As of Monday April 22, 2013, I am 25 years, 4 months, and 9 days old and counting. For the first time in my life, I feel completely feel FREE. As a child growing up, you are told by parents, coaches, adults, older siblings, and cousins what to do. Some go into detail as to why you are not supposed to do those things; others feel that them telling you not to do that is enough. Some things told are valuable and some things go in one ear and out the other. For a great majority of my life, I have listened. It paid off because it landed me with a full time job (with benefits) and degree from a competitive university, no kids, and options for different opportunities. Good job, Branden. With listening, it puts you in the mindset of a servant, slave, or inferior. In that mindset you are constantly thinking, “I want to be free from this” or you probably go on to say “I want to be able to do things when I want to and how I want to”. For the first time in my life, I feel free. I feel free because I have listened to everyone else and now: it’s time to listen to myself. I don’t like the position i’m in, and instead of seeking advice from others, I will listen to ME. I am free to make decisions that will change MY life; I mean, it’s mine, isn’t it?

With freedom, comes confidence. Confidence rest in the fact that you are faithful in your preparation and your unknown future that whatever the situation is, it WILL work out. Reflecting on my past gives me confidence going forward because this is not the first time where I’ve had more death than life spoken over me. That right there actually fuels my confidence. The more faithless people are, the more faith I gain. One thing God blessed everyone with is their OWN mind. I am thankful because that gives me OWNership over my thoughts. God would not put these thoughts in MY head if He did not want me to own the thoughts. Confidence is a delayed drug; it affects the person first but over time, it pours onto others.

One of the greatest gifts God grants when you give your life to Him is peace. Peace is a state of mind of tranquility or serenity. The peace lies in the fact that everything in your life will be handled by God. When you are going through a storm, peace allows you to remain calm during the troubled weather. Peace allows you to think when there is chaos amongst you. Peace gives you faith that whatever you are experiencing is for a reason. I don’t want to rest in peace when I die, I want to have peace on earth. When you have peace, the devil will have to reassess his game plan to attack you because you don’t react to certain things the way you used to. I HATED my job but I had peace knowing that it was all for a reason. The storm I was going through was for me to draw closer to Him and listen to Him instead of myself and others. My career path now was not even revealed to me until I seeked Him. Similar to how I found my fiance (I’ll save that for another post). I now have peace because God has led me to everything that is in my life right now and it feels amazing to know that God trust me with this. I have peace.

My freedom leads me to my confidence which gives me peace.

gq:

Rock the Boat

Yeah, Picasso and Hemingway wore them back in the day. But brash, dashing seafaring clothes that announce you as a cosmopolitan playboy are having their biggest moment ever here and now. Sail into style this summer like rising hip-hop dynamo A$AP Rocky.

putthison:

Ikire Jones Pocket Squares

Our friend Wale Oyejide recently started a new clothing line called Ikire Jones. I’ve actually been in touch with Wale about his project for the last year and a half or so, as we used to trade emails about clothing production, design, and distribution. For a time, I was thinking about starting a small accessories company, but work got too busy for me. Wale, on the other hand, has been working hard to make his company happen, and his first collection of jackets and pocket squares were released a month or so ago.

Wale sent me a few of his pocket squares to check out and I’m rather impressed with what he put together. The squares are made from a 70/ 30 wool-silk blend and the edges have nice plump rolls. Each square is also generously sized at 45cm x 45cm. It’s harder and harder to find pocket squares this size nowadays, as many manufacturers need to cut down on their costs, so they skimp on material, but a bigger square means getting something that won’t slip down in your breast pocket throughout the day.

What I like most is the artwork, which are inspired by Wale’s Nigerian heritage and hand printed in Macclesfield, England (where much of the world’s best printing is done). As a matter of practicality, it’s easier to wear pocket squares like these since you never want your squares to match too closely with your ties. Thus, when you have a big, bold pattern – as opposed to a small repeating one such as pin dots – you can always be assured that they’ll stand on their own, but still harmonize through a complementary color. And, with a little turning here and there, you can show off which colors you want most. I’ve taken my favorite of Wale’s five designs, the darker red “Iya Ni Wun” square, which celebrates the relationship between a mother and her child, and put it in one of my pockets to demonstrate. With a little turning, the square can be a dark mottled green, a light celery green, or a pumpkin orange.

Wale’s squares sell for $65, which is a great price for what these are. You can check out everything at his webstore and follow him on his blog Less Gentlemen. We wish him the best of luck with his new venture. 

justthedesign:

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY, AND DO NOT DELETE IFB’S COMMENT BELOW. IT SUCKS THAT HIS AMAZING WORK IS NOT BEING RECOGNIZED AND THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS GUNNING FOR THE CREDIT. PLEASE RE-BLOG: (Feel free to delete my comment though, as I am just weighing in.)

imaginationforbreakfast:

A couple weeks ago someone gently took from my modest portfolio a poster I designed and managed to get 28k notes so far with it. Sadly this person forgot to put the source linking back to my portfolio or my blog.

While being really flattered by the fact that so many people loved my design, I can’t help but to feel a little bit ripped off by this typography lover who took all the credit for himself, or let’s put it that way 28k direct links to his page.

The saddest part of the story is that theses 28k fellow bloggers who loved the design don’t even know that the poster design and 5 others can be found on my online store right here: http://society6.com/LDROOCH.

I would greatly appreciate if you could help me reach out to these 28k lost souls!

Thanks.

roscospears:

oh hi, Keith:)