most creative people are depressed and the one’s that have gone through various levels of trauma in their life to make art. That is not far from true. As a writer, I look for stories within the chapters of my life. But is living through this dark state a good thing? For one’s health, no. For one’s ability to make art, in my opinion, yes.

This is where things become conflicted. No-one wishes depression or a dark state of mind upon another, it’s both immoral and inhumane. Yet, the greatest stories come from the darkness. The perfect example can be found in the best-selling book of all time. The first chapter of the Bible tells us that God created the Heavens and the Earth, and then he said, “Let there be light.”

From the darkness that once was, that light shone through and everything came to life. In darkness we can’t see anything, essentially, nothing exists. There is no light, there is no sound, there is no smell, no taste, nothing to feel. Absolutely void of existence. Add one light, one tiny spark and everything changes.

The perfect exercise is to look at the room you’re in. Switch off all the lights so there is nothing but black. Picture the room in your mind and the things in there. Now, use your phone, a lighter or a match and look at what you see around you. Notice the details and the small things in your world, all taken for granted by our minds.

As a creative, why not do the same thing within yourself and illuminate from the dark parts of your soul. Embrace the shadows of your life and use it to make something beautiful. There may be parts of your life that haunt you and made you the way they are, but that is what makes this embodiment you and nothing can change that.

Living off depression and feeding from it is extremely frowned upon because it encourages that we hurt ourselves from the inside in order to succeed. I do not wish that upon anyone. What I do encourage, however, is that we control it. Go to that dark place, light a fire and recreate the world.

Stare into the sun and your shadows will fall behind you.

See the little dots under the picture? Click on them to see more.

We’re not saying it’s a bad thing, at Stare Into The Sun, we’ve thrived on being able to master the technology available to create, inspire and entertain and any new technology that makes it easier, more cost-effective and overall better to do what we do or for anyone else, we welcome it.

However, the problems lie in the artists. To be able to maintain a lifestyle, career and/or hobby comes at costs. Choices have to be made whether one should focus more on doing the things that they love or working tirelessly on projects dictated by clients in order to fund bigger and better creative projects.

In all honesty, the team and myself have spent way too long on working on the projects of clients with a vision too shallow. So we’ve started a new initiative. As part of our social media projects we’ll be producing and releasing short films. All aiming to be better than the last and we aim to get one done a week. A fortnight at the latest.

The above video is just a simple test of maximising the surrounding environment featuring Marlonn. Enjoy it, we’ll be making a lot more all bigger and better than the last.

Be sure to subscribe to the In Sid We Trust channel to get all the films right to you!

All the shirts are printed on high quality American Apparel shirts and they are incredibly comfortable! Remember to take a picture and submit it to the S Sid Le Douche Tumblr with any tee you buy from the store

Directed by RKZ, himself, it features an all-star cast of the scene. The likes of AC (formerly of AC & Terra), Swami Baracus, Menis, Lost Souljah, long-time Stare Into The Sun collaborater, Raxstar and New York based rapper, Kaly have been enlisted on this remix to represent everything that is Burban.

Support it, hit that like button and share it with everyone you know.

-Stay Sexy

What can you do for your entry?

• Dance
• Sing
• Rap
• Do something S Sid related. i.e “In Sid We Trust” or “S Sid Was Here” somewhere in the video
• Say something nice (or something mean if that’s your flavour)
• Wear one of the T-shirts from the Stare Into The Sun store (we’ll be adding more shirts this week!)

Why should I send you a photo or video of myself?

I only have a crap camera, can I still submit?

Where do I send my submission?

In regards to Raxstar’s The Other Man, we replaced the audio with an orchestral piece to tell the story again without the initial song, to see if the story still worked. Luckily, the music instantly synced into place and worked flawlessly with the video. Some even think this version plays better than the original.

Feel free to share, like, comment and subscribe to the InSidWeTrust channel on YouTube where we’ll be uploading more short films and visual tests.

Loyalty is an essential part of this process. In the mass market industry, the power and influence of already established names and brands don’t require the same level of commitment and loyalty as an independent player does. They already have the financial backing from investors/labels/distributors who provide the influence they need.

