Beyond The Face X RYDER
You know how sometimes you meet someone and you just know you’ll end up being friends? That’s what happened with Ryder. Not only that but I knew he would be the perfect person to kick off this project. At first glance, I expected him to fall at the complete opposite of the spectrum, but he surprised me. He seemed quiet and reserved from afar, yet somehow I knew I was only seeing a tiny bit of surface. We headed out to take some photos on a winter afternoon in South Florida and had a really good conversation. I learned so many things about him that I did not expect, things I would have never learned had I not connected with him beyond the casual “hello”.
Fear is crippling, it is something that we all deal with. For some of us, it is the reason we don’t move ahead towards our goals. Ryder and I dove deep almost immediately, I learned that he is afraid of failure, he fears that obstacles at hand may never allow him to fully develop his greatness. Even through these thoughts, he believes he was put on this Earth to bring about change, he believes this to his core. During our conversations it has become clear that his need to fulfill this destiny goes hand in hand to that of achieving his overall well-being. Ryder has not had it easy, he’s struggled with addiction and self destructive behavior for a handful of years. The question is, will he prevail? Will his will power be stronger than the fear that at times holds him back? Let’s continue to look Beyond The Face and connect with Ryder. More on the next post.
Ryder had a tough couple of years, he found himself progressively more reckless, turning to drugs and the street life, loving the feeling, testing the limits. This behavior started when he was 20 years old, now he's 29 and finally has a grasp on it. What changed you asked? Simply put, he became tired of being a slave to addiction, a slave to his lower nature. He shared with me that one day, he went for a jog and suddenly he found himself in the back of a church, it was then that he dropped to his knees and cried to be saved.
He was not religious prior to this experience but he believes this is what changed and saved him. Ryder’s main focus at this time is his sobriety, he has eleven month’s clean, of course we love that but time is relative and he knows he needs to work on himself, grow spiritually and increase the strength of connection with his higher power, then he can completely give himself to the creative endeavors he craves. Let’s continue to look Beyond The Face and connect with Ryder. More on the next, and final post of his story.
I’ve always known creativity to be a great positive influence on all of us. Ryder loves music, he wants to write an album, loves rapping and free-styling. He’s a creative guy. Since our initial conversation he has started doing videos we talked about and has put himself out there more, which is awesome, I love seeing the power of motivation at work. You guys can check his videos on his insta, take a look at give him a shout.
Ryder tells me he would also like to write a book, we talked about what the book would be about and he said a memoir of sorts, a way to share his experiences, good and bad. Maybe a way to share the journey he’s been on, sober and before, the choices he made that brought him to this very moment. He is a spiritual guy and believes that he is here for a higher, more divine purpose. As much as he tries to come off hard and as a bad ass, underneath, I see the good guy who mostly does the right thing and lives by his word. I hope he finds what he’s looking for. The power of connection is something incredible, it can transform the world if you just give it a little nudge every now and then. Let’s continue to look Beyond The Face, where more often than not, the greatest surprises are there, just waiting to be discovered.