We were lucky to catch up with Raul Berrios recently and have shared our conversation below.
Raul , appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
Oddly enough, at this point what I consider my biggest legacy, a book, will be left under a pen-name, so it will be selfless. Whatever good we do shouldn’t be done to bring attention to ourselves and our sense of ego, and that’s why Jesus said that the right hand shouldn’t know what the left hand is doing when it comes to good deeds. I hope that the stories I’ll be sharing with the world will reach their intended recipients, help them navigate similar situations to the ones I’m describing, and give them hope during times of self doubt. The topic of addictions and abusive relationships was the last thing I thought I would write about, but it’s what came forth. More important than the stories in the book, though, is the idea that you should go ahead and try. I’m not trained as a writer, yet I tried: I sat down, poured my heart out and dared to do something I didn’t think possible. I hope that my biggest legacy is to encourage people to be brave and try; to dare to take an idea and make it tangible. Sometimes things are accomplished not by the most capable, but by the most willing.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m an architect with a background in historic preservation, hospitality and facility condition assessments. While living in New Orleans I helped create a candle and home scents business, and as of lately I have ventured into photography and writing. I currently work as a facility assessor with a consulting group, and explore buildings in-depth as part of my job, which includes access to roof tops that sometimes afford the best views in town.
Motivated by personal circumstances I started writing with the idea of distracting myself from the recent turmoil and to publish a book about my travel experiences. Little did I know that the topic of the book would shift to become an account of the personal problems I had recently encountered and ended up with some sort of self-care book that isn’t quite a self-care book.
From architect, to fragrance designer, to candle-maker, to writer, if I wanted to be an example of anything, it would be of someone who had the courage to listen to his inner voice and move forward with his dreams and passions, despite his own, and others’, doubts.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
First of all, we are ALL creative: if you pick your own clothes and do your own hair, you are creative even if you’re not aware of it. How much are you willing to explore the characteristics that make you unique? Your looks, your talents, interests and hobbies are all part of those characteristics, and they all have the potential to be used as a mean of self-expression. Creativity flows and it’s nurtured when you dare to be brave enough to be different. If that self-expression can be channeled in a way that can make a profit, why not do it?
The product may be something to eat, or written word, or a video/short that informs or make other people laugh. Don’t limit yourself into thinking of creativity in terms of a tangible art piece, as it can take many forms. It all starts with the question what makes you uniquely you?… and how can you share that with the rest of the world to make it a better place.
In my particular case, I first established a career and eventually reclaimed personal time, late nights and weekends, to learn and develop outlets for my creativity as a means to communicate a message. A responsible investment of personal capital might be necessary, but above all you’ll need the discipline to see things through and don’t give up.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
At some point there was a desire to make myself known as a designer; then that shifted towards making clients happy; and now it is a desire to share a message, an inner truth, something to inspire and wake up a sense of wonder in the persons experiencing my work. As years have passed, and I kept growing into the professional and creative person that I’m today, so evolved my goals.
The desire to make myself known has completely fallen off the rails as perhaps my biggest accomplishment is a book written under a pen name. I had to do it that way to protect the privacy of the persons who inspired the characters in the story, and my own. Being forced to make that decision by common sense and good faith, meant I had to focus on, and appreciate, new goals and intentions that were demanded from me.
It is important to point out that everyone will have different goals and missions, and that those goals are meant to evolve over time as different perspectives and understandings are learned through life experiences.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: letsgoout_noexcuses