Here's How To Know If You're Living a 'Vivid Life'

The Vivid Life Defined: From Apparel, To Events, To Streams, "Vivid Life" Has Appeared In Branding Everywhere. Now, Let's Talk About What It Means.

Coming off a busy Art Basel Weekend, my latest stream is the culmination of months of testing streams, topics, and becoming familiar with the concept of streaming. All in all, it's quite familiar considering years ago a 19-year-old Alex Auguste kicked off a movement in a very similar way.

After many adhoc streams and coming off the steam of "The Four-Hour Stream Event" on November 29th, VividLife TV is now here and, kicking off a series that expects to bring interviews, discussions, and chats for your entertainment and enjoyment, I took the liberty of the first of these streams to define what had previously not been clarified yet.

In 2021, I released my first graphic for The Vivid Life Tour. It featured burgundy font laid over the blue skies of Downtown Tampa, featuring the iconic "Soda Can" overlooking Curtis Hixon Park. I took the photo myself, and used it to detail upcoming events that I would be hosting, attending, and experiencing. Events like The Tampa Link Up were featured on it, along with that random...I-4 Variant of Love Jones Thursdays that randomly happened out of - poof - nowhere.

Nearly every three months from July 2021 to September 2023, you can almost guarantee someone has seen a graphic of The Vivid Life Tour on social media outlining trips, experiences, book releases, performances, and so much more. Yet through all of its vivid graphics and themes like "A Dozen Days Vivid", there's never been a specific definition of what "The Vivid Life" even is.

This past August, I realized that in an uncomfortable conversation while out in Seattle. In discussion my branding and upcoming events, I was asked, "So, what exactly is 'the vivid life'? Like, what makes a life 'vivid'?"

I had an answer. It just didn't sound as intentional and well thought out as you'd imagine. In that moment, I wasn't going to have time to break down for this guy the founding of MRVL WRLD, or detail how writing A Boy Bathed In Blood as the first act in a sci-fi series called, Origins24, helped me outline the visuals and the dedication to the theme of who we are as individuals finding ourselves in the Universe.

We were drinking IPAs, man.

After months of giving it thought, I decided to outline the definition and the characteristics of a Vivid Life. On my first stream of VividLife TV, I discussed these bullet points and got into the weeds of what they mean.

The Vivid Life is characterized by the following:

🌟🌹Journey Of Purpose

You recognize that you are on an intentional pursuit of your sense of purpose. This highlight's the importance of the journey itself, with lessons and seasons. You often feel encouraged and inspired to share your own personal stories and lessons with others.

There are skills we learn, and then there are talents that we are grow that branch from the gifts we have. When I think of gifts, I come from the school of thought that we have to be called to do something great with our gifts. In that, hopefully we can all feel called to a purpose - whether it's a career, a vocation, a craft, or an artform.

🌟🌹Endless Adventure

You're able to recognize that life's journey, despite challenges, is an adventure. You fully see and acknowledge the ups and downs, the setbacks, and the joys that come with them, and feel encouraged us to find the fun and joy in the midst of challenges.

It might seem obvious that travel would be some ingredient of the Vivid Life. But it's not the type of travel where you put the flags in your bio, more like a voyage or adventure and recognizing that life itself is that adventure. Recognizing that time and place is part of the fun should make it equally as easy to recognize that the ups and downs, too, are also part of the journey.

🌟🌹Individual Celebration

You understand and stress the important of self-awareness and celebrating individual uniqueness. You enjoy highlighting your own unique style and identity, and feel encourages to continue in your own development, excellence, and perseverance. You feel a great sense of reverence for your higher self.

Following Purpose and Paths, the third characteristic falls in line, recognizing that each of our Journeys to Purpose and our Endless Adventures makes us unique. We're not all on the same path, and so Individual Celebration recognizes just that, without suppressing or shaming ourselves for recognizing how dope we are.

🌟🌹Collective Effort

You understand the importance and yearn for interconnectedness with individuals within a larger community. You enjoy growth, contribution, and aligning your individual efforts with shared values of others.

Where the celebration of the individual is emphasized, their role and their sense of belonging to a community and to a greater unit is equally as important. "Community" will be something you'll hear a lot (and was emphasized during the main topic of the latest stream).

🌟🌹Stars & R0ses

You recognize your strengths and weakness, your fallibility, and celebrate any opportunity for growth and expansion. You emphasize your own adaptability, thriving in different environments, and shaping your own path. Your acknowledge a greater cause and your humble place in the grand scheme.

In short, Stars & Roses recognizes that who we are on this planet and in this life is just a small ingredient to the greater operation and per view of what's happening in the world and universe around us.

While these themes have always been present, from MRVL WRLD's motto of "We Are Storytellers" to the various designs for merch under Vivid Life Apparel, it is still great that we all now can share in recognizing these five pillars collectively.

So, what do you think? Based on these 5 main areas, would you consider yourself to be living a Vivid Life?

For future streams with me, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube and/or Twitch for upcoming vlogs, shorts, and streams like the one featured in this post.

VividLife TV will stream Wednesdays at 8:30pm! Tune in live via the Streams page.