We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sofia Mifsud. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sofia below.
Hi Sofia, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
Growing up I constantly felt as if people were misunderstanding me, it was simply a fact of life (or so I assumed). From past managers in shops that I didn’t enjoy working at telling me to get my head out of the clouds, to teachers showing irritation towards me for asking too many questions – I consistently and without fail felt as if I were speaking a different language to them, and I could never grasp why. Throughout the past few years, finding my confidence and my artistic voice, and doing so through my sheer persistence and therapy, I have come to realise that this misunderstanding came primarily because I did not understand myself. My mental illness diagnoses, my learning to stand up for what I need and the language with which I speak through my art have been essential in realising that I did not have to feel misunderstood forever.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up, as I’ve said, feeling very misunderstood, which in turn caused me to feel very isolated from most people. I found my solace and my warmth in story. From reading my first Charles’ Dickens book as a toddler, I knew I wanted to be exactly like those whose names were written on the novels I loved. I didn’t have the language for it yet, but from the moment I can remember, I wanted to tell stories – and it was in my teens that I began to work efficiently on the premises for the books I am working on now. In my early twenties, feeling drawn towards adding visuals to my written stories, and wanting to expand my horizons and abilities in film, I picked up a camera and attended University in order to study moving and still image. My passion for consuming story is what caused me to keep picking up my pen and my camera. I wanted, and still do, to tell stories of magic and wonder, and to bring to light the dream worlds I was so often penalised for sitting inside when I was younger.
My work, as everything in my life, is motivated through understanding my own journey of living with Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar 2 and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Three big phrases, which I hope to make sound less scary to people through my work and my openness about how my brain works. Demystifying my brain through art has been healing to me.
There have been moments where I have not had the best experiences with other creatives, especially as a child, and I want my stories to allow others to feel safe, to feel seen, and to feel as if they belong in my own little fairytale world. As I watch myself grow as an artist and a human being, I learn so much about myself through telling stories, especially to strangers who support me on the internet and beyond. The emotions I feel when someone reaches out to tell me that one of my pieces has helped them understand themselves in some way are indescribable. I do not believe I would be here without my artistic expression, so to be able to turn the pain and the darkness that I have experienced in this life into something, one that allows even one person to consume a story, is quite magical.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Sometimes it is difficult to explain to those who do not work in a creative field JUST how many financial sacrifices it takes to create work that many consume entirely for free. That short film that you scrolled past thinking it was cringe took someone hours and hour of work, mot likely operating at a lo all the while. That curated photo that you ‘liked’ on Instagram without thinking, likely made an artist jump for joy – allowing them to imagine exactly how you felt as you consumed it. In many fields, especially professional fields, workers tend to know that they will be receiving payment for the work they are doing. They know they will be able to afford rent, and bills, and others don’t generally attempt to pay them less for a day’s work on a whim. In many creative fields, clients tend to see a price and immediately appear skeptical about it. Most creatives I know are constantly worried about overselling themselves, even though they have been operating at a loss for years. Most of us do it for the absolute love of creating, which is why even poverty cannot stop us in the end, but it is tiring to have to start afresh with every job, hoping that people will not question your prices too much so that you may be able to make rent.
Many professional creatives will also hide this aspect of themselves. There is an encouragement to ‘fake it till you make it’, and many do not want to admit how difficult it is to support themselves financially, because those who are not in a creative field might judge them, or refuse to hire them due to optics. We really do love doing what we do, we also really, really love to eat and pay our rent (it helps us create more, for you)!
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Therapy, and fellow creatives.
Many of us were brought up to see other people as competition, professionally most especially. Once I began my journey into truly building a career out of my creative passion, I got the impression from some older creatives that I constantly needed to be isolated and see any other artist as a threat in order to ‘make it’. This is not the case, and once I realised just how important building a creative community was, my professional life became ten times easier. In fact, my career only truly started to blossom once I trusted my community, and began to build the bridges I hadn’t even noticed I’d needed for so long. If only I had seen this sooner.
I will also never tire of speaking about therapy. It has been one of the most essential resources of my life, and without it I doubt I would have a career in my field. As artists and creatives, many of us tend to have hearts that crack and open so wholly, and this is what nourishes our art and allows us to tell honest stories – but without therapy I fear my heart may have just broken me before I could have made anything I actually wanted to make. I believe therapy is for every human being on this earth, an I believe it should be a basic right. But especially artists. I know we want to go it alone, I know we need to feel to make. But we also need to stay another day in order to make even more.
Go to therapy. Please stay.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sofiamifsud.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiawritesthings/
- Facebook: SofiaWritesThings
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6tcG2ILeMwYkT_h9KPiQA
- Other: Blog: https://sofiawritesthings.wordpress.com/
Image Credits
Models: @elegy_rose @funeralxrose @jarron_lamar @agubras @itsme_p