Words

Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
November 18, 2021

In the Epoch of Human Ignorance

This week marks the three year anniversary since my first post on It’s All Sad™. What began as a simple blog to explore the trauma I’d buried over the years has evolved into so much more. The timing of the latest release today, entitled, “Peace of Mind,” wasn’t planned, which seems serendipitous.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
January 2, 2020

The Ghost in the Machine

I’ve spent a lot of time lately trying to reconcile my past. A new decade is upon us, and I’m about to enter my 35th year on this planet, which in my opinion, are both significant signposts along life’s journey. More than half of those years have been “hard years,” and for the first time in my life, I can actually tend to my wellbeing for a while. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
November 26, 2019

Gravitas Impetus

I often imagine my life as something illusory. Not because it is in itself unreal, but because the life which surrounds me, appears at times, to not be alive at all. It moves of course, and changes, and adapts, in just the same way you might think a living thing should, but how much of it is really living after all? Living in its truest sense at least? Not just simply here as a reactant caught within some grand experiment. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
November 12, 2019

Year One Mementos

Tomorrow I’ll be releasing the latest line at 12:00PM EST, entitled, “BASICS.” It’s also It’s All Sad’s one-year anniversary. The timing was coincidental, which I thought was symbolic. Thus far, the journey has consistently taken me to interesting and unexpected places. Becoming a brand is one of those places.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
November 1, 2019

Life Handed a Boy an Apple Tree

And so, as it goes, life handed a boy an apple tree. 

He ate from it whenever he wished and when it rained, he found shelter under its branches and he was satisfied. Life also handed the boy a pair of shoes for which he could walk to and fro, experiencing the world and all its wonders, but always being able to return to the tree to eat its fruit and find shelter. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
October 15, 2019

I Feel Like This

One of the most powerful Kanye West songs ever released is probably one you’ve never heard. Once in a while, it resurfaces on the internet, I happen to stumble across it, and inevitably, I cry. Yesterday, I did that just that. I held my wife in my arms as we listened to it and I cried. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
August 29, 2019

Overnight Success

Ahh, the good life, isn’t it wonderful? All the shiny little things we like to reflect on, share with others, and dare I say it, embellish, but what of the rest of it? Human life is littered with bad moments, bad decisions, bad relationships, bad careers, and is only ever speckled with a bit of good anything, yet we remain fixated on mostly invented nonrealities.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
July 4, 2019

Smile More Often

About six weeks ago, I posted a story on my personal Instagram account, asking if anyone would be interested in It’s All Sad clothing. I received a great deal of feedback, which was all positive. So, thank you for that, since it gave me the encouragement to proceed, and I’m very happy with the result. Today I’ve released the first iteration of what that looks like. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
May 8, 2019

Nothing is forever

I was planning on releasing Dopesite this week, but as you might have guessed, there was another major hurdle to overcome. On Monday morning, I received an email from the software engineers at the Startup Program I was recently accepted into, and they politely expressed that what I wanted to do was impossible. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
April 4, 2019

Go All the Way

My head was in a dreamlike fog as my wife, Rebecca and I, followed Hxouse cofounder and CEO, Ahmed Ismail, into the green room after Monday night's panel discussion with Bella Hadid, La La Anthony, Jennifer Rubio, Morgan DeBaun and Olivia Perez. He was already discussing the next big thing, and as we listened intently, there was a quiet moment when we exchanged a knowing smile.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
March 25, 2019

This is Not the End

For the last year or so, I cry almost every single day. I’ve been in a very lonely place for a while now. There’s no one to speak to, no one to help me, and on this particular journey, I’m on my own. A desk is such an odd place to find mountains, but every morning, there they are, steep unclimbable peaks.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
February 28, 2019

A Conversation With Es Devlin at HXOUSE

The other weekend, I was with my wife as we drove through my alma mater, Trinity College in the University of Toronto. It’s been over a decade since I dropped out just a few months shy of graduation, and even after all those years, whenever I’m back on campus, memories I’ve buried deep within, inevitably claw their way back to the surface.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
February 15, 2019

Will the Wall Save Capitalism and Other Divisions of Our Minds

I’ve employed many coping mechanisms for living with depression over the years. Admittedly, some have proven detrimental, however, there are many that have proven to be quite beneficial. One such mechanism, is skepticism. In essence, I question everything. In my world, the glass is neither half empty, nor half full, and I’m cautious of anybody willing to suggest otherwise. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
January 19, 2019

Are the Facebook Gods Listening

For a few years now, a little conspiracy has been going around the Internet that Facebook is listening in on your private conversations. I have friends and family who wholeheartedly believe this. It makes sense, right? At dinner, you were discussing vacation plans with your friend. “Should we go to Tokyo or Sydney,” you ask? The conversation carries on like this throughout dinner. Unbeknownst to you, those seemingly innocuous phones of yours have been sitting quietly on the table listening in to every word you say. 

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
December 18, 2018

Busy for What

One of my best friends messaged me this morning to invite me to his birthday In January at The Annex Hotel. It’s his latest venture in a string of ongoing ventures. He’s had several and so have I. My latest is Dopesite. I’m lucky to have a handful of childhood friends, like him, who are still in my life after all these years. They’re the kind of friends you grew up with, experienced every stage of life with, fought with, made up with, shared secrets with, and ultimately, just couldn’t imagine your life without their presence, because they’ve seemingly always been in it.

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Stephen Shaw
Posted by Stephen Shaw
December 14, 2018

Why It's All Sad

It’s 6:22PM on November 14th, 2018. My wife is currently on a flight from Toronto to Vancouver. She has an important job and she’s only 28. She’s a fucking boss. I couldn’t be prouder of the progression she’s made in her career. When we began dating, she was finishing her master’s degree. She moved to England for a shit job and I followed. She moved back to Toronto for a less shit job and we moved in together. Two years later, we were married. Five years later, we’re here. She’s gone, I’m alone and I feel sad. 

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