My logo brings together a blazing sun with thirteen points and my initials, JB, depicted in blue sapphires and red rubies set in gold. It reflects my story, my love of the arts, and an ambition: to take a symbol that some consider unlucky and turn it into a sign of good fortune for many people.
Thirteen: changing how we see things
Thirteen illustrates how our perspective shapes the meaning we give to things. Often associated with bad luck, it also has positive associations. In Italy, the expression “fare tredici”—literally, “to make thirteen”—means having a great stroke of luck. In Jewish tradition, the thirteen attributes of mercy are associated with compassion and forgiveness. In the Maya sacred calendar, the numbers one through thirteen form part of the 260-day cycle that structures time and ceremonial life.
Thirteen is also the sixth prime number: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13. I am the sixth child in my family—the youngest, “the baby,” as many would say. Certainly the last, but not the least.
This connection adds a personal dimension to my symbol. It reminds me that our place in a family, like the labels people give us, defines neither our worth nor what we can contribute to the world.
By giving my sun thirteen points, I choose to make a sometimes-feared number shine. It expresses my determination to move beyond prejudice and turn experiences of misfortune into new possibilities.
Understanding my disability helps me move forward
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 59. For much of my life, I lived with a way of functioning that I did not yet understand myself and that others often misunderstood.
I sometimes struggled with tasks that most people found very simple, while excelling in areas they found difficult. People saw my abilities and assumed I should be able to perform just as easily in everything.
Sometimes I became completely frozen, like a zombie, unable to do anything. People called me a coward or lazy. Those words judged what was visible from the outside without understanding what I was experiencing inside. Those judgments and their consequences affected my confidence and the course of my life.
For me, part of the “bad luck” came from that misunderstanding and the influence it had on my life.
My diagnosis helped me look back on my story with a fairer understanding of myself. My abilities were real, but so were my difficulties and moments of paralysis. That discovery inspired my song “Wired Differently,” which gives artistic expression to this experience.
My ADHD can sometimes put me at a disadvantage and sometimes become what I call a “superpower.” Both realities coexist. Understanding my disability is what helps me move forward today: recognizing my needs, respecting my limits, and finding ways to act that work with how my mind functions.
I am also learning not to give a damn about what some people may think or say when they judge me without trying to understand. Their opinions have weighed on my life for too long. Today, I want to devote my energy to living, creating, and sharing.
Bringing talents out of the shadows
This determination reaches beyond my own experience. We need to stop letting our lives pass by in fear and allowing other people’s judgments to diminish us because we are different. No one’s worth should be reduced to labels because their differences are misunderstood.
Through my projects, I want to help people become more independent, gain confidence in their abilities, and bring their talents out of the shadows. I want to open up opportunities for people to create, express themselves, and share what they have to offer.
My sun comes from my story, but I hope others can recognize part of their own within it. I want it to become a sign of good fortune, hope, and courage—an encouragement to claim their place and explore their possibilities.
The sun and its flames
The sun represents light, life, and creative energy. Its thirteen flame-shaped rays suggest a living imagination that continually renews itself and reaches out into the world.
Music, writing, images, video, and dance are all ways to share an emotion, tell a story, or open up a new perspective. Like the sun’s rays, these expressions come from the same source and reach toward others.
This light also expresses my desire to make long-overlooked abilities visible, both in myself and in others.
The sapphires, rubies, and gold
At the centre of the sun, the letters JB carry my signature: Jo Begin.
The blue J, depicted in sapphire, represents depth, reflection, and imagination to me. It evokes the moments when I listen, observe, and search for the words, sounds, or images that can give an idea its form.
The red B, depicted in ruby, expresses passion, human warmth, and the courage to create. It represents the drive to take action, persevere, and share.
These are the personal meanings I give the stones in my logo. Blue and red bring together the reflection that nurtures my projects and the emotion that brings them to life.
The jewels’ many facets reflect the different dimensions of my journey and the talents each person may carry within them. They also evoke the patient work of creation: experimentation, revision, and attention to detail all help a work reveal its brilliance.
The gold surrounding the stones unites them and echoes the sunlight. It symbolizes the value I place on the arts, thoughtful craftsmanship, and human connections. A creation becomes precious through what it helps us feel, understand, or discover, and through what it allows us to pass on.
“Art in a multitude of ever-new forms”
This motto expresses my freedom to explore different disciplines and let each idea find the form that suits it.
An experience can become a song, a reflection can become a book, and a memory can come alive again in an image. These forms of expression evolve and enrich one another.
My logo carries both a personal commitment and an invitation to others: to better understand our differences, reclaim our place in our own lives, and turn what we have experienced into possibilities.
I want to make thirteen a sign of good fortune for many people, help each person become more independent and bring their talents out of the shadows, and share that light through the arts.
Cultural references and sources
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