A Letter From Drew
What is it to emót.?
To emót. is to express. To emót. is to exclaim. To emót. is to turn yourself inside out for the world to see. At emót. there is no other, or better option than being you. Be you, wearing you on your sleeve, bundled under layers and layers of you. Yes, you heard me right. Wear you. Wear you so loudly your deaf grandmother can hear you.
It's not if, but when a tree falls..
Many of us know the age-old question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?". The answer to this famous proposition will forever be up for debate, and its practical application extends far beyond the trees. When applied to our mental health, the answer is also not so simple. Many a tree has fallen in my forest, and for so long no one heard a sound because I never made a sound. My forest was in a snow globe on a shelf, and I didn't even get the pleasure of picking it up and shaking it myself. I would allow just about anyone else to pick it up and shake it, watching them snap off branches and destroy the developing landscape. In this snow globe what I thought were strong, towering trees turned out to be artificial ones with no roots to speak of - trees a moderate breeze or light shove could topple over.
We're often awakened to this reality the hard way. We tend to only learn in hindsight how to treat ourselves well and set boundaries. That's after we've already tied our self esteem to other people and things that have their own trajectories, getting taken for a ride on a rocky road we wouldn't have chosen for ourselves. I used to park my sense of self worth in whatever romantic relationship I was in, or whatever situation granted me the best perceived social standing - otherwise known as external validation. I used to ignore what I thought of me in favor of what I thought other people thought of me. We all want to appear strong, smart, successful, heroic, or any outward superlative that we can project to gain the approval of others. What I'm finding many people lack in this ever abundant technological space age - where wifi connections are seemingly outnumbering true social connections - is their own internal validation that allows them to be truly, emphatically, and unapologetically themselves to the world.
The everyday theatrics of life.
To clarify, emót. comes from the word "emote", which was derived from the word "emotion" and used mainly in theatrical settings. When someone would "emote" in that sense, it was to say they were expressing the emotion of the character they were playing in that moment. Aren't we all acting, or playing a character at some point or another? At a job you hate to impress your superiors in hopes of a promotion, at a family function to hide your wild side from your traditional aunts/uncles or grandparents, or on a first date pretending to share interests you couldn't care less about in fear of coming off as a weirdo - these are just a few examples of the many I can imagine are going through your head after reading this.
The common denominator in each of these cases is that it's an inaccurate representation of you, like wearing a mask. Halloween passes once a year, and of course it's fun to dress up as something you're not. I know I had a blast. We all need an escape sometimes, but Halloween is 1 day (okay, maybe 31 days) a year, not 365. If we can't learn to be comfortable in our own skin, it's always going to be a long 11 months ‘til next October.
emót. wrapped.
I could go on, but I'll wrap this up. While this is a far from complete background on me, my goal is to let you know I've felt, and felt a lot in my 33 years. What's great about that for better or worse, is all the valuable lessons I've learned along the way. It’s those lessons that have afforded me more control over who shakes my snow globe. While the pain is inevitable, the suffering is mostly optional. If you don't learn to swim in the pain, you're more likely to drown in the suffering. With that being said, let's go for a swim!
emót. serves as a symbol of the internal battle for the feeling of comfort in your own skin. emót. is a platform for artful expression in its many forms, for vulnerability, for the very real and sometimes difficult conversations, and for setting a good example that could forever change the life of someone you may never meet. Whatever thoughts or feelings this letter may have invoked in you, please leave a comment below. I'd love to connect. Also please follow emót. on all your favorite social platforms to keep up and keep in touch. I'm looking forward to speaking and collaborating with so many of you. Let’s be the loudest trees to ever fall in this forest!
From the inside out,
Drew