Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.
Dora Kearney
Being a professional multi-faceted, self taught artist with a corporate career can cause some confusion. I am often mischaracterized as a stiff white-collar type A personality based on my career path. When in reality, I am truly middle-brained and need both aspects of analytics and creativity to fuel my passions. I tend to focus on the positive and think having this internal fuel helps me not only create my art, it helps me describe it and organize it into series or carefully curated exhibitions. Read more>>
Jessica Daylover
I know I’m supposed to pick a single example, but I’m going to zoom out and speak broadly to my experience as a content creator. As an autistic Cancer Moon/Cancer Rising girlie with trauma, my greatest dream is to be loved by everyone on the internet at all times. Is that really too much to ask? Read more>>
Abby Webster
Performing my songs is one of the only times I feel truly seen. I think that’s what keeps me coming back. In those moments, all the fragmented parts of me converge into one powerful force. I don’t feel powerful most of the time. In day-to-day life, I often feel splintered, like parts of my soul have been buried or shut away. It’s hard to access and accurately express them to others. It’s a struggle being a person in society, and it’s not because I’m a mysterious badass. I’m neurodivergent, socially anxious, and incapable of fakery unless I’m pretty much silent. I’m constantly monitoring my facial expressions and body language, trying to appear the way I think I should. Read more>>
Akiko Hosaki
Although the word “collaborative pianist” is getting popular, my work, playing for other people (singers, instrumentalists, choirs, etc.), is still called “accompanist” and many people even don’t know how to pronounce it correctly (uhk-kom-pani-est: wrong). Read more>>