Why subscribe to Couch to Artist in 365?
By sharing my real experiences as someone who has fallen into the trap of trying to live the life that was expected of me and paid the price, hope to shed light on how important it is to honor your own true passions. There are so many people who suppress and put off exploring their creativity and it comes with a huge price- not only to the suppressor, but also to the world around them that needs to see their artistic expressions and hear their voices.
As a longtime endurance athlete running ultramarathons for nearly 40 years, and a nurse having worked in oncology for the better part of 18 years, I finally figured out, in my 60th year, that self-flagellation is overrated. I love running and I have learned so much and had such great experiences, I feel fortunate to have met so many interesting, talented, and passionate people through the sport.
I have worked in some of the most difficult, undervalued, and undercompensated career tracks- higher education and healthcare- both of which nearly did me in- and realized that while I’ve gained an enormous amount of practical knowledge, the price I’ve paid personally with my mental health and well-being has been too great. I was becoming an artist before I went to nursing school, and twenty years went by before I allowed myself to return to art.
This newsletter started out as a way to share my experience of working my way through treatment resistant depression. I was working with an art therapist for a while, but as I began a new treatment with ketamine in addition to the artwork, this substack evolved to much more than that. A year after I started this substack, I am now a full-time artist, my depression is in remission, and I’m reclaiming my passion and life back from a lifetime of experiences and events that led to my eventual crash.
Art allows us to address the craving so many of us have for connection, empathy, and vulnerability. So many of us long to be real humans in a world that is always changing so fast, digitally connected, and expects us to work relentlessly to keep up the pace.
My early posts were paired with my work from art therapy, and now with my own artwork that evolves from it. I don’t worry about it being perfect, I enjoy sharing it and exploring. I encourage people to share their own art with others. It’s a good exercise in vulnerability and trust. It evolves with practice, plus, it’s fun and it feels good to share.
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