In 2015, after an unexpected hospital stay and a mystery illness, in the middle of the night and with butterflies in my stomach, I started a blog.

At the time, my momma didn’t really understand why I wanted to do such a thing. It reminds me of how in that movie Julie and Julia, Julie’s mother didn’t quite get why Julie started a blog.

I started writing, stuck to it, and my momma became one of my writing’s support beams. She read my posts and commented on them. Not many of my family and friends read my stuff, but she did.

Enter November 2021, with butterflies stirring again, I purchased a 2nd domain, this one. Only this time, I didn’t tell my momma. I only told my husband and a friend.

Why?

Because art + confidence is something I wasn’t quite comfortable with. My mom was multi-gifted in art and so is one of my siblings. Like we’re talking, look at a tiny picture of something and replicate it perfectly mural size on a giant wall.

Ok, I am nowhere near that talented. If I tried to do that it would be a hobbled up mess.

So, I guess I was afraid I wouldn’t be a good enough artist, whatever that means. Art itself can feel a bit tricky and intimidating. I mean, we live in a world full of fabulous, famous artists.

Enter a couple of years ago. At that time, I started an art club for kids in our little tiny town. I had between 15-38 kids coming weekly. Our theme?

Be Me.

I wanted to teach them that being ourselves in art is exactly what we need to be. Just us, all the time. Even if the person next to us can draw trees or flowers differently, our art is uniquely valued, too.

Well… I didn’t take my own Be Me advice, right away anyway. I guess I was going to get really confident in my art before telling my parents. It’d be kind of like a kid learning to ride a bike before showing their parents. That way, the parents miss the fear and scraped up knees.

My momma did find out about my art blog, but it wasn’t until she was in the hospital. Suddenly, I wanted her to know about it. Suddenly, I was ready to Be Me in my art.

When I started my other blog in 2015, I had zero confidence in blogging, but you know what? By writing, I gained that confidence. The same thing is happening here, with art.

Here is the link to my other blog if you’d like to see it. I write and share photos on it. https://unmeasuredjourneys.com.

Here’s to being us, in art and otherwise.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Jessica