We recently connected with Taylor Roar and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

When I began writing stories about my wellness journey and sharing them online in 2020, all I knew was that I’d felt lost and misunderstood. And that I wasn’t alone.

At my university, I’d witnessed a broken mental healthcare system that was struggling to keep up with the demands of young adults who did not know how to cope with big life changes, newfound responsibilities, and social and societal pressures. My instincts were even further confirmed after graduation when the lockdowns awakened many to the truth about their mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

I’d contemplated many ways to advocate for more nuanced conversations around those three wellness topics. I could be a social worker, or therapist, a mentor, or non-profit worker – but I landed on art as my medium for advocacy. I’d combine my journalistic instincts and my digital artistry to craft compelling multimedia stories.

Throughout history art has been, and will continue to be, a powerful catalyst for change in both the individual and the whole of humanity. To me, the most admirable artists are not only dedicated to their craft, but have also offered that craft to something bigger than themselves: to transformation. I realized that the greatest honor I could be given was to be told, in response to my creations, “That moved me.”

The phrase implies that two key intentions for my artistry have been met. Firstly, that I’ve made someone feel deeply. Secondly, that they’ve been changed as a result of that feeling. Both awareness and mobilization are the root of my intention and mission. I’m always learning how to better create works that align with those intentions, and refining my approach to making those intentions clear when I present my brand.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a 24-year-old storyteller, multimedia artist, and mental wellness advocate from the D.C. Metropolitan area. A graduate of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, I explored my writing career as a copy editor and reporter in almost every niche – business, sports, arts, entertainment, and local government – for 6 years.

Deeply compelled to expound conversations about the lack of mental health resources in U.S. universities, and beyond, in 2020 I began using my social media platforms to invite my community to examine the importance of communing with their mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Since then, I’ve garnered a following of nearly 50,000 wellness enthusiasts across my social-media platforms, hosted transformative self-reflection workshops, featured in podcasts and magazines, and collaborated with globally-recognized brands.

My work explores the intersections of art, digital media, and wellness, with the intention of illuminating the ways our consumption habits affect our well-being. Dedicated to combating the negative cognitive effects of our increasingly digitized world, I’ve centered my community around sharing accessible practices for self-exploration.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For better or worse, the media has always been a powerful institution for spreading information and manipulating the masses. Now that virtually any media can have global reach, we’re seeing these new effects the internet can have on social norms, trends, relationships etc.
As consumption of digital media in the U.S. steadily rises above that of traditional media, it’s important to recognize that this shift has a marked impact on our brains. We’re seeing conversations about digital wellness, including topics like “doomscrolling,” “social media cleansing,” and “information overload,” become more prevalent.

I’ve centered my community around self-exploration because I believe that rooting into a deep sense of self-knowing is the key to avoiding floating off into an endless virtual landscape. As our relationship to technology and the online world shifts, I believe three ideologies can metamorphose one’s relationship to their inner world:

Slow down. Embracing the philosophies of the slow-living movement is a remedy for the negative neurological and ecological effects of this highly digital, fast-paced world.

Be mindful. Utilizing mindfulness techniques brings awareness and acceptance to the inner stability we each need to change our relationships with ourselves and the world around us.

Find faith. Building a relationship with Love (God, The Creator, Oneness. Whatever! Whomever!) gifts us a foundation of hope from which we are able to live more joyfully, in service to a purpose greater than ourselves.

My works ask not that you adopt these philosophies, but that you commune with your personal foundational philosophies and harness them to create both the life you desire, and a more loving world.

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

Many are championing the use of social media as an invaluable marketing tool. And it, in many ways, is. Still, it is a tool to be used strategically, and the shifting landscape means no one is one-hundred-percent sure of the “right” strategy.

There is a general consensus that internet success takes consistency, but what it means to be consistent is different from creator to creator. What is sustainable is different for everyone. One of my biggest struggles has been how to create a level of consistency that honors my energy, my community’s demands, and the dreaded algorithm.

A lesson I had to unlearn was that I had to leverage every trend, meme, point of commentary, etc. That I had to create something every day to stay relevant. That I had to keep up with some undefined, yet unreasonably fast pace.

Social media should work for you, not the other way around. I’m still learning how to utilize it in the best way for me, but I’ve started by getting really clear on how to sustain my creative energy and discern what kinds of opportunities are really opportunities. There should always be a return on investment.

Small creators beware of ploys for free marketing. Your time is valuable. Your intellectual property is valuable. Your support is valuable. You don’t have to offer these things only in exchange for cash, but they should not be free. Ask for resources in return or refuse the “opportunity.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taysdivinelife.com/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmqnIyxHMXbz1YogGoFv3cw