about me
I am an artist. But I've spent most of my life fighting that identity, because I got told by several important people that I'd "likely never make it" as a writer, that I should find something "practical" to do with my life, and that I should just do writing as a "hobby." Biddable and suggestible as I was, I took their sage advice and indeed strove for "normal" and "practical," and, though I didn't realize it, I was striving for "acceptable" and "predictable," too.
After several tries at being "practical" and "normal," including a couple of failed career attempts, I realized that normal and practical made me sad. Not only that, I'm not good at it. I am decidedly not normal, and I'm irrational and do things based on emotion. What other career could I possibly do that allowed me to be this way, since trying so hard not to be this way had nearly suffocated me?
A creative pursuit was the answer. WRITING was the answer. I am not normal or predictable, not practical and ordinary, and I do best when I can express myself rather than having to stuff all of who I am into a little bitty labeled box for someone else's convenience.
Thus, I am an artist, and I'm weird as they come. And I can breathe in relief, because my world is so much better that way.