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

Anthony , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

Sadly, the school system has been outdated for a very long time and is still very much a factory-based system. I would create many changes within the school system to help students understand the different alternative routes available in life.

But first and foremost, I would add a mandatory Self-Help and Mental Health course (during high school) to help guide students to the knowledge needed to manage themselves. For example, concepts like processing emotions, the steps to take with any type of abuse, self-soothing methods for anxiety, “proactive vs reactive” thinking, accountability, stress management and so on would be addressed. All this material would be explained at the appropriate level, but it is so important to plant these seeds at a young age and help kids who may not have people in their lives to guide them or be knowledgeable enough to explain these concepts.

The biggest challenges we face as adults are emotional and mental, either directly or indirectly; though hardship, financial woes, and unexpected surprises in life (good and bad). A lot of the time, people take years to learn how to manage, process and simply communicate their emotions/needs. A mental health and self-help course like this could truly benefit students in the public school system who do not have always have the resources or community to help them grow up. This course would help teens in high school be better prepared to into the world as “adults” by giving them a foothold on their emotions and stress while experiencing sudden new changes in life, like graduating and taking on new responsibilities and environments.

In my personal experience, I had a friend who would self-harm during high school. During this time, I was still a kid in a sense and did my best to help this person and eventually helped them find alternatives to this behavior. In respect to my friend, I kept this a secret for a long time, but this weighed heavy on me. My friend eventually got better on their own after high school and so did I. There are many scenarios where people in similar situations do not get better. A Mental Health/ Self Help course may plant seeds, that can help future students and young adults know when to get help for others and how to start helping themselves.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I see myself as someone who is creative and has recently begun their creative journey, while gaining plenty of experience. I have always been creative but didn’t allow myself to take it more seriously until recent years. I noticed that my creative interest from childhood, eventually became hobbies, which in turn, soon became passions. Luckily, I had a close friend show me how to work a camera one day and from there, I started taking pictures at the lake with the camera, to one day spontaneously doing a session for a family. From here, it has kept evolving. These specific experiences are the start of one of my passions, I plan to keep evolving. I hope to be able to share and explore more of my other passions as I continue to express myself creatively.

I currently offer photography, film (videography), and art services with my packages. I showcase each person’s story with quality and creativity along with experience and know-how to ensure their ‘Beautiful Illusion’ becomes a reality. I enjoy fine-tuning the small details and delivering on the main details of every event, session, and creative project.

My personal mantra is that “creativity is just as important as quality”. And I make sure to deliver this, along with putting my heart and passion into every creative project!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn all my former definitions of “success” and “goals” that I made when I didn’t know a lot about how the world really worked. This was very difficult as deep down I had a sense of shame, guilt and disappointment towards myself and others.

To a certain extent, we are taught through school, family, and environment what paths are available to us ; which ones are “ideal”, and how much money we can aim for. As a kid, I remember getting derailed from my creative interests at a very young age by teachers stating that these types of careers weren’t paid well or “realistic”. As life moved forward, I belittled my creative skills and interests. As first generation Mexican-American, college was seen and often pushed as the “only way” to advance in life, especially with school and family. For a long time, I felt I disappointed my family, friends and “younger me” when I didn’t achieve what was expected from this route in life. I have now learned that the true definition of success is one everyone has to make for themselves.

I have learned to let these former “goals” go to create my own definition of success. This new definition is still in works, but I am happy to be focused on the process and quality I deliver on my projects. During this past year and a half, I have now expanded my art and creative expression, by adding Wedding and Quinceañera films to my services. I hope to continue further expand my creativity into new spaces this year.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I ultimately want to help others see through all the “Beautiful Illusions” that exist within our world. There are a lot of narratives designed to mislead, limit our ambitions, and keep certain “ideas” thriving. Ultimately, I want to help people see through the different misdirection and make their own independent choices. :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beautifulillusions.mypixieset.com/contact/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/be.illusions/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2wxvaTYK8FCuMpbg7dedmmgM0fFuNmWy