Personally, though my projects may be small and the audience minute in comparison to many others, the brand loyalty to any project by Stare Into The Sun including the S Sid Was Here project, can only be described as amazing.

At the time of writing, there are well over 2000 subscribers to the YouTube channel which provides daily consistent content. The content is both open and specialised. Open in the sense that anyone can relate to the subject matter of a person living their life, humour and personal opinions. Specialised in the sense that it requires a lot of time from the audience to participate. To watch every episode, to catch up is a lengthy process. Real determination, almost as much required to make the content. To top it off, the content is continuous and requires that the audience member must then return watch it on the day of release, or catch up again later.

How is it possible to build an audience that will continuously keep coming back, day after day to watch such obscure content?

The answer is brand loyalty.

In an age where social networking is the only way to make a mark as an independent creator, tools and platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube are essential to keep in touch with the audience. You’re given tools like Analytics, Insights and messages. The audience can hit the Like button, they can retweet links. All extremely powerful ways of making something happen.

To maintain loyalty, you must ensure that you remain true to yourself and your audience. Illusions of grandeur and letting ego get the best of you because of the number of views you get on a video will be your downfall. The problem with amassing fame and popularity is ego.

You will stop replying to individual messages from people, instead, opting to releases “statements” aimed at multiple people asking the same question etc. Whilst there is nothing wrong with killing two birds with one stone, the personal relationship you have with your audience is the cost.

From the S Sid Was Here project, I’ve learnt something extremely important. As someone who is constantly social, I’ve found that my constant conversations with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people at a time will have them more inclined to participate. They’ll be eager to read messages directed at them and then, the subsequent tweet with a link to that day’s video.

Closing the gap between “fan” and “friend” is integral. Learning the individual names and lives of the people who are inspired, motivated and astounded by what you do makes them feel special. And they should, they are the people that make and break you. They matter just as much as you do.

This is, however, an extremely tiring process and sometimes hard to maintain. Knowing the names of 2000 people and their stories is a massive proposition, but their loyalty to you will grow. They are a part of the social network you’re utilising for your benefit and now, a part of your life.

At the end of the day, their story matters just as much as the one you’re trying to sell them.

BeyonceSlays says:

Here is my reply:

Thank you for your comment on the channel, I do appreciate your feedback and unlike most people, you were constructively critical and for that I am grateful.

I do however, feel that I should explain myself a little because you were kind enough to leave me a decent, critical message that didn’t involve telling me to “get the fuck off youtube” and the like.

I gather you know I’m doing a 365 Day vlog challenge which really doesn’t need much description. I’m going to be honest, it’s very tough. There are a number of other daily vloggers out there like Charles Trippy and Shay Carl and their projects have both gone past the two year mark. Both inspiring, funny and wonderful people.

The difference between them and myself is that when they started their daily vlog projects, they had a massive fan-base as well as a sustainable income from YouTube that they can use as a livelihood. Their fanbsases have, of course, increased, with this outlet. Myself on the other hand, started from zero and over the course of this year, have built a small subscriber count and following which I am truly grateful for.

They also have their families and friends as a part of their production process which brings them the support that they need to get these videos out. Unfortunately for me, I’m a one man show and I don’t have that level of support in the real world.

The process of making a daily vlog is extremely hard and tiring, it’s about life and living and transcending that to a digital platform. Some days are very hard, some days are fun and interesting and that is life, essentially.

Recently, my daily videos have lost some of the humour and interest that they originally did. My only reason is that I work a number of jobs, suffer from extreme depression and come across obstacles that exhaust me to the extent where sometimes I wish I could just sleep forever.

The good thing about the vlogs is that it’s a way for me to focus myself and drive me to make sure that I am always productive, always working regardless of exhaustion, mood or time. It’s a personal quest.

Sometimes, I do wish I could stop, or even better, have every day as a fun, interesting day which can bring laughter and joy to the few people watching them. I’d like to think I try to do my best, but sadly, that’s not true.

I do hope you can forgive my lack of effort and heart in the recent videos and I will do the best I can to make the rest of my days on the project as entertaining as possible.

Again, thank you for your constructive criticism and thank you for your viewership.

Regards,
-S