I just watched the documentary Who Does She Think She Is? Hmmmm. I don’t know if any of you have seen it, but here’s what I took away from it.
1. Women are completely underrepresented in the art world.
2. It is a hard row to hoe to try to buck the system.
3. There are multiple factors at play here.
4. Creating and carving your own path does not happen in a vacuum. There are often devastating consequences in being true to yourself. So it sometimes becomes a question of which demolition can one tolerate? – demolition to self, possible demolition to relationships, demolition to self-worth in the form of labels such as; selfish, uncaring, non-nurturing.
5. Being a mother and emboldening upon a career are a tricky balance at best.
I often find that when I’m bouncing around the internet I see these messages that speak of following your passions, and I frequently read the Etsy Quit Your Day Job series. I’ve certainly read many a post addressing passion and living wide open, fervently praying the message to myself. And I believe them – I really do! BUT, I think it needs to be understood that it’s not as simple as an inspiring quote or e-course might make it seem. It takes hard work, dedication, clarity about what it is you want and your desire in that deep place within yourself, and also the ability to communicate clearly and respectfully to those who may experience the ripple effects. In addition one must assess the grey area of where their responsibility to others begins and ends. Coat it all with a thick layer of finances and being realistic without squashing one’s dreams. Complex.
I just felt a need to express how complicated this idea of following one’s heart can be. I don’t often see that side of it. (I am willing to acknowledge that my personality can take something simple and make it complicated…which is really a procrastination tool for not pursuing my heart’s desire. But that may be a subject for a future post.)
Here are a few places where the complexity is explored:
Louise Edrich’s poem – Advice to Self I see it as acknowledging that some things have to be let go in order to accomplish other more important things.
Summer Pierre’s post – Desire, click through to read her Huffington Post article as well.
Brene Brown’s writing. I like that she understands that being authentic means being vulnerable.
Hula Seventy – nine words.
Harriet Lerner’s book – The Dance of Anger
