Define Yourself
Thu, April 7, 2011 at 07:36PM "Not just beautiful, though--the stars are like the trees in the forest,
alive and breathing. And they're watching me."
— Haruki Murakami
{this post updated April 2011; originally published February 2010}
Three years ago, I was ordering a latte at Starbucks, tentatively holding a moleskine journal and a Ziploc of pitt pens and gellyrolls, anxious for a few peaceful hours of drawing. The barista asked if I was an artist. What an odd question for a girl who had lived in the world of numbers, objective decisions and analysis for decades since grad school. And I said yes. Yes.
If you teach calculus, yet play golf every chance you can, are you not a golfer? You don't have to be a competitive golfer or a particularly agile player to use the word. Calling yourself a golfer takes nothing away from professional golfers or golf teachers.
We have many faces to the world:
- A Java programmer who is an avid urban sketcher
- A homeschooling mom who writes sci fi stories
- A pilot who knits cardigans
- A marine biology professor who watercolors all summer
- A pediatrician who blogs about interior design trends
- A realtor who blogs about photoshop
- A veterinarian who writes quilt patterns
What are you? "I am a [fill in the blank] and a [fill in the blank]"
PS. It's Your Art
Reader Comments (14)
i love this. i just returned from an art retreat (an artful journey....totally awesome) and now, finally, really feel comfortable calling myself an artist. i'm so happy with what i created--both the art and the bonds--over the weekend.
YES! so very, very true. love this post.
I love your post. Yes, I am an artist, and I finally can feel confident in saying that. Been so many things, but, an artist is always the thing I really wanted to be.
I am an Occupational Therapist/ Hand Therapist who is a Fiber Artist
I am a Mixed Media/ Fiber Artist who is an Occupational Therapist!
I am always a mom and Nature Lover
I am a wife and Sunday School teacher
Oh- my list could go on and on . . . . ..
Happy Snow Day!
I'd be the homeschooling mom who writes fantasy and plays the piano. :)
This is very true! And empowers us as well to go further in a our new identities.
*Kelly, I've never been to an art retreat, though I am tempted to go, perhaps some day. I love that you returned with a new sense of yourself as an artist. Cool!
*Ingrid, Thx for your kind words and sooooo happy you liked the postcard!
*Martha, Yay! I love that you are saying what you have always wanted to say, that you are an artist!
*Carol, It's kind of like... would you like tea with your sugar? Which way is it? I suppose the way we define ourselves is constantly being re-arranged and inverted and mixed up, as long as we keep it positive.
*Rabia, That sounds wonderfully fun, especially when you do all three simultaneously.
*Shell, I do like the idea of a new identity!
Thanks for saying hello! ~ Tammy
Microbiologist/Medical Technologist by DAY- to Doodler, Embroider, Painter & Quilter by NIGHT
.... yippeee! i'm an artist .... but i do a bunch of other stuff too ...
Great post!
I loved reading this.
I am an inspirer, an artist, and designer.
I like the analogy about the golfer being someone who plays golf - I have never felt confident enough to refer to myself as an artist but YEAH. I am! Even though I'm an IT Security Analyst by day, it's just a job - real life is made of paint, markers, pens and glue!
I'm going to have to work with this word "Artist" .... somehow make friends with it. Or learn to ignore those who say unless you fulfill x, y and z you can't be called an artist.
I love that story... I also love everyone's stories of what and who they are along with being artists.
I am an artist who is a storyteller who is a mom who is a wife who is a runner who is a garden keeper who is a friend who is a cook who is a laundress who is a dog walker who is a toilet scrubber who is an artist.
Gypsy!!!! I found you through iHanna's postcard swap...though I don't think I was fortunate enough to get one of your cards, and I don't think I sent you one of mine :) I would love to receive one of yours though ;) and would love to send you one of mine! I discovered your amazing blog!!!! I aspire to this, though I don't think I will ever have enough time to make mine right...I need too much sleep! I am an artist, a lawyer, a small business manager, a gourmet cook, a fitness instructor (past), and mother --primary caregiver to two beautiful kids. LOTS of hats.