We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Wilson-Thille. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

This question truly brings to mind the phrase, ” the grass is always greener on the other side.” To say I am happier or more satisfied as an artist is hard for me to gauge, as I haven’t ever maintained a “normal” career in my 41 years on this planet. That said, I don’t think I “planned” to become a creative–it’s a part of who I am.

I pursued my love of anthropology and the Spanish language in college, where I also discovered a deep passion for travel and the adventure that comes with it. As a graduation gift to myself, I bought a 9 month round-trip ticket to Ecuador with intentions to travel to Chile and back. I stayed 4 years and traveled through 10 different countries instead.

If one desires to travel unhindered by a schedule or a set time frame, and the primary goal is to see as much as one can possibly see, you have to be ultra-wealthy or quite creative. I was definitely not the former, so the latter became the means of survival. Traveling as I did was not easy or luxurious, but it did bring immense fulfillment and freedom that words cannot quite express. I began to make jewelry, play music, learn to juggle and turned a hula hoop into a performance fire hoop; creativity became an inherent part of day-to-day life and I began to see time not as money, but rather as art and creation. Making music, creating street shows to perform for children and adults, and crafting my jewelry met my minimum needs at most and showered me in abundance at its best.

After 4 years of college, four years of a nomadic, artistic life brought me a wealth of knowledge and experience I could have never envisioned within the four walls of a classroom. Was it all good? No. I endured through many difficult situations and a toxic relationship that led me to some very dark places and deep depression. Was I made more resilient, wise and competent from it all? Most definitely yes. Did I doubt myself and my life’s path on a consistent basis? You bet. Would I have changed it for a regular job with a steady paycheck and a 401 K? Hell no.

When I came back to the US, I had $50 and a backpack full of jewelry making supplies. My reverse culture shock was met with an initial spark of interest in my travels, but friends and family quickly were drawn back into the lives they had been cultivating while I was gone–new marriages, careers, Master’s and PhDs, and babies were the flashpoints I had completely missed out on and couldn’t relate to. I felt so alone, and out of place–returning to “home” felt anything but. I was a person out of time and place in South Carolina. A “gringa” in South America, who always felt a bit of an outsider was now a stranger in her own country.

I tried to fit in. I got an office job where my Spanish language skills were useful, but only lasted 11 months. I was “comfortable” but can’t say exactly happy. I left 5 months for Greece and did what I felt most at home with. Performing on the streets and selling my jewelry on the beach…it wasn’t luxurious, but damn it felt good. A return to the US left me once more confronted with the societal ‘norms” I never could quite get right. Friends and family trotting right along–more promotions, more kids, more stability, more money. Did I continue to doubt myself and my life’s path? Yes. Would I have changed it? Hell no.

Fast forward a decade or so, and you will find me more domesticated. A husband (cute and French thanks to more European travels), a beautiful 9 year old daughter, a mortgage, bills, two cars and a yard. I am still creating my jewelry and it has evolved beyond what I ever imagined when I started. I teach yoga weekly; a practice that has sustained me for more than 20 years is a gift I have the honor of sharing with others. I still doubt my choices. My life’s path.

I often wonder what it would be like to have that regular paycheck, that 401 K, a sense of control and sensibility that comes with a long-held career. And yet, my beautiful life is what it is because of the choices I have made, the roads I have traveled. Is it frustrating at times? Yes. Does constantly putting out the vulnerability required of a creative easy? No f*cking way. Do I think about dropping it all to just go work for a paycheck? Sometimes. Yet I am always quickly drawn back to the insanity of the artist. Creating because I can’t NOT do it. Failing and doing it again and again and again for those moments of success. Learning to TRUST in the process and remember that happiness is not an external set of circumstances, but a state cultivated from within.

Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned previously, Anthropoloca was born of necessity. I needed a flexible means of income, and making jewelry provided it. I had no idea when I started my jewelry would be a craft that would carry me through so many stages in life.

My work has evolved in ways I never could have imagined, and is in a constant state of evolution. I have been able to connect with hundreds, if not thousands, of people through my work as a jewelry artist and yoga instructor. I have cultivated an amazing community who appreciates living authentically and the worth of something handcrafted with love and care. I have been able to encourage and inspire other creators and artists through my own creative expression and encourage the humans who wear my jewelry to live their lives to the fullest (#rockyourloca).

The anthropologist in me believes we are all part of a larger narrative, with our own individual stories to tell. Most of us want the opportunity to be seen and heard–to tell our part of the story. I feel like I don’t just create jewelry, I create connections. These connections sustain and stoke my creative fire, which I put back out into the collective story of us all.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think people underestimate the power of word of mouth and the free ways they can support their artist friends. Simple things like liking, commenting, and particularly sharing a creative’s work can have profound effects. Support doesn’t always have to be in the form of a purchase.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have always struggled to call myself an artist as i never formally trained. Over the years, I have come to recognize that one doesn’t need a piece of paper to validate one’s creativity. I still have my doubts at times, but I have learned to not listen to the voice that whispers “you’re not a real artist”–who gets to decide what is art or who is an artist? It is all relative–what one person sees as art, another may see as craft, another may see as trash. Unlearning society’s standard of what gets to be called art and who gets called an artist has been one of my biggest personal roadblocks that I am constantly working on.

The Artist’s Way was a formative book in my path that helped me rediscover and unblock so many harmful concepts about myslef as a creative. The morning pages are still a part of my creatve process and have helped me come into full acceptance of my creative self, degree or no degree.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.anthropolocastudio.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/anthropoloca
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthropolocajewelry

Image Credits
John Gillespie Photography Cirque Studios Photograhpy