One of the questions I’ve been asking interview subjects a lot lately is why they do what they do. What is their why? Why, in this climate of political strife and social media madness, with A.I. breathing down their necks and paychecks being slashed at every turn, do they make art? Most of the time the answer is something along the lines of, “I don’t know how not to.”
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my why. Why I continue to work in a field (journalism) in which the pay gets smaller and the work gets harder by the day. Why I try to adapt to social media’s vague, ever-changing algorithms in the hopes that someone out there will see what I’m doing and pay it some attention. Why I continue plugging away, day after day, even when my ego is bruised because the attention never came.
While out on a walk this morning I contemplated my why and came up with a few thoughts:
I do it for the conversations—the deliciously rich, often funny, sometimes emotional, always enlightening conversations with artists about their creative process, their influences, and yes, their why.
I do it for the love of art and the belief that storytelling (be it through books, movies, television, music, poetry, paintings, sculpture, photography, or any other medium) is the essence of what makes us us.
I do it to provide support to artists whose work I admire, particularly those who might not get attention from mainstream/traditional media even though their work is phenomenal and should get recognition.
I do it because I believe in my bones that in a time when we’re all exhausted and struggling because the world at large feels too much, it is the artists who will show us how to get through.
Artists like…
Tom Morello, who has been raging against the machine for more than 35 years,
Tiff Randol, who launched a nonprofit to help mothers in the music industry,
Zoe Boekbinder, who has helped inmates put their story to song,
Leah Song, who advocates for a slower, more intentional music industry,
Debi Young, who uses her makeup chair to help actors get through their day,
Will Dailey, who bucks the traditional music release system to reach listeners directly,
John W. Lawson, who works tirelessly to bring more authentic representation of disabilities to the screen,
Edward Underhill and A.E. Osworth, who write incredible novels featuring trans and queer characters,
Shirley Neal, who uses her writing to celebrate Blackness in popular culture,
Julie Ann Crommett, who works behind the scenes to push for inclusive storytelling in film and TV,
and so many more.
Artists have, time after time, shown me that they are doing incredibly powerful, crucially important work. So, I do what I do to help them. To provide a platform, however small, to help get their work and their message out to audiences. To have conversations with really impressive artists doing really interesting work, and to share those conversations with you.
That’s my why.
Thank you for supporting me in doing this work. It means more than you know.
I hope you had a chance to check out my chat with Steven Feinartz about his fantastic new documentary, Are We Good? It’s in theaters this coming weekend. I highly recommend checking it out if you have the chance.
Later this week I’ll share my conversation with Anderson Rocio, a New Zealand-based singer-songwriter who runs a global nonprofit focused on environmental conservation and just launched her own indie music label to support emerging artists.
That’s it for now. Have a wonderful, creative, art-filled week!