We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carys Vanessa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Carys, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

There is no other path for me than the one I am on.

It’s taken years to really embody that idea and I have often doubted myself throughout my years pursuing music and creative endeavours as a career.

Even that word, “career.” Bleh. Boring. There is no word as uninteresting as “career.”

I think it’s socially codified, in a way, to mean something more than occupation. And I think where I struggle with that is that I have never felt settled into the idea of music or arts or writing being simply an occupation, when it is who I am inside of my cells and within the ridges of my bones. The artists reading this know exactly what I mean without further elaboration.

In English, you ask, what do you do?

In Spanish, we say, a que te dedicas? What do you dedicate yourself to?

Said differently, what are you DEVOTED to?

And I love this reframe because when you are dedicated to something, you are not disturbed by fleeting moments of unhappiness or dissatisfaction. And because, when you are an artist, you are ALWAYS an artist first, no matter what else you may do to put food on your table or clothes on your back.

So beyond the ephemeral state of happiness, I would say I am far more at peace in the midst of a creative project, yes….And, “regular jobs” have facilitated a lifestyle in which I can be creative as well as participate in “regular life.”

Of course there were times when I considered obtaining another degree and changing course entirely, but even the mere consideration of turning my back on music makes me feel out of my mind.

And life, god, the universe, whatever you want to call it, wouldn’t allow me anyway.

It seems Im always faced with two choices: turn from music and life becomes challenging and chaotic and painful. Turn towards music….and create magic.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I often have a hard time explaining what it is I “do” exactly, because I tend to have a few things going on at once.

I knew that I wanted to make music the focal point of my life very early on. I really didn’t have much choice in the matter. It’s like having a favorite color except it’s much stronger than a preference. It’s a calling. It’s illogical.

So with music as my North Star, I sought out people who were in the scenes I wanted to be a part of and learned from them. At the same time, I was starting to build my small business in social media and content creation. I worked as a social media manager in college for the health and wellness club. When I left Berklee, a former classmate’s mother was looking for social media help. I started working for her part time and then she introduced me to another client who referred me to another and so on. Social media has helped me fund my lifestyle as an musician and entrepreneur for almost a decade!

I was most surprised at how career advancement in ANY industry depends so much on who you know AND how passionate you are about doing what you do. Because at the end of the day, successful people, or people who are living fully expressed aligned with their purpose and truth, do not entertain people in their field that do not match their energy and zest for life.

So I am most proud of the fact that people that have been willing to take a chance on me and that I have been able to meet their needs at a high level. Im proud that I have created a life where I can be my own boss, be selective about the projects and clients I take on and have freedom of expression within it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Freedom. Connection. Magic.

Freedom to live life on my terms at my pace. Freedom of expression. Freedom of movement and being able to travel whenever I want. Free from the shackles of inauthenticity.

Deep connection to others and the natural world around me. Appreciating the rays of the sun after weathering the shadows of winter, Finding enlightenment in the petals of a flower or the crease of a lover’s neck in the morning.

It’s alchemy at its finest. Channeling an idea from the ether of my imagination into something that someone else can hear, feel and move to. Bringing the unseen and the unfelt into focus. That’s magic.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Paying the full value of art would be an excellent start. Corporations that sell art make more money than the artists who created the art to sell. That is wrong.

And then there are some communities that do not foster creative spirits but rather condition it out of the kids and we wonder why mental illness is at an all-time high in adults. It’s because they stopped going outside to play! It’s because they had to put down to the paintbrush to make ends meet.

I’ll never forget when I went home one year and a former teacher was surprised I was still pursuing music. “Well, at some point you decide to get a real job, right?”

And I feel that most artists have to deal with a lot of doubt from the external world, especially in the early days, which can require an extraordinary amount of effort to ignore when dealing with our own inner turmoil and insecurities. It is devastating to think about the wealth and breadth of works the world may never see because an artist was forced to leave the studio to put food on the table.

So in general, art is not valued properly, And the entirety of society suffers as a result.

Keep supporting local music, buy your friends albums on bandcamp, go to your favorite artist’s show or gallery, even if that means going alone, buy their merch and share their social media posts.

We need art and music like we need food and water and breath and we should value it as such. The very soul of our world depends on it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_carysvanessa_/profilecard/?igsh=M2FkaHZ2ZTQybnRq
• Twitter: I’m on Threads as @_carysvanessa_. Install the app to follow my threads and replies. https://www.threads.net/@_carysvanessa_?xmt=AQGzPnPIa0jm0ASki7mzh5ESdBYr_G4b47LXaDkew3H30aY
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/TVSeAkBNr1d3nmks7

Image Credits

Steven Sharps