The other week my Mum and Dad came to visit me up in London. They’d been living it up at the weekend with their mates drinking and partying at a ‘Bowie’ Themed do (which, if you know me, I’m OBSESSED WITH DAVID BOWIE. OKAY, I’LL CHILL WITH THE CAPS). I met them the next day, as they nursed their hangover with more wine and I sat their with my strong coffee. I was definitely starting to think the parenting game had reversed for a second. Anyway, we started to talk about who we were. Yeah, I know, deep for a Sunday booze up.
But it was more than that. It was about who we identified ourselves to be. You see, when we think about what kind of person we really identify ourselves as, we get abit stumped. Take people on Social Media addressing themselves as “funny, go lucky Chocolate Connoisseur” or “Rabbit Whisperer” (yeah, okay, i made those ones up, but you get the point). And you wonder, where did that “self-tag” or phrase come from? Is that first and foremost who you are?
The trick is, the more in-depth you think about it, the more you loose the truth because then you’re searching for some answer. But the answer should be instinctual. The answer isn’t in your job or all the things you like, it’s inherent in you. How you communicate or express yourself through things, that’s, I think, where the real answer is held.
My Dad answered without a second thought, “Artist” he said. My eyes lit up, because that was exactly my answer for myself. Largely because Art can be whatever you want it to be and is one of those mediums we both use to create visions, ideas or to appreciate/experiment within its vastness. I see people walking around with their head down, looking at their feet or straight ahead with an aim to get from A to B, and my little secret is…I always get to things early with plenty of time to kill because I get to walk with my head and my eyes circling around the space, trying not to miss a dam thing of what the world has to offer. Think about the moments that could of been missed because your eyes were fixated at your shoelace or the fact you saw rain as a bad thing, when it made the most beautiful puddle in the shape of a heart you just walked over.
Obviously, that can’t be all we are and shouldn’t be. Because we are all more than one thing, we can be a ton of things which is the common ground that we all stand on.
For example, I’m a massive advocate of positivity and self love. I want people to feel good about themselves and yes, who they are, because if there were clones of ourselves or if the word “unique” became extinct, then where would we actually find the Art? It would just be a pile of generic people who don’t live their lives to the full because they’re afraid to mess up or fail because of their inadequacy. I can’t vouch for anyone else, but I don’t regret the things I’ve done and every time I’ve ever made a mistake, I’ve always found myself stronger for it. I even, get comments daily (as a Makeup Artist) about my pale skin. My skin colour was never anything I ever thought about, and I’ll be honest, I started to hate being fair because I thought beauty was painted as looking like a “bronze goddess” you saw in the adverts I watched as a fourteen year old teenager, but actually….i was happy just as I was. For one, being tanned doesn’t even suit me and secondly, I saw being pale as offering others, like my fourteen year old self, an opportunity to inspire them to be confident in the cards they’ve been dealt with. We are all bloody beautiful in a list of ways I couldn’t even begin to fit on a page and our differences allow the world to be more interesting and that favourite word “unique”.
So that’s a little piece of my mind. A mind that you have and I hope you’re not afraid to share with others and get thinking about our own possibilities and opportunities that lie before us just by filling it.
And on that note, I leave you with a song that’s been playing ON MY MIND.
Peace x
Angel Olsen-Sister.