文字起こし 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:11.439
Welcome to Lattes & Art, presented by J-Squared Atelier.
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.920
This is the place where we have conversations around creativity, brewed one sip at a time.
00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:24.800
I'm your host, James William Moore, artist, curator, and a little over caffeinated this morning.
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:30.719
Today's guest is someone whose words and wisdom cut straight through the noise.
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:46.159
Tiffany Smith is a writer and creative whose work feels like a manifesto for authenticity, exploring what it means to create without filters, to find your voice in a world full of noise, and to make peace within perfection.
00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:52.000
In this episode, we're going to talk about learning to believe in yourself long before the world catches up.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.479
The power of vulnerability.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:59.280
And how to bridge the invisible with the visible through art.
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.840
So grab your favorite coffee, settle in, and let's dive into conversation.
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.040
That's as real and refreshing as it gets.
00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.159
Tiffany, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.120
I'm excited to get into this conversation with you.
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:15.040
Me as well.
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.959
I've been looking forward to this.
00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:23.040
So I'm excited to see what we'll what we'll dig up in the weeds of creativity.
00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:24.959
I look forward to it.
00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:32.719
The writing that you do, it sort of feels like a manifesto for authenticity.
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.799
Am I getting that right?
00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.879
That sounds pretty accurate.
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:48.640
And it's something that I've been leaning towards more um since my move to New York, which has been just a little over four years now.
00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:59.439
And since then I've been kind of wanting to almost find a structure or way to communicate on an authentic level.
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:05.599
I I kind of suffered from what a lot of people suffer from when they're first starting out.
00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:18.479
And I overly filtered myself, especially in any type of email reach out or getting into someone's DM or just reaching out in general, whether it's a platform, email, phone.
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:28.000
And I just kind of had that habit of too much filtering and not enough, you know, this is who I am, and let's be human.
00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:33.360
Well, and you know, society has kind of brought us to this filtered concept, right?
00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:39.840
We have filters on our cameras when we take selfies and when we're on Zoom, so we look better.
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.719
And so yeah, that filtering is everywhere.
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.479
And do you feel society kind of pushes us to that?
00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:53.520
You know, it's interesting that you bring that up because I've kind of witnessed this interesting contrast recently.
00:02:53.520 --> 00:03:05.199
Because when you when you think about how people communicate even within uh the realm of professional emails, like we all like stare at that email for like an hour and rewrite it over and over again and try to structure it.
00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.919
And we know it's we know we're gonna be judged.
00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:38.159
And so there's there's this professional filtering, and then there's this filtering that takes place on this more human level within the social media platforms, and I find that the filtering that I typically see somewhere like TikTok, LinkedIn, or Instagram, for example, this filtering of the physical surface level, and maybe even the short bio is a little bit filtered.
00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:50.960
But then I see people on, you know, they they make their kind of stories in their Instagram or they'll hop on TikTok and they'll share something really authentic about themselves.
00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:56.719
So it's interesting how we're in this kind of like balancing act.
00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.919
It's like we're all trying to balance, we're all trying to grow up a little bit.
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.520
So you mentioned moving to New York a few years ago.
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:14.080
Was that part of what brought you to kind of reevaluating even filters you were using?
00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.519
Was there something that inspired you to get rid of that stuff?
00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:18.319
Absolutely.
00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:18.720
Yeah.
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.600
That there was a big kind of push.
00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:31.199
I shouldn't even say a push, it was more of this big pool that kind of came in and surfaced to move to New York City and kind of follow that path.
00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:44.160
And once I made that decision and you know that you're up against deciding the path that's least taken, the path, you know, versus the path of least resistance.
00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:50.720
You're going into the forest, walking the tightrope with the blindfold, and you don't know what's gonna happen next.
00:04:50.720 --> 00:05:01.040
So when I made that big leap and that big jump for my kind of authentic aligned path, it almost forced me to keep going.
00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:15.040
You know, it was like if you're gonna make a choice like this, then you're also gonna need to be eating the foods that feel right, or you're gonna, you know, your sleep schedule has to fit for you, or the way you speak or introduce yourself has to be you.
00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:16.879
It just kind of went into everything.
00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:23.279
Before we jump into this idea of a creative awakening, I wanna ask you.
00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:31.120
You made a statement in some of the writings that I went through that you have to believe in yourself long
Load full transcript
before the world catches up.
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.600
Can you explain that?
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:40.560
Yeah, you know, I very much came from a really, really isolated situation.
00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:51.519
I grew up kind of telling myself that my personality, quote unquote, was someone who wasn't very social and someone that didn't connect to people.
00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.839
And I was fully convinced of this.
