Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Castle – Optical Delusion  feels like a structure that’s been quietly melting under the weight of time. Not destroyed—just… warped. Distorted. Like reality shifted a few degrees while no one was looking. Is it an illusion? Maybe. A delusion? Probably. Either way, it captures what it feels like to keep going when the world is glitching.

It’s one of the many bricks in the castle I’m building—not just my artistic castle, made of thousands of artworks, interviews, and books, but the literal one too. A strawbale castle on our sustainable, regenerative farm. Built not just for living, but for showing. Because here, everything is an act of art. From the handmade home to the hand-drawn lines, it all belongs to the same evolving piece. My life’s work. My beautiful, slightly wobbly (but structurally sound), multi-dimensional installation.

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Castle Optical Illusion is available as an art print on Redbubble. It was born from the Inktober prompt “castle,” during a streak of black-and-white obsession and mild existential crisis. The print is made using 210gsm acid-free paper with a clean matte finish, unframed so it can live wild and untamed on your wall. Sizes range from a neat 8″ × 10.8″ to a statement-sized 24″ × 32.5″, depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I don’t really do goals anymore. Too many of them come wrapped in expectations, and expectations are just disappointments waiting to happen. I can’t control the global economy. I can’t control the rise of AI. I can’t even control whether or not my coffee goes cold before I finish sketching an idea. So I focus on what I can control: habits.

If I want to become someone better—more consistent, more creative, maybe even someone who lives a long, healthy life fueled by purpose—it’s not about chasing results. It’s about adopting the habits of that future version of me. The one who never again goes years without creativity as a companion. I follow their lead. Not because I expect anything in return, but because this is the work I’m compelled to do.

So if I keep showing up, in 10 years I could:

• Record 500 more Artist Interviews on my podcast
• Write 3,500 blog posts like this one
• Create 3,000 more pieces of art
• Publish 50 books (yes, really)
• Plant 35,000 trees (one for every self-doubt I’ve had)

That’s my creative castle. Not built for defense. Not even built for permanence. Just built because I have to build it.

Where will it get me? No idea. But that’s beside the point.

This isn’t about where I’m going. It’s about who I’m becoming while I do the work—day in, day out, whether anyone’s watching or not.

So, where do I see myself in 10 years?

Still here. Still making strange, warped things. Still building a slightly crooked but entirely honest life’s work—one optical delusion at a time.