Last week at Us By Night in Antwerp, Rizon’s festival of creatives, I felt something we’ve all been missing.

Friends. Old colleagues. Rivals turned allies. New faces who might one day be both.

Talks that sparked ideas. Conversations that actually mattered.

And it left me with one thought:
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We chase the wrong shortcuts.

We treat shortcuts like hacks, tools, or formulas.

• 3 steps to a million-dollar studio.
• 9 secrets to a successful creative life.
• How to master X in Figma, Houdini, or C4D.

But the real shortcut has always been here.
Hidden in plain sight.
People.
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Why we drifted apart.

Somewhere along the way, competition replaced connection.

We started overestimating what our competitors, our friends, could do.
And underestimating what we could achieve together.

We expect too much from 30 days.
We forget what 12 months of shared effort can unlock.

Creatives don’t burn out from hard work.
Or from the weight of the burden.
They burn out because they try to carry it alone.
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The truth is simple.

Humans are wired for connection.
Not for hacks. Not for comfort.

We are built for feedback.
For friction.
For growth.

Creatives even more so.
Our work is born in meaning.
And it multiplies when others carry it further.

Community is the shortcut.
The starting point.
The thing that gives you everything you’ve been chasing.

Belonging → Courage → Output → Visibility → Demand.
Break the chain at belonging, and everything falls apart.
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The spirit we lost.

Twenty years ago, the industry was smaller.
Communities were tighter.

You didn’t need to “network.”
You simply created with the people around you.
Shared passion projects.
Late-night experiments.
Conversations that sparked possibility.

Today, it feels different.
We chase bigger names. Bigger brands. Bigger stages.
But the spirit that made us start?
It’s harder to find.
We’ve drifted apart.
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Why having a community is vital for you.

Because community isn’t a luxury.
It’s not just a gathering.

It’s the essence of being human.
The lifeblood of being creative.

Without it, work becomes execution.
With it, work becomes exploration again.

This is where your passion returns.
Where your energy multiplies.
Where the hard parts feel lighter.
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The future is shared.

The world doesn’t need more lonely geniuses.
It needs an industry that lifts each other higher.
Friends, not competitors.

That’s the shortcut nobody takes.

It’s why Us By Night exists.
It’s why we built Paradiso too.
Because it matters.
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Before you go…

Take this with you:
You don't have to compete. You choose to compete.
Choose to connect instead and your creativity,
your life will change.

You’re not giving up a slice. You’re making the pie bigger.
You will bake a bigger cake all together.

Strat small, but start today.
reach out to old friends.
Start a collaborative project.

Pick an event or organise a meetup.
It starts with you.

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