introductions

Hello world. I am starting this off with a short introduction of myself so you can get to know a bit about me. My name is Ariel, I am from the southwest desert of Arizona and I would say I am an average 26 (at the time of writing this, now 27 in 2025) year old American gal. 

I am prefacing this with the famous concept from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath which was one of my favorite books in my teenage years and has now gained TikTok stardom with this particular quote:

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

In elementary, I was just kind of middle-of-the-road on a lot of things, not an honors roll kid, not a star athlete, etc. (my mom would not agree with this) but that is how I felt. I will say my desire and gifts existed in trying new things and diving head first. I was obsessed with drawing, taught myself guitar, loved designing and sewing clothing, and knew I wanted to be creative in my career but I always felt like I had something to prove academically and needed to pick a classic, stable career. I worked tirelessly to go to college as an honors student with scholarship and felt validated by that at the time. I graduated in 2019 with a B.S. Biochemistry degree trying to do everything “right” but ultimately felt like that wasn’t who I really was and didn’t know where to go from there. I tried starting a couple businesses without direction in college and moved on, they were more like hobbies, although my heart kept telling me I wanted to do that full time. After a year or two working in massive corporate offices, I put some thought into what I wanted to do, went for it, and now I work in a field I thoroughly enjoy, and for that I am grateful. I am about to graduate with another degree which I pursued after the shut down in a need for academic structure and to feel like I was moving forward (see a pattern?). But here I am again with this nagging force that I yearn to create on a daily basis.

I blinked and now I am 26. With social media and the social pedestal for people under 25, I feel like my youth is slipping by and my life continues to set into a groove of normality, working full time, stressing about finances, feeling overwhelmed, and being so incredibly grateful for what I have, yet somehow unfulfilled? How is this possible? I have everything I need. I have now done everything “right”. I am a glass half full type of person but there is a part of my soul that is not being watered the same way it was when I was a kid exploring new things everyday.  It makes me uncomfortable because we do truly only live one life and I wish I could do it all. Those who get to make it full time as an artist are a special bunch but there is a way to live artistically and that’s what I want to foster here and learn more about - learn how to live in flow state and integrate many components, existing in balance with each other. I know there are more of you out there with this dilemma, either now or in the past, and I want to make a platform so we can be supported and learn from other’s who have overcome their own hurdles.

All these media outlets talk about side hustles and pursuing new, productive things constantly and just doing the most. It makes me feel like I’m not doing enough? Or confused on how people do this while following through on the rest of their responsibilities. It has to be a lie to some degree and I don’t think we need to be productive 100% of the time.  I would like to find the fulfillment, knowledge, passion, drive, and creative spark in the core of what life consists of without trying to tack on side hustles to make up for what’s missing.

So now that I have a healed, healthy life and a career that looks good on paper, I still seek connection with artistic, mindful people, but I do not know where to find them. I no longer resonate with the communities I see out there and I am not dedicated to one art or aesthetic to assimilate into a culture or club. There has to be a way we can learn from each other and soul search to continue to actually grow within ourselves and find our individuality within a community outside of an aesthetic we are being sold by someone or consuming more things to feel good. I am just an average woman wanting to cultivate growth in myself and my peers so we can feel connected in a healthy way and without having to go find a group and only do that one thing once a week. We don’t need more time commitments, let’s be real. I am just curious about it all, I want to hear from everyone I can and honor many different crafts. I want to connect people and water relationships encouraging creativity and thoughtful conversation.

I am realizing there is a way to integrate creativity into daily life and to still find interest in learning beyond the obvious creative outlets. I wanted to create a platform to encourage others and guide myself into finding purpose in the current world we live in. Yes, there are commitments and obligations, mouths to feed, and bills to pay, but there has to be a way to still find that special feeling of creating, contributing, and connecting. 

I noticed these attributes and love for patterns and connections in others and I hope this platform can resonate with you. This is a space to recognize other creative intellectuals and their journeys, to showcase and learn from them, provide tools through research on how to find your purpose and passion, to encourage your curiosity, and hopefully down the road, foster a community to exchange ideas and promote positive change, and support you in becoming your vision whatever that may be.