Creativity is a grand adventure. Be the best you can be, in all that you pursue!

How do you find inspiration in the darkness of the night? When all hope seems to fade into darkness, the night seems prolonged, and the morning star doesn’t arise in your heart? When the shadows of uncertainty continue to linger, and doubt gains a foothold into your mind. What torch do you use to bring revelation towards your path forward, a fire of inspiration to the very depths of your heart? In the darkest times of life, when hope seems nothing more than a fool's pursuit, and the world seems a darker place, it can be difficult to stir hope. Seemingly nigh impossible!

And yet, to inspire motivation towards your pursuits, to inspire the flame of creativity to push forward to victory, you must have hope. Hope, is a lamppost in the darkness of the night. Though the skies seem to whirl and twirl with fate and destiny boldly declaring your future, with the sound of thunder and the crash of lightning discouraging your pursuit, neither the touch of fate nor the hand of destiny have any claim towards your future. They are powerless to stop you. You merely need a reservoir of oil to keep the lamp burning despite the storms and trials that life has for us. Even the shadows of night must eventually fade as the morning sun will rise upon the eastern hemisphere, and hope will be renewed in the hearts of mankind.

I have always been writing, always forging a new plotline as a wordsmith at his anvil. Ever since I started with poetry, I have always been mapping worlds, forging characters through the storms the created worlds present, and considering plotlines in both a concrete and abstract way. From the consideration of the activity in the heavens, to how one endures the storms and tribulations of life, to the way a young man loves the woman of his heart, with affection, tender compassion. With discipline, and self-restraint. Creativity is not a replication of what once was, nor a repeat of what is, but a molding of the lessons and wisdom of the past in the form of word and deed, tale and song, told in the format of a grand plotline so that we, as human beings, may apply the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of ancient old to the future we so eagerly seek each day. That which was, has already been declared. That which is, is being revealed as the days go by. And that which could be, is a revelation yet to be seen, a plotline yet to be told, a story we eagerly discover each day.

I engage in thought provoking, poetic, and engaging story-telling with broad and detailed fictional worlds that captivate the reader's imagination, encourage problem solving with creative riddles, and, even at times encourage lyrics through songs sung from the hearts of characters. One of the things I love doing with my stories is becoming extremely philosophical and abstract with the ideas, morals, thoughts, feelings, goals, and pursuits of my characters and the stories themselves, and encouraging the reader to be thinking, “What’s going to happen next?” Keeping the reader engaged in very detailed story telling, exploring the world at hand.

Fictional stories aren't the only thing I enjoy doing. Poetry, creative quotes that inspire people to think and be creative with a lot of detailed imagery is something I enjoy doing with my work. If chosen as a winner, I would start with creative writing and fictional pieces, but I would inevitably transition to clarinet, singing, impressions, and competitive gaming guides for hearthstone and other competitive esports. I would potentially write articles to help others grow and improve on the styles of creative content that I enjoy! On hearthstone, my peak was a top 73 legend player for the wild format in all of the Asia realm, and I recently hit 15,680 for America on standard. I also used to coach hearthstone arena and ranked play, and my students I coached hit 7+ wins with their runs, breaking even with the amount of in game money spent and making a profit on their competitive play, and intend to both coach and create strategy guides and tutorials to help others with their gameplay! I’m trained as a clarinetist by a Broadway musician with a masters in music!

One of the consistent pieces of advice as a creative mind that was given to me by a close friend and artistic teacher is, be versatile. Don’t just focus on one aspect of creativity, regardless if it be music, instrumental or singing, lyric writing, composition, acting, dancing, voice acting, competitive gaming, athletic sports, whatever it may be. Learn as much as you can, and be as effective as you can be with every aspect of creativity and everything you do in general, and continue your growth as you push forward. Marketing, negotiating, you name it, learn it and continue to improve at it. Growth doesn’t stop at any point of life. Neither should it stop as you move forward, and branch out as you push forward and strive for your dreams.

I have high hopes, a disciplined approach, and a patient mindset when it comes to creating content. Not just creating content, but also giving tips and advice on how to improve your process and become more effective on the more technical side of your creativity. Every creative endeavour needs some form of structure, and that is true regardless of whatever craft you pursue!

“The ability to be disciplined, but innovative in your approach, displaying both ingenuity and eloquence, discipline and self-restraint, technique and professionalism in any craft, is a mix of creativity, structure, inspiration, with both curiosity, openness, intuition, with the courage and steadfast resolve to pursue any journey, any new adventure, with wise counsel, prudence, and having extremely high expectations and standards! Such crafts and traits forged and refined in the storm create quality performances that make an impact on history!”

-Jordan Zuniga

On a personal note, believe it or not I’m currently homeless. I’ve endured homelessness for a little more than a year and a half now, and the covid situation has made living difficult. Throughout this storm, it’s been extremely difficult. It took the first nine months of writing every day to finally get my first poem accepted into a magazine, and more than a year before I received my first paid short story opportunity. Life, has been extremely difficult. Preserving hope, keeping my head held high, has been a difficult task in addition to all that I’m pursuing. But I have learned something in the darkness of my time being homeless and pushing forward regardless. Never give up. It will be easier for you when you’re dead. Be steadfast in your resolve, keep fighting, and never yield into despair! There is always hope!

I hope for the opportunity and the ability to be able to monetize my content, and to have a victory in my move out of poverty! I hope for opportunity by your good graces, I thank the judges for their time and patience, and I hope my story, my dream, and my aspiration, has made an impact on you! So I ask of you, will you pursue this grand story? Will you take a leap of faith in making my dreams a reality?

Thank you!

-Jordan Zuniga