I was in Salem checking something off my bucket list when I heard Dolly Parton h…

I was in Salem checking something off my bucket list when I heard Dolly Parton had passed away. And it made me think about what it really means to make a life. I had gone on this spontaneous little adventure simply because I wanted to experience somewhere new & feed my soul. I walked through a place shaped by the history of people, many of them women, who were persecuted in a climate of fear & accusation. I stood in front of original Salvador Dalí pieces, an artist whose work has inspired me for years. And somewhere in the middle of all of that came the news that another artist had left this world after creating a legacy that reached far beyond her art. “Don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” That quote hit differently out there. Because what do we really leave behind? The things we create. The way we make people feel. The chances we take. The stories people tell about us. The pieces of ourselves we leave scattered in other people’s lives. As an artist, I think about that a lot. Our work can live in homes, on bodies, in memories, long after the moment we made it has passed. So take the spontaneous trip. Stand in front of the art that moves you. Learn the history. Make your own history. Create relentlessly. But don’t get so busy building a life that you forget to actually live it. 🖤

@ShadesofPandemonium · 2 likes