Bootstraps

Sometimes, things don't go to plan. I think we all know this, but somehow we all still seem to hope it’s not true. Sometimes when we try to kick doors down, we just end up with splinters, and other times, what’s on the other side just isn’t as amazing as we anticipated. 

What do we do then? We take a breath and then we keep trying. We pull ourselves up by our metaphorical bootstraps (or literal ones if I’m back on the family farm) and we try something else. 

Not every door is meant to open for us, but the ones that will will be brilliant. 

As a young artist, my plans and projects contain a lot of pivoting. Changing venues, formats, colours, prices, dates, titles, mediums- it’s all part of the job. The logistics of being an artist have ultimately been the hardest thing for me to adjust to; the artmaking is the easy part. 

So when things don’t go to plan, when I’m disappointed or frustrated or crying in my car to “This is me trying” by Taylor Swift (which happens way more than I’d like to admit), it’s important to go back to the beginning and remember why I put myself through all of this. 

I grab onto the bootstraps of my old Mongrel boots, half melted from a bonfire in Yulara, wander down the paddock and remind myself why (and how) I ended up here. 

I tell myself (with an absolutely cringeworthy level of drama and self-obsession) that “it’s just who i am”. I was born with an artist’s brain. Sometimes, it can feel like giving up would be the easy option, but I know that isn’t true. The hardest thing for me to do would be to stop creating.

I know that I will live a great, big, exciting life if I can just keep trying. And I think the same might be true for everyone.

xx Rose