When 'letting go' is the only option.

This week I am saying goodbye to our studio space.

My soul is crying while I am writing this but my brain is saying ‘Good decision Pawan’. We got this studio space in January 2018 and since then PFA Art Space was the place where all the crazy conversations, team meetings, community planning and building ‘home’ happened. This space is where I spent the most important days of my life and probably have the best and the worst memories of my life. I want to cherish the worst memories as well when I am saying goodbye to the studio.

When I kept reading news about how companies have to lay off their employees and let go of their office spaces or co-working spaces, I hoped that this should never happen with me, but sadly it did. Whenever we had a free weekend, we would invite a few of our creative friends and paint the walls along with them. This space was our canvas.

I stayed here for two years, worked from here, hosted parties here, hosted meetings here, more importantly, raised Bruce here. This was his first home and will always be. It is just a pretty big deal for me and I wasn’t talking about this anywhere on social media or even to my friends but I just felt may be writing about this will help me say goodbye to this space in a happy way.

To everyone who has been at this space, or has seen this space through my social media or live sessions that I have done, today is the last day I will be able to see these wall paintings, tomorrow it will all be blank again. I will be lying if I say I am not sad but this is just something that we had to do during this pandemic.

So here is a final goodbye from PFA Art Space to all my creative friends from me, Bruce and Bruce ki Mummy.

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. - Steve Jobs.

What I was reading this week?

Fairly less compared to usual week because I was packing and also working on the biggest campaign we are executing at Platform For Artists in the pandemic.

1. We are curating an online flea market to support 30 small business owners from the country. We went ahead with this project because when we use the word ‘Community Leader’ in our bio, we want to make sure we help the community in a crisis like COVID-19. You can know the details here and pledge your support.

2. Nike’s ad is an editing marvel and a brilliant story.

3. We are forgetting how to talk and have conversations.

4. Beirut bride recalls the moments of the deadly blast, just watch this 30 seconds video.

5. The future of Content Marketing is already here, some of the practices that I have for content marketing are mentioned really well in this one.

   The future of content marketing requires empathy, creativity, and adaptability. Instead of churning out another basic 500-word blog post today, spend time reimaging ways to show your ideal customers you can help them.

6. VICE Media was built on a bluff, what happens when it is called-out?

7. You need to have calendars and not to-do lists, something I strongly believe in.

8. Why do Indian streaming platforms have so much erotic content?

9. Are internet credentials replacing CV? Please read this!

10. To write better, you need to read better, read this and some other tips.

11. Great communities have great leaders.

12. What does artists supporting artists really mean? A 14-minute candid episode for you all from our podcast When We Met.

13. Why are humans so curious? I found the answer to all my experiments in life.

14. A library for all startup advice, videos, essays, podcasts everything.

15. How to talk about valuation when a VC asks?

16. How to not be on your phone all day? (A new addition to this week’s newsletter)

I am gonna get back to packing and moving my stuff from the studio, but you all take care and stay indoors. Keep doing the great work you all do in life.

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Stay Safe.

Tumhara Bhai

Bhai Bhai