i wrote these words on friday. two weeks into the start of another year. i scribbled them on a blank journal page. i’d been journalling about what my art is, where i see it going, and how i want to engage in my art in 2024.
the world needs your art
it’s true —
the world needs your art
and darling,
so do you.
i read these words over, now, and i feel it stir me again. i feel these words deeply, in every season. but something is stirring them up afresh for 2024. something new. a new embracing of art. a new embracing of self. a new coming home, if you will.
Amie McNee’s inspiredtowrite instagram first introduced me to the concept of the world needing my art. of making my art because the world needs artists. because art always has value, intrinsically. art is always magic. i remember sitting with that thought for the first time somewhere in 2019 when i discovered Amie’s page. i remember how it felt to find affirmation, even in a stranger on the internet, for the creations i wanted to make. for the words i wanted to pour onto the page. for the photographs i wanted to take, the love i wanted to capture, the beauty of self i wanted to show. mostly, for the stories i wanted to tell.
a lot of you have heard my story before, or parts of it, at least. i spent ten years in a pentecostal cult, and the last 5 years has been the unravelling of that. the unravelling of others ideals. the unravelling of the desire to perform, to please, to seek permission. amongst other things.
i wrote my first blog post on medium in 2019.
it made me feel alive in a way i hadn’t before.
finally, i had told a part of my story. finally, i had given myself a voice. finally, i had given myself permission. the weaving of words together to tell the story brought a sort of hope to me that i didn’t think i could hold. it felt like real joy.
i continued to sporadically post about leaving, to talk about deconstructing, to talk about the things i held passion for. but i didn’t know how to wrap it all up in one space. still, i was following my pentecostal learned segmenting of my self. i would write about photography only for photography. i would write about the practice of journalling and art occasionally, here and there, on instagram or here. i would occasionally throw out a political social commentary. i didn’t write even close to enough about education and connection and how they both can come together through art. and through it all, i forgot a large part of what i loved about sharing my art. i forgot a large part of why i am here. why i am still making art. why i am still writing words on a computer screen and throwing them into the universe for you to devour, or not.
i forgot that we don’t have to segment ourselves, yes. we can exist in spaces and have it fucking all. i really believe that.
but, more importantly, along the way — i forgot to tell stories.
i started to care too much about the wrong things. i started to focus on what people would think. i tried to write for people, and not for me.
and so, i lost the fire.
and so, i stopped.
the last 6-months or so of 2023 was hard. full of turbulence, weird coffee shop dramas, business burnout, and deep exhaustion. it was also really magical. i spent so much time with my partner, our cat, and in our home. and i curled into myself in a way i haven’t, maybe ever. i found a solace and a beauty in my own company. i would drive for hours with nothing but my Spotify playlist and a notebook next to the drivers seat. i would scrawl words at traffic lights. pull over next to gardens to wonder and write. i would sit at my desk and stare into space, sorting through journalled words and photographs until inspiration had me falling over myself to find that piece of paper i’d started writing on.
and i remembered.
i remembered.
i came home to myself again.
i started to dot point story ideas. fiction. non fiction. fantasy. romance. i threw it all onto pages. i wrote fiction and fictionalised non-fiction. i created another world and found a fierce woman staring me down from the pages. i fictionalised an era and found ways to empathise with past versions of myself, while finding gratitude for the people i crossed paths with. well, most of them. i started to capture memoir points again, to segment parts of my memoir into a structure i am happy with. i came back to writing poems. to writing more about how photography shows us ourselves, too. like words can. i wrote about my childhood and my teenage years and my young adult life and my self through those years. and as i wrote, i saw her all the more. the little me. the teen me. the me who needed my attention. the me who needed my art.
the me who had been waiting all along. the me who had been watching while i tried to put words into the world for other people. the me who watched on as i ran and ran and wondered why i was always out of breath.
she’d been right here, the whole time.
baby, the world needs your art. the world needs artists. it’s true. people need to read your words, feel your story, meditate on your painting, be moved by your photographs, be excited by your designs — people need to lean into your arts embrace.
but i swear to god, so do you.
whatever your art is: photography, painting, writing, dancing, silks, disco, latte art, customer service, fashion, floristry, experiments, projects... whether it’s a job or play or both. whether you make money from it or you don’t.
your art connects you to yourself in a way nothing else will.
your art will show you yourself in a way that will grow you, challenge you, hold you, and heal you.
it's easy to forget. hard to hold onto. but it’s true. your art is for the world baby, but it’s also for you.
and that’s the vibe i’m carrying into 2024. i’m making a decision to commit to my art, to show up for the stories i want to tell. i’ll still be here, of course. you’ll get to read the stories first, duh. but i’ll be making a point to write the stories my heart wants to write. the stories my body needs to write. the stories that are true for me. the stories that honestly? i think you’ll resonate with all the more.
want to join me?
on that note, i wanted to join the trend. here’s what’s in and out for me for 2024. well, you know, the relevant points 😉
what’s in for 2024:
making my art + showing up for my writing
forming habits around my writing practice
i n t e n t i o n a l i t y
taking more photos for the hell of it
sharing the real shit more than ever
trusting myself
s l o w i n g d o w n + being present
what’s out for 2024
making myself palatable
feeling like i can’t have it all
being “busy”
only taking photos for paid jobs/weddings
thinking i can do it all all at once
not having self compassion for the sparkle brain
i’d love to know your ins and outs for 2024, and more importantly, how you’re planning to show up for your art, make your art, and connect with yourself all the more this year.
leave a comment or reply to this email, i literally do a lil awkward happy dance when i hear back from you.
all the love,
Jas.