Hi Chicago!
by Dom Ellis
I downed the last of the champagne and tossed the empty bottle in the backseat, swapping it for my brown leather duffel bag and darted for my terminal. Chucking the deuces to my ride as I frantically ran into the airport, sweats sagging, carry-ons swaying like pendulums. I made it passed TSA and arrived at the gate with no time to spare. A few people ahead of me was Don C...good omens. We crammed onto the Boeing 737 headed straight to O'Hare from LAX and promptly got airborne. This marks my first visit to Chicago and I can't help but crave Harold's Chicken. This trip would bare more than delicious food for me. It would turn out to be the most insightful visceral trip I could take...more like food for the soul. Here are a few things I took away from the trip.
The engines on a Boeing 737 create enough thrust to propel up to 175,000 pounds against drag. You need thrust or a "perpetual push" in order to overcome the negative "drag" in order to fly. 737's also utilized a 'reduced thrust takeoff' which allows the aircraft to takeoff at 1/2 to 3/4th's engine capacity, which allows for more fuel efficiency as well as increases the lifespan of the engines. When it comes to your afflictions you face; work smarter not harder. Move with grace and it'll allow you to venture longer with more "weight" without the feeling of burnout.
One of the primary reasons I pulled up to the Chi was to see Virgil Abloh's "Figures of Speech" exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Arts. We have a lot in common: we are both engineers, we paint, wear Carhartt dungarees, and understand the power of "words". However the BIG idiosyncrasy Virgil has among many others is his view on failure. Alexander Wang went on record in an interview saying that off-white wasn't doing anything new. Virgil turned around and made that seasons collection "Nothing New" with intricate cuts and elaborate juxtapositions between form and function. He took what someone great said about his brand and created a dope ass collection. He doesn't view those little things as "failure"; rather inspiration.
The Chi has it's own philosophy disparate from it's eastern neighbor,NY, and totally opposite of Cali. It's a unique melting pot of art music style sports and architecture. Strut down Michigan Ave and you'll feel a sort of calm in a gold mine. They have everything one needs: jobs, a nightlife, fashion, but there's no 'rush' to get it. It was a refreshing feeling. I got to think!
The more you travel the more reference you have. Once you travel a bit you approach your everyday struggles with a new mindset. You've seen how people from different walks of life get to the same end result with different tools. Travel, take a train or a flight, meet you IG friends, drink, shop in a new area, get rained on, j walk...just get out and explore the vast abundance of experiences that awaits you.