Freedom Emerging

My daughter loves to ask if I could draw something for her when we play together. First, I begin drawing her a doll, and next, her imagination will begin to run wild. “Can you draw her shirt?” “A dress?” “Some shoes?” “A bed and some sheets?” “A pillow?” “A mirror?” “Some lipstick?” “A purse?” After some vigorous sketching from her flurry of requests, she begins coloring and cutting out each drawing to create a whole scene. I marvel at how detailed and creative my daughter can be when she plays; she always leaves me constantly surprised by what we’ll create together for next time. Ironically, it also left me questioning why she kept asking me to draw things for her, since I believe her dad is a better artist. Nurturing her curiosity and skills over the years left me exploring what I truly had if I gave myself more permission.

While building a daily drawing and sketching practice, I began to recall moments during middle school until college when I drew in the margins, wrote script lettering, when I was taking art classes, when I sold handmade buttons and stickers to friends during lunchtime, were the seeds where the potential of becoming a creative initially planted. Most of my environments largely reinforced creative problem-solving and where only a select few had the instincts for pursuing an artistic career, which is where I can say I was adept towards societal standards and ensuring survival and privately subscribed to this bias, yet the possibility of everyone having creative potential, and investing in various creative strength or devoting time toward a consistent creative process for myself felt foreign but worth discovering. Through unlearning, re-learning, and self-healing, the flow began to evolve into this deeper curiosity of creating, and where I began to feel deeply supported for the first time.

After months of diving deeper into my process solo, I became grateful for how and where this new passion unfolded. I felt grateful for the connection, community, and relationships I’ve made that have naturally stemmed from this transition, but most importantly, grateful for how my connection towards art resurfaced and grew even more deeply from bonding with her, and where it supports us both. It’s a true testament of where hope can grow in the most unlikely places, rooted in the joy and love of creating.