Can't sit still

Instagram @camnovak

Twitter @thecyclebird

email cylebird@gmail.com

Paint a Mural for me Please

I got contacted to paint a mural in a lovely apartment in downtown Montreal.

I had one idea, and then it sucked, so I changed it completely.

Watch the GIF of the evolution.  ->

http://gifninja.com/animated-gifs/388640/cam-novak-apartment-mural

I want to do more of these so please give me more walls.

Love

-Cam

Ignored Empathy

There comes a time when you have to realize that we are all dealing with the same shit. 

We all deal with it differently but no one lives outside the madness.

No one is stronger than you or better than you, they are just dealing it with it differently.

Don't get me wrong– it's hard to believe this– but it's true.

The understanding that comes from another person's struggle, is the most important glue that binds the community. Taking a moment and putting yourself in other people's shoes creates an enormous amount of good energy that can't be ignored.

It's hard not to judge people based on their actions but it's important to see that no single action defines who we are as a person. No one is consistently perfect and that's okay.

Letting people make mistakes and accepting them for what they have done, is the most vulnerable and beautiful thing.

Illustration and Writing by Cam Novak

Twitter @thecyclebird

Instagram @camnovak

Me

My Face has never been something I liked.

I've always felt extremely self-conscious about my appearance and that has always kept in a more introverted space.

Any "self-portraits" I have done, would never be perceived as self-portraits. But the shapes I draw are more me than any copy of my face.

People are always confused by my work and I think that there is nothing confusing about a face. 

My face is my face, but my shapes, are complex. 

Like me.

This is the first self-portrait I've done in ages and I think that it captures what I feel every day.

I am surprised.

Everyday I am shocked by how my life is transpiring and how much wisdom I gain from self exploration.

Who knows, maybe there will be more self-portraits in the future.

Probably there will be, but you will have no way of knowing... and I like it that way.

Illustration and Writing by Cam Novak

Instagram @camnovak

Twitter @thecylebird

email info (@) thecyclebird.com

Slowly

I will not pretend it doesn't hurt.
I refuse to be less than what I know I can be.
Regardless of the space I have, I will strive.

Does it matter who I am?
No.
What I do matters.
Where I stand matters.

You can not remove what you did not place.

Ignore the noise.
Become your becoming.

Take the direction that feels like home.
Home is not where you rest. Home is where you evolve.

----------
I dissect my brain until I stop seeing a brain and start seeing the sky. The madness that is the hyper, hyper, hyper analysis of everything that is–quote, unquote– "real" pours out like lava after a good yelling session while leaving some hipster cafe in the mile end.

Writing and Illustration by Cam Novak
Twitter- @thecyclebird
Instagram- @camnovak

Geometric Thoughts

Over the years the shapes have haunted me.

They tease me.

They make me believe that I could catch them and squeeze them.

Although everything seems so attainable,

I fail.

I sit and become tired of the chase.

I don't want to chase it anymore.

I want to be calm and free.

The shapes. The geometry. 

They've become my friends.

No.

They've become my shame. 

My nightmares.

Illustrations and Writing by Cam Novak

Photo by Lea Trudel

Shut Up

Shut up.
You romanticize a solution but work towards creating the problem.

Rip the flesh off and expose your bones. Your beautiful bones.

Your structure is weak
It needs some help just staying up. Don't ask me why, I'm not the one who built it.

Why do you always pretend nothing is wrong? You know it's wrong. It has to be wrong. The validation that comes from being right is no more interesting than a rotting apple.
We know nothing and that is why I push.

Now listen, I have to tell you this. Shhh for a moment. Hold there and listen.
We are all are imperfect. I know this because I live it.
You are imperfect but I love it.
Your flaws are what make you beautiful. Your flaws are what make you interesting.

It is not what we desire that brings us together, it's what we strive to be.
We look to each other to try to see the future and to feel secure.
Security does not exist, security is made up.

Much of our language is there to comfort us, not educate us.
Words exists to distort the emotions we feel. They are distractions and reactions to a problem we all face.

Self identity.

Hold my hand. I am not here to hurt you.
Feel my skin.
I am here to be warm and not to keep you warm.

You are not my destiny. You are my voyager.

Illustration, Writing and Photo by Cam Novak

Take Risk

Don't ever forget how good it feels to accomplish the impossible.

http://makeagif.com/i/Hb5Q20

Speak softly. Be still.
Let's try to make sense of this language that has not yet been spoken.
Let's open the door to the house on the mountain.

There's a path over there through the trees.
Let's walk and see where it leads.
The road exists to be taken. Why else would a road exist?

Searching for certainty will not make it appear.
Certainty will find you.
It will Grab you.


Your flesh is weak. Is poor. Is soft.
Don't look away, look within.
The distance that you feel is no more than the distance from yourself.

Decide who you are, and the rest will follow.
Speak softly to yourself, you deserve respect.

Illustrations and Writing by Cam Novak