Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sydney Jackson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sydney, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I think my whole life has centered around taking risks, sometimes without me even realizing it. The most prominent risk for me was my decision to take a gap semester from college last year. My college journey has been all over the place, from changing my major four times, realizing that I was extremely neurodivergent and needed to be medicated, and even being at my lowest point mentally. Like most impressionable kids who don’t know themselves, I went to college because I felt it was my duty. My whole life I was living by this script that I needed to be the perfect child, the perfect daughter, the perfect student – to be everything that I assumed people wanted me to be. It almost killed me. I think taking time off of school gave me the push I needed to really evaluate what I wanted to get out of life. On top of therapy, tapping into my inner child, and (still) learning how to slow down and rest were things that aided in my ability to take a step back and understand that the only person I needed to please was myself. I think that was the biggest risk of all.

Now, I’m back in school and I’m on track to graduate by next fall. I no longer hold myself to ridiculous standards of how perfect I should be or allow myself to be influenced by what I think I should want. Taking time away from school allowed me to do a lot of great things and I was given opportunities that I don’t think I would have gotten had I just tried to “tough it out” last year. Especially as a Black, female-presenting person, it’s expected of us to take the most safe and secure path with a lot of things. We are conditioned to believe that chasing security, materialism, and settling for less are supposed to be enough. Knowing how to trust our instincts and choose ourselves is a risk that we are not always encouraged and even dissuaded to do. Showing up as my most authentic self and becoming comfortable with taking risks has only ever paid off in the end.

Sydney, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

To keep it short, I do a little bit of everything. I pick up hobbies and aspirations like side quests in a video game. I’m also convinced that I have undiagnosed ADHD as I have an endless thirst for curiosity and want to try new things in addition to being restless. Primarily, I am a video editor for the We Are Dream Chasers! podcast and I crochet. I am also a writer despite suffering from chronic writer’s block; I have been published in the Summer 2021 edition of BUST Magazine, the Fall 2021 edition of Sunstroke Magazine, and was featured in the online publication, Flanelle Magazine.

Due to being a college student, I usually don’t have the time or energy to focus on all of my crafts. Crocheting has been the one thing keeping me sane this year and I genuinely want to pursue that as a full-time occupation. I have an online store and I’m always open to commissions and connecting with other artists. As far as video editing goes, I have only worked on a couple of projects, the most consistent one being the podcast I mentioned. While I am passionate about the craft, I haven’t been as consistent with putting my work out there and advertising my skillset in the best way.

I wouldn’t consider myself a business person/entrepreneur/etc. as I have zero business skills. I’m just one person who’s trying to survive each day like everyone else. My survival skills have mainly resided in the arts, luckily.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

In 2019, I started a YouTube channel. The channel started as a cover channel where I would do song covers (which have since been privated/deleted). Then, I came across this creator named Sara K who would make long videos talking about whatever was on her mind in relation to her life, social issues, advice that she would give to her followers, etc. She was and still is one of the most genuine people on the platform in my opinion as she didn’t sugarcoat the things that she would talk about. She never aimed to be “brand friendly” or to be the most popular influencer, and I appreciated that. To see someone be so vulnerable about how they felt about society and how messed up it is, made me feel seen. It was because of her that I switched from making singing videos to talking about my own life and experiences.

I’ve made videos discussing everything from mental health, sexuality, narcissistic abuse, and the struggles of being a young person trying to navigate a world that is addicted to social media and materialism. Through the stuff that I have made, I have had strangers leave comments on how thankful they were for how honest I was. People telling me that they related to everything that I was saying, telling me that their perspectives on certain things changed when hearing my words, and thanking me for being myself. I had realized that I had built something that I had always craved, which was community. I barely have any subscribers and it took me two years just to get over a thousand views on a video, but knowing that I made someone feel less alone in whatever they’re going through is something that I will always be proud of.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society benefits from art and creativity so it only makes sense that people support artists and respect the work that they do. That includes not lowballing or trying to cheat artists out of their money, not complaining about the prices that we set for our labor, and showing up for the people in your life who are pursuing creative endeavors. A lot of things in this world would not exist or function without creativity, so to only view art as a meaningless hobby or something that doesn’t require much effort is just plain insulting. Also, support does not always have to be financial. A simple compliment or shoutout to an artist whose work that you enjoy can be enough. Also, do not dismiss your local artists. There are a lot of talented people in this world and some of them may be living in your neighborhood, city, state, or apartment complex. There’s a reason why people on social media urge us to support local businesses, and it’s because you are giving back to the community. Community is what saves people and creates innovation and change. To loosely quote Zendaya, “It’s not there is a lack of talent out there, there’s a lack of opportunities”. Be the one that can provide that opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sydmariah.my.canva.site
• Instagram: sydmariah_
• Youtube: @sydmariah
• Other: Crochet Shop: @sydknotsydney on Depop / for commissions: www.sydknotsydney.myshopify.com Crochet Instagram: @sydknotsydney Crochet Tiktok: @sydknotsydney