00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:00.160
But what I didn't understand is that I had my vision and my creative passion.
00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:17.759
And I I believed in that myself, but I was fully surrounded by people that were either not sharing in that type of you know, path that I can relate to, but also more importantly, I wasn't really sharing it with anyone either.
00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:19.920
I was just kind of keeping it to myself.
00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:34.639
But there there are a couple kind of points to that because yes, it is important to kind of practice that self-love, love and appreciate, respect yourself, create your own sense of harmony and peace, and then you kind of bring that light into the world, right?
00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:36.000
That's kind of the idea.
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.199
So, yes, absolutely believe in yourself.
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.160
You don't really need the validation from other people.
00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:53.519
But at the same time, when given the opportunity to share and be authentic with other people, take advantage of that too, because you don't always know who your supporters are if you're not sharing anything.
00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:56.079
So maybe there are other people that believe in you too.
00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:58.240
Well, and how true that is, right?
00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:06.160
Like many times as artists, we find ourselves we kind of isolate away from things because we get into our headspace.
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:12.079
But when we keep ourselves from that, we sort of miss out hearing who the fan club might be.
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:13.759
Absolutely.
00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.600
Yeah, we we just assume it's not there for a long time, too.
00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:18.240
Right?
00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:24.639
I mean, it's like, oh, look, there are people that support and actually appreciate what I'm doing.
00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:29.439
And if we don't put ourselves out there, we often don't hear that.
00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:30.000
Right.
00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.040
And then we go into telling ourselves stories, right?
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:34.560
You know, it's fun.
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.439
Then we just are in our own heads criticizing ourselves.
00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.600
You say that you didn't chase inspiration, it found you.
00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.040
How did that happen?
00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:54.560
I've always had creative visions that have surfaced, uh, mind's eye, I guess, is a way to say it.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:09.279
Since I was five years old, I have always had these big visions of stories and film and creations and random flashes of design kind of pop into my head sometimes.
00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.439
So it all just surfaces.
00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:13.759
I don't really know where it comes from.
00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:18.079
Uh I guess it comes from somewhere, but I I don't try to make it happen.
00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:19.439
I don't really look for inspiration.
00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.120
I just kind of it just happens.
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.480
Isn't it interesting when we don't force something?
00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.079
Like so many times we are locked into, I've got to create, I've got to do something.
00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:30.639
Yeah.
00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:37.919
And and when we kind of take a breath and step back, is that what you're sort of talking about?
00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:46.799
That you're not pushing it, you're not forcing it, you're it's manifesting in some of the most random ways and places.
00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:48.000
Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:59.200
And I think maybe that may be something that, you know, I I maybe just have the fortune of that too, because I've never known the other side of that.
00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:06.399
I've only known um since I was little my whole life, um, random things just kind of surfacing.
00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:09.039
So, you know, and I've never practiced it.
00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:13.840
So it's it's not even something that I can say, well, here's here's the process, right?
00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:25.519
If I'm given some type of creative project or assignment, I go, you know, this is my mantra, and I go into this dark room and like I don't really have that process.
00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:31.360
But I really do just allow things to serve it's it's it's just the way that I've always been.
00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.799
So it's funny because I don't think I know the other side of that.
00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:53.279
Well, it's gotta feel pretty good because I've I myself and I know several artist friends that will get wrapped up in something and we miss that opportunity to find it because we've already preconceived it's supposed to be this way, and this is where creativity is gonna come from.
00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:53.919
Dang it.
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.759
No, don't do that.
00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:14.159
Yeah, it's it's it's kind of like, you know, if you were gonna practice graphic design, for example, and you just wanted to play in that world, and you were just simply organizing some spheres or circles on your you know, illustrator window.
00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:15.039
You know what I mean?
00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:28.399
It's just kind of if if you're used to just playing and you're just used to creativity surfacing and being fun and coming together in a flow, I would I would recommend that as the process.
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:33.039
I I am of course gonna recommend that people try that.
00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:48.960
Well, when when we came into COVID all those years ago now, and my art, I'm a photographer, I stage and manage and direct scenes, I'm not looking for that spontaneous moment really.
00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.480
And I ran into a situation that I couldn't be around people.
00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:01.039
We had lockdown, and and I'm sitting here going, what do I do?
00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.039
Where do I go?
00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:11.120
And in those moments, it's like this panic because I knew how it worked, and now it doesn't.
00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:20.639
And I think through that I experienced a level of creativity because it was suddenly popping into my head.
00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:22.960
I didn't have all that other noise going on.
00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:24.320
So it was quite exciting.
00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:30.960
It gave me a whole new avenue to go down, which now, you know, a handful of years later, I'm still doing that.
