In the future I'll continue to use this space for more question poll game things!
200 Guest Q&A: June 1st, 2024
- What meal would you get/cook for someone to help them get to know you?
An interesting question that I haven't considered before! Picking something was tough, but after some thought I settled on a fruit pie! Preferably one made with summer stone fruit such as peaches, cherries, nectarines, and plums, topped with a lattice crust or one made with an embossed roller. Fruit pies like these tend to be sweet with a touch of tartness which suits my personality. Sometimes I can come on strong coupled with my intense flavor palette, but that's because I'm passionate and still peachy!! ;u; Along with having an aesthetic that reflects my design sensibilities, these types of pies tend to be bright and colorful!
- What's your favorite mythological creature?
Another hard question because there's so many I just adore!! ; __ ; Fairies and dryads are obvious answers given my website, but I also LOVE unicorns. Medieval-esque unicorns that are free spirited and strong, and anything but docile. Peter S. Beagle knew what he was doing with the unicorns in the Last Unicorn tbh. Dragons, phoenixes, the rusalka, the snawfus, and jackalopes are other favorites!
- What would you pack in your bag to entertain you on a long train ride?
Cute question! I have a tendency to take a number of things with me on trips... but typically I'll bring a book for sure, and maybe a little journal, a sketchbook, and my Switch! I've taken cross stitch and crochet on planes before, so that isn't out of the question either
I'm very good at keeping myself busy tbh!!
- What's on your bucket list?
Oooh, I actually made a dedicated page for what's on mine! But the most major things on it is getting a Master's degree, publishing a book, sustaining a successful practice related to my career goals, and seeing the northern lights and a total solar eclipse!
- If you were a scent, how would you describe it? Ideally something evocative of the natural worl.! A meadow of wildflowers, maybe, or a green that smells like spring. Something bursting with life that has a darker undercurrent. Or maybe the easy answer is my signature scent!
- What historical period and place would you most like to visit? Tough question! There are so mine times and places I would find fascinating to visit. While my mind DOES jump is traveling back to the artistic and cultural scene of the 1920s, I think my dream would be to see Prague or Paris in the middle of the Art Nouveau movement/the Belle Epoque. Lately I've also been interested in pre-Roman Celtic socviety, or any time that lacks much historical record! It'd be amazing to really see and understand what those places were like, and what we can learn from them now. Historical periods often have certain narratives formed around them, so seeing any snapshot of a time and forming your own understanding would be incredible.
- Do you have a favourite art movement/syle/artist etc? Ooohhhh I love this question!! There's value in most art movements, but my favorites include Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, American Realism, and Pre‐Raphaelitism! I love how sincere these movements are in their belief of the transformative of art. In many of these movements, the subjects depicted aren't super literal, instead focusing on the subjective experience of the artist. I find by the artist focusing on their personal responses, they're able to arouse greater emotions within another due to the viewer connecting with their personal perception of it. We are able to engage with the Truth(tm) of the artwork in an intense, striking way. Does this make sense? Haha! ;u; There are a ton of artists I love, but Vincent Van Gogh and Edward Hopper are my go-to's!
- What color would you say represents you the most? Lilac--I like to think of it as my aura color! Yellow may be my favorite color, but lilac feels more me. It's like those moments of magic in everyday life!
- What is your go-to comfort food/drink? Burritos! Burritos of all kinds!! Wrap some meat, onion, cilantro, and rice in a tortilla and I'm a happy camper.
- What are the kinds of things you do to remind yourself that you are an agent and to a degree in control of your own destiny?
Once upon a time, my 9th grade science teacher told us that the only thing we have to do in life is die. That's our only real obligation. All this years later this still resonates with me, maybe now more than then.
I see our destinies as a tree. We grow in a certain direction--ideally upwards--but we're made up of a bunch of different branches that point and move in different paths. What guides the direction of these branches, places where they splinter off and stuff, and is made by our choices.
Each day offers us thousands of choices, both big and small. Our futures are built upon the foundation of these choices. Even when we encounter something out of our control, we can still make the choice with how we want to react to it. There's a lot of hardship in life, unfair hands that we must deal with. We can't always control what happens, either. However, I think by being deliberate in the choices we make, we're at the very least able to spiritually transcend our difficulties to a certain degree. Viktor E Frankl writes in Man's Search for Meaning that "life questions us" rather than the other way around, and I agree that by rising to this challenge, we can take active roles in our destinies.
This is really ramble-y but I hope it makes sense!!
- What are some quotes or themes you have carried with you since childhood? Another tough question to chew on! I remember the quote "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle" being striking at a young age. Even now it's a good reminder for me to be empathetic.
In terms of themes... even as a little girl I've been attracted to mysticism I guess? Even if I didn't have the words to describe it as that. For instance I would LOVE going out in the wood by my grandma's house to be alone, but I knew I wasn't really. Life teamed all around me, and it all felt so interconnected. Like the parts of a bigger picture. It just felt inherent. Movies and books that explored these concepts have always fascinated me as well. While my understanding about this has continued to grow into adulthood, the roots of it have been there from the very beginning!!
- Which of your hobbies/talents is most fulfilling for you? Creative writing, full stop! Before everything else, it's been storytelling! I get a deep sense of joy and satisfaction from fighting that perfect word or turn of phrase, to revise something in order to elicit a certain emotional response from the reader. Developing my craft and learning how to improve is super fulfilling for me. Perfectionism is something that can inflict my progress though; at points in the past the act of writing would stress me out. Over time I've learned how to relax and let go, not expecting things to turn out how I want the first time around––and being okay with it. Sometimes I still get obsessive about achieving unachievable perfection, but overall I've been a lot better about it! Along with this challenge I also have periods where I just write less frequently, but it's something that I always return to! It's like coming home to something sacred inside myself, haha! ;u;
