Tag: Growth – Building Relationships and Community

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Life, Love, and the Beauty of Shared Madness

When Klee and I met in 2009, there was a spark—a universe-altering moment that, if you blinked, you might have missed. Except we didn’t miss it. We jumped in headfirst, feet never touching the ground. Within weeks, we were on the road, leaving behind everything we knew for a life we couldn’t quite define but felt in our bones. People called it crazy. Honestly, they weren’t wrong, but it was the best kind of crazy—the kind that makes life worth living.

This week, while Klee healed and started getting her energy back, I dug through some old files and stumbled across pictures of us in our Florida studio. The photographer (Kristian Breeze) asked us to “just be ourselves,” and these snapshots are proof we took that direction seriously. It’s just us—playful, weird, and totally in love with life and each other. We had already been together eight years when those photos were taken. Eight years of creating, dreaming, failing spectacularly, dusting ourselves off, and trying again.

Looking at those photos reminded me how extraordinary this journey has been. Neither of us knew what would happen when we packed up that truck all those years ago. We only knew one thing: we were all in. Together.

If I had listened to my head back then, none of this would have happened. My head had all the reasons why this was a terrible idea. It had a checklist of why leaving my old corporate life behind, taking risks, and chasing what felt right in my gut was doomed to fail. My head was also telling me that it wasn’t a good idea to get into a relationship at this time. My head had a lot of warnings, and some of them even made sense. But my heart and my gut? They knew better.

When my mom said, “You found someone who is your kind of crazy,” I thought she was joking. But she wasn’t. She was right. I leap before I look. I barrel into projects I have no business starting because some voice inside whispers, You’ll figure it out. And I do. But it’s only because Klee is there rooting for me (no matter how insane my ideas are)—my partner, my best friend, and quite possibly the most amazing human I’ve ever met.

These last few months have been tough. Watching her go through health struggles has been hard, but I’ve been amazed by her strength, her quiet determination, and her ability to stay hopeful, even when things seemed uncertain. I’ve thought a lot about how much she’s impacted my life, how much better the world feels with her in it, and how grateful I am that we found each other.

Your heart doesn’t deal in logic; it speaks the language of passion and purpose. Your gut doesn’t care about the odds; it’s tuned into something deeper—something that tells you where you’re meant to go, even if it doesn’t make sense on paper.

Following your heart and gut doesn’t mean you won’t fail. Oh, you will. Trust me, we’ve failed a lot. But it’s through those failures that we’ve built the life we have now—one filled with art, music, community, love, and memories we wouldn’t trade for anything.

To our community—our tribe of beautiful, creative, supportive humans who love us and our art—you’ve made this journey even more incredible. Whether you’ve cheered us on from the sidelines, joined our Patreon, or simply sent us good vibes when we needed them most, you’ve been a part of our story. Thank you for believing in us, for laughing with us, for showing up.

Klee is eager to get back into the studio next week. We still have a long healing road ahead, but we’re on it together, and that’s what matters.

So here’s the food for thought I promised: Sometimes your head will try to talk you out of the very thing your soul is calling you to do. It will give you reasons, statistics, and worst-case scenarios. But your heart and your gut? They’ll whisper truths that logic can’t touch. Trust them. Trust yourself. Because the best adventures—the ones that lead to love, creativity, and the kind of life you’ll look back on with a smile—don’t come from playing it safe. They come from leaping into the unknown and trusting you’ll figure it out along the way.

Stay weird, stay wonderful, and follow your heart. The horizon is waiting.

With love and gratitude,
Rafi (and Klee, who will be back to feeling awesome in no time)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ERICA!

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A Small Act that Fills the World with Love

This morning, amidst the ordinary rush to get my daily chores done, I found myself in a line at the grocery store, a place as mundane as any could be. Yet, it was here, between the aisles of cereals and canned goods, that I stumbled upon a reminder of the profound beauty embedded in our daily interactions.

As I stood there, meticulously arranging my groceries on the conveyor belt, I moved them forward and placed the small partition behind my items, an act as automatic as breathing. But today, this simple gesture caught the attention of the person standing behind me. A woman, her eyes meeting mine, expressed her gratitude with a gentle, “Thank you so much, sweetheart.” Such a small exchange, and yet, her words resonated with me deeply, stirring reflections on the power of kindness and the art of giving.

I love leaving small loving reminders around town for people to find.

It struck me then, how consumed we can become in a world that often emphasizes the act of receiving. We find ourselves in a relentless pursuit of what we can gain, overlooking the essence of what it truly means to give. And yet, here was a moment, as fleeting as it was, that illustrated the immense impact of giving, even in its simplest form. It served as a poignant reminder that love, in any shape or form, holds the power to transform the mundane into something truly meaningful.

