3 years ago today, I lost a friend.

It happened 6 months into the pandemic when I got laid off from my job at the end of that summer. It was a post-production role at a photography studio. While I didn't necessarily love the job, it paid the bills and I had the opportunity to learn a lot from it. Earlier that year, two friends of mines approached me to work on a project where we would give musicians and artists a space to develop their passion projects. Little did I know that we were only 4 months away from a pandemic.

We were three friends who wanted to take back control of our lives. We were tired of the traditional 9-5 shit. We could feel that the world was undergoing a change. So, like any reasonable person in their late twenties, we decided to open a creative studio space.

It was our refuge in a world that seemed to be burning from the outside.

We spent late nights brainstorming ideas for the future, passionately pitching projects without a clear goal, but embracing the experience wholeheartedly. We were idea-driven individuals, unreserved in our approach. On a late afternoon that October, I received a call telling me that my friend Nouri had passed away. One of the three was gone. It’s in those moments that you truly understand the weight of words such as "enjoy it while it lasts.”

That was 3 years ago today.

If there's one thing I learned from him back then, it's to go all the way. Shape your path with an iron spirit. Show up for yourself, even when you don't feel like it.

So yeah, early October is always a strange time for me. It serves me as a lucid reminder that all things eventually come to an end, that seasons come and go, and that the person you were yesterday doesn't have to be who you are indefinitely.

This post is dedicated to my friend Nouri (1992-2020), my reminder to relentlessly pursue what you want out of life, unapologetically and free.