00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:38.080
And it's actually turned into one of the biggest works of my practice since I started.
00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:46.000
So it, you know, yeah, I like this idea of, you know, let's be random, let's see what happens, let's take a breath.
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:47.519
Absolutely.
00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:53.600
And just really not caring so much about the limitations, you know.
00:11:53.600 --> 00:12:06.240
But like, who who told you that there were limitations when it came to even designing something as simple as a birthday card, for example, like just anything, like, oh, I'm planning this party for my friend.
00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.600
Who told you that it had to be this traditional thing?
00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:12.000
Like, what's purpose thing for you?
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:12.960
What sounds fun?
00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:18.159
You know, it doesn't have to fit anything, it's it's just something that you're creating.
00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:26.320
Well, and you know, I teach and I tell students in my art classes, art has no rules, but I kind of forget that sometimes.
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.320
It's like I have rules.
00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:28.879
Right.
00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.720
We live in structure, you know.
00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:40.000
I mean, I'm I'm currently developing my first short film, and it's it's specifically being created to submit to Tribeca.
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:51.919
And I'm now going through that process where I'm kind of storyboarding right now, and I'm telling myself, you know, there are no rules, but at the same time, there is a structure here.
00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:59.200
Like, you know, you you can create the structure, you know, it can be your structure, but there does have to be a structure.
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.080
So it's interesting.
00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:07.360
So now I want to jump into something that you talk about using art to bridge the invisible with the visible.
00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.639
What does that mean for you in your own practice?
00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:15.360
Like you're talking about this opportunity to create this film for Tribeca.
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.440
How does that manifest for you?
00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:24.320
A lot of kind of connecting the invisible to the visible, a lot of it is bringing things into reality.
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:43.840
So think about, you know, if we want to go with the term soul level or, you know, inner calling or that inner kind of compass voice, frequency, the different types of layers that we kind of move within energetically as we exist, right, in a universe.
00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:53.759
Whatever is calling to you, whatever is pulling, as that emerges and surfaces, maybe you have some of the visuals kind of come in, right?
00:13:53.759 --> 00:14:00.159
Making the invisible the visible is that entire process because it still has to come without shame.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.360
It has to come without judgment, it has to come without limitations.
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:09.919
If something is surfacing for a film for you and you start judging it, well, what if people don't like it?
00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:17.279
Well, what if someone watches it halfway through and they have something to say about it that doesn't make me feel so great?
00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:30.000
If you start coming at it in that way, when it's still in that invisible realm, what you're gonna bring into the visible is not gonna be authentic because you've already prejudged it.
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:42.879
So that kind of process and practice is bring the invisible into the visible, you know, bring your bring your light into the reality of the world as a something that you've but you've actually created without judging it so much.
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.960
It's one of those things too, right?
00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.360
That we're our worst critics.
00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:48.720
Yeah, absolutely.
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:59.840
So yeah, this idea that we are our worst critics really does stop us from experiencing what you're talking about.
00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:04.240
Yeah, you know, something that a lot of people have really touched on lately.
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.200
And I I've maybe I'm just hearing it more and more.
00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.279
It's one of those things like you buy a red car, you see red cars everywhere.
00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:21.600
But there's this conversation revolving around reparenting yourself and rewiring your brain as an adult and understanding where those stories are coming from.
00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:36.159
So when you find yourself going through that critique and you you're constantly saying, I'm my own worst enemy, I'm always standing in my own way, and I'm always my biggest critic, where is it coming from?
00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:42.480
You know, it's like taking a pause to that and kind of looking at it, observing it, unpacking it.
00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:57.120
And then that's kind of
like moving towards or leaning towards the hope of I'm gonna stop criticizing myself so much, and instead I'm gonna practice love and acceptance and you know, not shame over every idea that I have.
00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:02.799
You know, I want to touch on something and tell me if this isn't the right place for it.
00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:11.759
But, you know, you talk about um in some of your writings, your family and such, and that you owe them nothing but truth.
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.000
Is this where that's coming from?
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.679
Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:21.600
You know, I I definitely was brought up in a in a somewhat broken family dynamic.
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:26.799
And it it just wasn't what I wouldn't consider it to be healthy.
00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:41.200
It it seemed more, you know, survival, like a lot of people kind of living in survival mode and just kind of becoming an adult and understanding that I'm responsible for my present and my future.
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.840
And there is no blame, right?
00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:50.000
It's not they're wrong or they didn't do XYZ.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.480
They're their own people as individuals and their own experiences.