Throughout my career, alongside Klee, we have endeavored to give as much as we possibly can. It’s a principle we’ve held dear, even though, especially in times of need, it’s easy to lose sight of this truth. The world can make you forget that at its core, it’s not about what you receive, but what you give that truly enriches your life and the lives of those around you.

So, on this day, moved by a moment of unexpected gratitude and reminded of the fundamental joy of giving, I wish to extend something beautiful to you. In the spirit of sharing love and light, I’m sharing a song we wrote some time ago. It’s more than just a melody to us; it’s a reflection of the peace and happiness we wish to spread in the world. My hope is that it will bring a smile to your face, warmth to your heart, and a reminder of the peace that comes not from receiving, but from the simple, profound act of giving. Listen to the song and I hope it brings a smile to your lips:

To everyone reading this, I adore you. Remember, amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, never underestimate the power of a small gesture, a kind word, or a moment of connection. These are the threads that weave the fabric of our humanity, binding us together in the tapestry of love and kindness.

Let’s continue to give, in all ways, always.

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Where Inspiration Comes From

People often ask me, “What inspires you and your art?” At that moment, people expect me to say something like “Picasso, Warhol, or Dali.”

Although the great masters of the past inspire me, their art doesn’t inspire me at all.

Oh, sure, I may grab some ideas from here or there because I find something fascinating in the art. However, when it comes to inspiration, the things that inspire me have more to do with life than the products of life.

Let me explain.

What we create always comes from inside of us. It comes from that place where we absorb the world around us. It’s the stuff of life. Although just about every creative endeavor you witness expresses the artist’s journey, it is their interpretation. In fact, when you resonate with a work of art, it is because you have written your own narrative for it. It’s a beautiful thing. At that moment, the art becomes a collaboration between you and the artist. Ultimately, the artist sees one thing, and you may see something totally different. You see an image that may symbolize a moment in time in your life, but you can never really put yourself in the artist’s shoes. The art then becomes something even more powerful and transcends into synergy.

Recently Klee and I took a long road trip to Illinois for my daughter’s wedding. It had been two years or even longer, since we had seen anyone in the family (due to the year that shall not be named, and pandemic).

We were excited. That being said, there was also a good amount of mental preparation. Obviously, anyone with a family knows that sometimes you will have to deal with some quirkiness that is unique to your family dynamic.

Those things, those conversations, those smiles, those interactions, those quiet conversations, those heated moments, that laughter, the sadness, and all of it, are part of the stuff of life. All of it is part of what inspires us. These are the things that can knock us down or pick us up. These are the things that show us the lessons of who we are or what we want to be. These things allow us to overcome or fall flat on our faces.

These are the things that inspire my art.

It’s not Picasso’s art. It’s Picasso’s life that I’m fascinated by. Art is simply an expression of how he looked at the world. How ANY artist sees the world. It is merely an expression of how they saw the things that we can all take for granted.

In this world of hustle and being busy, it’s easy to let life pass us by. It’s easy to forget the little moments. It’s easy to look at the destination and forget the journey altogether.

Inspiration surrounds us. It comes from those moments of overcoming. It comes from those moments of absolute joy, and it comes from those moments of heartache. This is what inspires innovation and creativity. Many of us believe that we have to think our way through things. That we have to figure this or that out. But in reality, thinking doesn’t really get us anywhere. Usually, we exhaust ourselves by overthinking and take a break from it, that’s when feelings finally get their say and the solution comes to us. This is inspiration.

Feelings are powerful. Most people try to suppress or hide their feelings, yet feelings express our ultimate truth. So, if you’ve ever been taught to hide your feelings, it means that you’ve been taught to hide who you are, your authentic self, and the way you process and see the world. We have been led to believe that our feelings make us vulnerable, yet only in that vulnerability can we find our strength. It takes vulnerability to truly fall in love with life, yourself, and other humans.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, the things that inspire me are the things that I get to experience. Only because I allowed myself to be there fully in my feelings and not question the moment with brain chatter.

Things like watching my beautiful daughter walk down the aisle. That is a lovely moment in time. That is something that will inspire my art. In fact, I’m planning on creating work specifically for them based on my interpretation of that beautiful day.

There are so many things in life that we can focus on. I feel like sometimes we’re trained to focus on the things that really, ultimately, at the end of the day, don’t matter. What really matters is the fact that right now, you are breathing.

You are experiencing life and feeling your way through it right now.

So if your focus is on something that ultimately doesn’t matter, that may mean you’re stuck in your head.

I suggest just being out of your mind. That is where I like to spend most of my time. There’s no better place to be for true inspiration.