Welcome to Artists, a public journal about my journey building a global artistic venture.

10.2.25, 1:10 p.m.

If you care enough about something, you’ll make time to do it.

You cannot care about everything. And once you discover the things you care so deeply about, you will have to burn the boats. Not everything can be important.

I’m going to spend at least 500 hours creating my next film, the “Great China Adventure.” It’s going to be at least 1.5 hours long, include over 25 tracks, and feature 19 different cities in the span of 6.5 months.

I’m in love with the process of creation.

I make $0 from it. I don’t care if nobody sees it. I’m doing it for myself. It’s so meaningful to me that I’d skip class and sacrifice good grades just to compose or edit. ¹

Maybe that sounds irrational or drastic. But if anything, I think the reason why nihilism pervades so much of our lives is because we lack something we deeply care about, something we genuinely love.

Every now and then, I receive messages like this:

This is another reason I keep going. Deep down, I know my music is capable of changing lives.

I’m obsessed with creating music films. I’m after transcendence, and I want people to feel that. So viscerally on a level they’ve never experienced before.

It’s hard to explain what music films are, just like someone trying to explain to you what podcasting was 10 years ago, before it became mainstream.

If I were to sum it up, music films are this:

“Music films are living memory palaces, fusing geography, music, film, and storytelling into a cinematic work. Music comes first, and story and visuals grow out of it. It’s anchored to a specific place, city, or country that I’ve experienced - memories carved into timeless art.”

I’ve already been at this for more than 2 years. 4 films, 1000+ hours spent. I can keep going for a lifetime, and that’s the most exciting part of it all.

Most importantly, I do this because I care. I’m deeply obsessed. I do it for zero extrinsic gain except a pure love for what I create. I cannot stop, nor do I ever plan to.

Commitment is a beautiful thing. Hug the x-axis, my friend.

Be musinary,

Jeston Lu