00:16:54.480 --> 00:17:10.160
And now it's my kind of responsibility to kind of rewire a little bit, uh, unpack and practice the kind of I accept that that's how I grew up, but it, you know, you don't let it follow you.
00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.200
So you just kind of rewire, rewire a little bit.
00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:24.960
That you're talking about does this help you then heal something that might have been from childhood that you recognize?
00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.440
Because you said about parenting yourself now.
00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:28.880
I I like that.
00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:34.240
That just feels so much that it's healing as a process.
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:35.200
Absolutely.
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:46.559
It's it's been a it's been an incredibly healing journey for me to, in, in kind of a sense, take responsibility and ownership as an adult in my life, right?
00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:57.119
And acknowledge that myself and everyone else doesn't have control over how they were brought up.
00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:03.200
We don't all have control over the the small chapter of our childhoods.
00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:12.160
And I think a lot of people tend to carry their childhood with them throughout their entire life journey.
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:17.119
What I'm yeah, and I'm definitely trying not to do that, essentially.
00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:20.400
Basically just trying to avoid that.
00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:22.960
I think you're right that we all have that, right?
00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:40.160
There's things that happen in our childhoods, and I like to think that I had a pretty stable environment, but I know there were things about it that weren't building the best me coming up of for authenticity, at least who
I am today.
00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:40.720
Yeah.
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:50.000
So yeah, I I just think that when you can find something like that that helps you kind of process and get beyond it, that's sort of amazing.
00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.480
Yeah, it's it's kind of like a superpower.
00:18:52.480 --> 00:19:13.680
If you want to find you know your own little superpower internally, that's that's definitely a way to kind of go about it, where it's just kind of if I take ultimate responsibility for the way I view the world and the stories I tell myself as an adult, who is aware um, then I get to walk with that type of confidence and reassurance, right?
00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:23.839
Versus someone did something and it's someone else's fault that I that I'm bad at math, you know, I didn't learn right because of someone else, or you know.
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.759
Well, and that just kind of leaps into this next one.
00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:36.720
You in your writings had this Dolly quote, have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:37.759
Yeah.
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.240
Talk to me about this.
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:41.359
I love this.
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.759
You know what it reminds me of?
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:50.000
The thing that really pulls me towards that quote is the fact that we remain students.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:55.599
We're never, we never can know and absorb everything.
00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:00.160
We can't ever, we we can't even fully create everything that we ever want to create.
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:10.000
So there this idea of perfection, when we all remain students to the death of our life, just doesn't exist.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.839
It perfection simply doesn't exist.
00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:13.119
It just can't.
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:22.000
Well, and how many of us, you know, me included, that we look at this isn't perfect.
00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.319
So I'm not gonna put it out there.
00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:25.519
Yes.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:40.400
Yeah, a lot of people go through something like imposter syndrome and imperfection of I'm gonna I'm gonna start posting to social media, you know, every day.
00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:44.240
Well, I'll start it next week because I don't like what I created this week.
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:45.279
And yeah.
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:54.480
Well, and we sit in studios and we sit in our little writing dens or, you know, wherever our creative space happens to be.
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.279
And again, it gets back to what we talked earlier.
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:01.920
If we don't ever put it out there, how's it ever going to get out there?
00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:03.279
Right.
00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:05.039
Release the rough cuts.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:05.440
Yeah.
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:13.599
I mean just put it out there because we're all trying to find people that we truly authentically connect to.
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:15.920
And it's something that we all crave.
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.000
It's it's part of the human experience.
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.599
We all want connection.
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:23.039
Um, connection doesn't always exist in your home.
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.359
It doesn't always exist, you know, with the neighbors you're currently surrounded by.
00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:38.160
Sometimes it's connection from another state, another city, uh, a community you've never even, you know, heard about, but they found you somewhere because you decided to share something.
00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:44.400
I like that you use this quote and it talks about no fear.
00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:53.519
And just imagine, as we as artists, if we were to actually approach those things with no fear, where could we get?
00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:59.599
Yeah, you would, you know, you would get the essence of of you, essentially, right?
00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:07.599
You would get the the no shame, the no judgment, the no heavy critiquing perfectionism.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:09.759
Does this fit in the industry?
00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:14.480
Is this competitive to the standards of XYZ?
00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.079
Who are my competitors?
00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:17.039
What are they doing?
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.279
You take all that away, that noise.
00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:20.640
You you get you.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:25.599
You you're basically birthing on some level a creation of yourself.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.359
Well, and that just popped into my head, this self.
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.400
How many of us actually don't know who we are?
00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:34.319
Yeah.
00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:34.880
Right?
00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:36.640
We've got yeah.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.400
Filters, striving for perfection.
