Accidental Muralist Podcast Episode 1: Meet the A.M.
This year I’m posting three times per month: WORDS on the 3rd, PICTURES on the 13th, and
SOUND on the 23rd. This is my second installment of SOUND.
Yep, I love bats so I filled a 126-foot-long wall with them — with the help of about 90 students, neighbors, and friends.
I didn’t think I could do that!
When was the last time you surprised yourself by doing something that seemed undoable, at least by you? Or like something you never thought you’d choose to do, or have the audacity to do, which is more the case here.
The deed: After four or five practice starts, I recorded myself describing how I went from wannabe artist to paid professional artist, or accidental muralist, in a 58-minute continuous recording, without pausing or editing.
There are two story lines there. One is of a decades-long creative journey, and the other (equally unexpected) is of a person who has gradually come to believe she has a story worth telling. The two are intertwined, inseparable, interdependent.
Breaking it Down
If you don’t have a whole hour to listen, here are some snippets you could skip ahead to:
Why I chose the name All Hands Art is at minute 5:36, and why it exists at all is at 40:03
I call bullshit on the establishment World of Art at minute 7:16
Some things I WON’T stop doing come at minute 11:50
Why it took me so long to call myself an artist starts at minute 14:07
Where other wannabe artists are often found is at minute 17:20
How a minor bout with cancer gave me the perfect nudge is at 22:27
Why I used to cry over the word “business” is at minute 24:06
Some unusual ways I’ve earned money is at minute 26:03
How I actually became an accidental muralist is at minute 29:24
The transformation I seek to catalyze in my clients, students, and readers is at minute 38:04
A rundown of current projects is at minute 45:39
And remember as you listen: Your story is also worth telling, no matter where you are in your journey.
*NOTE: It might take a few seconds for the audio to start playing. Give it a chance, but please let me know if you’re unable to hear it.
As I said near the end of the episode, I ALWAYS love to hear when my words resonate with you. If that’s the case (or if it’s not the case and you want to complain to me instead) leave a comment below. That’s YOUR challenge for making your story or your thoughts just a little more public today. Because as Cleo Wade says in her beautiful little volume, Where To Begin, “Silence is not the answer to your pain.”
Let’s toss some goodness and beauty out into the world. That’s a good place to start the healing that our world so desperately needs.