Making Art a Part of Everyday Life is Non-Negotiable {She of the Wild: The Podcast}

We make art (whatever that kind of art is: oil painting, cooking, needlepoint, writing, music, etc.) because our souls demand it. Because the work is inside of us and begs to be made, to be released into being. Because we need it.

But we live in a world that places little value on the practice or product of creative work. So why bother with our art when it doesn't support us financially, and is seen as frivolous, unproductive, or unnecessary by the culture surrounding us?

Because we need it. Because the art needs it. Because the world needs it, even if it denies that it does. Listen for encouragement to keep on keeping on in your art, and to remember some of the benefits of practicing your art regularly.

Subscribe to the She of the Wild podcast in iTunes, or listen right here:

Book mentioned in this episode: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert*.

Quotes read in the episode, for your encouragement:

“The arts are a critical component of healthcare. Expressive art is a tool to explore, develop and practice creativity as a means to wellness.” - Wellarts Association

“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.” - John Lubbock (1834-1913), “The Pleasures of Life”

“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.” - Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

“When artists give form to revelation, their art can advance, deepen and potentially transform the consciousness of their community.” - Alex Grey

“Arts and culture make considerable and necessary contributions to the well-being of communities. Arts and culture are powerful tools with which to engage communities in various levels of change. They are a means to public dialogue, contribute to the development of a community’s creative learning, create healthy communities capable of action, provide a powerful tool for community mobilization and activism, and help build community capacity and leadership.” - Creative City Network of Canada

“The medical profession has come a long way in recognizing the healing benefits of art. My hope is that someday the arts will be considered as significant in everyone’s lives as breathing fresh air, eating clean foods, and performing physical exercise.” - Renée Phillips

“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.” - Auguste Rodin

Want to feel wild and free in your skin every day? Come shop our new clothing store, Wildish Wear! We offer beautiful, affordable clothing that not only feels super soft and comfortable but expresses your creative soul.

*Affiliate link. I do not endorse products I haven't used and don't love. Thanks for supporting indie artists and authors!

My 2016 Wrap-Up: Or, The Anxiety Episode {She of the Wild: The Podcast}

You knew it was coming -- this is the episode that answers your wondering, "Where the heck did you disappear to??" Basically, 2016 has been a hell of a year, due in large part to a major flaring of my anxiety. So this episode is not only about where I've been, but an off-the-cuff discussion of anxiety and mental health.

Subscribe to the She of the Wild podcast in iTunes, or listen right here (this episode has a few f-bombs in it, in case that bugs you or you're listening around little ears you'd prefer not to hear that sort of thing):

Thank you so much for listening!

Want to feel wild and free in your everyday life? Come shop our new clothing store, Wildish Wear! (Link leads to our exclusive shopping group on Facebook). 

I Don't Know How to Be Around You

I know I’m supposed to look for the good.
I know I’m supposed to be the bigger person.
I know that when they go low, we go high —

But I can’t.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
But certainly not yet.

I don’t know how to be around you.
I don’t know how to hear you tell me, “I love you,” or feel you embrace me, or eat food that you have generously prepared for me and not want to vomit or rage or weep.

When you do those things — good things — all I can think about is how you voted for crimes against women to become more acceptable — crimes against me.

And of course that doesn’t even touch on how you voted for race-based hate crimes, religion-based hate crimes, and sexual orientation-based hate crimes. You did those things, too. I don’t feel them as deeply because I am not the target of those crimes, but I feel empathy with those who are. I feel it, and I don’t understand how you cannot. How you choose to not.

When I look into your eyes, all I can believe is that you must hate me.

In the two weeks since the election, there have been 701 hate crimes since the election {source}. And these are just the ones reported.

Have you been listening to first-hand reports of these crimes and threats? I have, and they’re terrifying. Immigrants being told that they’re about to be deported, blacks threatened, women told they’re going to get raped now that “America’s great again.”

I don’t feel safe.
I don’t feel safe.
I don’t feel safe.

And you wanted this.
You knew he’s a rapist, a racist, a misogynist, an ableist, all the -ist’s, and still you thought a vote for him was somehow okay.

When I see you, all I can see is how you thought it was acceptable for me to live in a world where men have increased license to rape me because their leader does.

You must hate me, and your daughters, and your wife, and your granddaughters, and your mother, and your female neighbors and co-workers and friends.

You have betrayed me and millions of your fellow citizens, and we cannot not feel that cut deep, through our heart tissue straight to the soul. Don't you see the souls of millions of your countrymen and women bleeding all around you? Can't you smell the acrid iron-laced aroma of their soul's blood pooling on the ground at your feet?

And you continue say that you voted this way because you’re a single-issue voter, that you had to, that it’s just politics, that it’s okay.

No.
It is not okay.
It is not okay.
It is not okay.

You don’t get to vote for all of this, and then expect me to be okay with it. If you expect to get a pass when you vote with the KKK, then you damn well better give me time to figure out how to breathe in the same space as you.

Because I don’t know how to be around you when you voted in favor of my increased chances of being raped, assaulted, or otherwise violated because I am a woman, and a woman with an opinion.

No matter how this turns out, I can’t see how we’ll survive this, you and I. I can’t understand how to un-see your choice, how to un-know it. Today, I cannot. Maybe tomorrow, or a thousand tomorrows from now, I will. But not today.

How dare you vote for this.
How dare you ask me to be okay with this.
How dare you be hurt that I’m upset about this.
How dare you say that you love me.

How dare you.