Why I Stopped Wanting to Be President

When I was in second grade, I wanted to be President of the United States.

Not because I wanted to be famous.

But because I wanted world peace.

The logic seemed simple.

If the President was one of the most powerful people in the world, surely that would be the fastest way to create meaningful change. A declaration.

At least that’s what I believed at the time.

In high school, I became more interested in understanding how the world actually works.

I studied policies.

Geopolitics.

History.

Power structures.

Institutions.

Human behavior.

And somewhere along the way, something shifted.

I realized that political power is often far more limited than it appears.

A leader can influence policy.

Law.

Direction.

But changing the way people think is something else entirely.

Culture does that.

Stories do that.

Symbols do that.

Art does that.

Music does that.

Architecture does that.

Long after most politicians are forgotten, culture remains.

People still visit ancient temples.

People still quote philosophers.

People still stand in front of paintings created hundreds of years ago and feel something.

That realization changed the trajectory of my life.

I stopped being interested in authority.

I became interested in expressing life in a way that politicians can’t.

Not because they won’t.

Because they aren’t free enough.

A work of art can ask a question without needing an answer.

A story can travel further than a speech.

A symbol can carry meaning across generations.

A piece of art can change how someone experiences a place.

Expression can outlive the person who created it.

The older I get, the less interested I become in controlling outcomes.

And the more interested I become in creating conditions.

Conditions for curiosity.

For wonder.

For reflection.

For conversation.

For connection.

Ironically, I still care about many of the same things I cared about as a child.

Peace.

Understanding.

To live and let live.

The belief that everything is a possibility.

I simply no longer believe everything arrives through the same vehicle.

I once thought the path ran through politics.

Today, I believe it runs through culture.

And that’s why I make art.