Bringing Silly + Soulful + Sweet Back

While Keeping Sexy Front + Center

UNTITLED (CROWN) BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1982)

Something’s been gnawing at me lately. It started as a quiet whisper, but has grown into a loud roar inside my head and heart. Long story short: something feels missing.

Yesterday, I spent Studio Saturday doing what I do—doodling, noodling, and letting my mind wander through the past, present, and future. No plans, no lofty goals. Just seeing where the day takes me. It’s a chance to reconnect with parts of myself that might’ve gotten lost while trying to appease the ever-persnickety algorithms on social media—and YouTube—especially over the past year.

The truth is, I’ve spent years tailoring my life and work to fit what I thought the platforms wanted: polished, targeted, and algorithm-friendly content and posts.

While I’m proud of what I’ve created, I’ve come to realize that in staying “in the game,” I’ve slowly stopped sharing pieces of myself—the silly, soulful guy who loves staying behind the scenes, the shy guy who laughs at dad jokes, or the sweet one who loses himself while creating and curating.

Don’t get me wrong—I’ll always have a soft spot for sexy. It’s what I enjoy looking at, and it’s definitely what I enjoy creating. But it’s not the whole story of what I love and who I am. And frankly, it’s not all I want my work to be about. There’s more to my life than beefcake and private parts.

So here’s the plan: My Substack is going to start reflecting more of me. Starting today. More silly. More soulful. More sweet. And still plenty of sexy—because why mess with a good thing? My goal is to strike a better “work-life” balance.

I want my work to feel more alive and authentic, not just for the algorithms—or even the audiences—but for me, myself, and I. My theory is if I’m having more fun making it, you have more fun experiencing it. Whatever “it” is.

So let’s bring silly, soulful, and sweet back….while keeping sexy front and center.

I hope you’re ready. I know I am.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• 🥸 Silly = Dog Follows Cat + Water Your Bear (X)

• ❤️ Soulful = Why I Disappeared (Matt D'Avella)

• ❤️ Soulful = It's Time To Say Goodbye… (Ecstatic Self/YT)

• ❤️ Soulful = Neurodivergence: A Spiritual Gift? (The Ecstatic Self/YT)

• 🍰 Sweet = 500-Pound Lion Hanging Out with His Dachshund BFFs (X)

• 📺 Like + Subscribe = The Ecstatic Self: Spiritual Insights with Kaelan (YT)

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ON THIS DAY = DECEMBER 22

BIRTHDAYS

• 1856 = Frank B. Kellogg = American lawyer, politician, and Nobel Prize laureate

• 1858 = Giacomo Puccini = Italian composer and educator

• 1900 = Marc Allégret = French screenwriter and film director 🌈

• 1912 = Lady Bird Johnson = American beautification activist and 38th FLOTUS

• 1915 = Barbara Billingsley = American actor

• 1917 = Gene Rayburn = American game show host and actor

• 1936 = Héctor Elizondo = American actor and director

• 1938 = Red Steagall = American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and poet

• 1947 = Brian Daley = American author and screenwriter

• 1948 = Rick Nielsen = American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1949 = Maurice + Robin Gibb = Manx-English singer-songwriters (Bee Gees)

• 1951 = Tony Isabella = American comic book writer, editor, actor, and artist

• 1960 = Jean–Michel Basquiat = American artist and poet 🌈

• 1960 = Luther Campbell = American rapper and actor

• 1962 = Ralph Fiennes = English actor

• 1965 = David S. Goyer = American screenwriter

• 1980 = Chris Carmack = American actor, singer, and model

• 1989 = Jordin Sparks = American singer-songwriter and actor

• 1993 = Meghan Trainor = American singer-songwriter

EVENTS

• 1808 = Ludwig van Beethoven conducts the premieres of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy in Vienna.

• 1851 = The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burns.

• 1894 = Claude Debussy's first orchestral masterpiece "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres in Paris

• 1932 = The Mummy, directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff, is released and is the first mummy horror film.

• 1937 = The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.

• 1965 = In the UJ, a 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time.

• 1971 = The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris.

• 1989 = Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

• 2010 = The “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy banning homosexuals from serving openly in the United States military is repealed by POTUS Barack Obama.

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PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT BY MICHAEL HALSBAND

“I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.”
Jean–Michel Basquiat

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