00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.000
We've got imposture syndrome.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:51.039
You know, we we've talked these things, but it still gets back to if we don't know who we are, how do we, you know, we got to push through this.
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:52.559
We need to figure that out.
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:59.680
That's kind of a key piece so that we can be not only authentic to the world, but to our own selves.
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:09.440
Absolutely, because there's something that just, you know, we carry a lot of moments throughout our lives that just quote unquote don't feel right.
00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:15.519
And we don't always take the time to unpack why something just doesn't feel right.
00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:23.119
And that process is kind of what you're speaking to, knowing yourself, figuring out who you are.
00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:32.480
You have to be able to have that kind of bravery and courage to approach those moments and those, because sometimes it's just something small.
00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:38.720
You go to someone's, you know, dinner party and they serve something and it's something just doesn't feel right.
00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:44.240
You don't want to eat something or you don't want to be around, you don't want to sit next to someone for whatever reason.
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:50.319
It's kind of just like paying attention to those little pieces to figure out, you know, what's really going on.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:24:00.000
So, Tiffany, what is it that you hope then for all of us to gather from this?
00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:14.559
What I would advocate for the most, and the thing that I've been kind of leaning towards as I've had these types of conversations, is the simplicity of be you.
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:20.559
Because as simple as that is, the be you tackling it is massive.
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:27.519
The amount of work to put in to truly be you takes a lot of courage.
00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:48.799
It takes a lot of fighting shame and old stories, and I'm not good enough, and this isn't perfect, and that places on this social level, and I'm on this other social level, and all of those judgments and every way we tear ourselves down, it's taking away from who you are essentially.
00:24:48.799 --> 00:25:05.599
So if you can just practice the be you, you can maybe start the journey, which in itself is a healing process, but it's also an un unraveling and a and a reveal at the end of it of you know your true nature and your true you.
00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:10.160
I was out, of course, doing some research and digging around.
00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:16.000
And is this where your creativity comes from?
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.359
I saw you your Instagram, I saw that you have this creativity.
00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:22.400
Yeah.
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.680
Is that the impetus for this?
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:26.400
You know what?
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:31.359
It's it's almost like I came up with that when I was in college.
00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:36.480
It was through the assignment of creating my own brand identity.
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:46.000
So part of the assignment was create your own logo, think of some type of label or name that you can kind of market.
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:50.640
Um so that kind of tied into that.
00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.480
And as a student, I definitely was leaning towards self-discovery.
00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:02.240
I mean, I was also attending an art school, you know, majoring in creative spaces.
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:12.400
So it wasn't too far away from what I was surrounded by, I would say, to come up with something that felt authentic, like connecting my name to the word creative.
00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:19.519
But yeah, I think, you know, that was definitely maybe like a seed, you know, one of the seeds planted um early on for sure.
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:20.480
Nice.
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:26.319
You talk about protecting your vision sometimes from your own self.
00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:28.480
What are we protecting it from?
00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:31.920
That really comes from vulnerability.
00:26:31.920 -->
00:26:47.119
So when my vision includes telling my story and that story is vulnerable, it's really easy for me to kind of, well, how can I make this so abstract that people don't know that I'm in there?
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:48.319
You know?
00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.920
So it's it's kind of like, well, what was your original vision?
00:26:51.920 --> 00:27:07.440
Because if your original vision was to share the vulnerable and to be honest and truthful, and you make it too abstract where you don't actually exist within the piece at all, then you, you know, you kind of have to.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.279
You didn't really fully go there.
00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:21.200
What advice could you give someone who might be standing at this sort of moment in their practice and their creativity, in their work life, even.
00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:25.200
And they're torn between the practical and being authentic.
00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:32.559
I would say if you find yourself kind of looking in the mirror, I think even Steve Jobs made a quote like this.
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:38.319
You look at your, you find yourself looking in the mirror too many days in a row and you don't like what's going on, you need to change it.
00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.039
I think that's that's a really great way to kind of put that.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:44.880
It's it's very much, you know, it ties into everything.
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:59.440
It ties into your relationships, your work, the your chosen career, the education you've taken on, the house you live in, uh, your diet, your everything, the type of workout you, you, you're involved with.
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.200
It taps into everything.
00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:08.559
So in order to find your authentic you, in order to be you, you have to really fight those battles.
00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:16.880
And it comes with a lot of feeling alone sometimes because not everyone's going to support the transformation of you becoming you.
00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:22.960
There may be some people that feel it's very impractical, that you're being too risky, that you're throwing money away.
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:28.160
Why would you go study in France when you have a perfectly great job here?
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:32.559
Well, because that's what I want to do, and that's what I feel called to do, and I want to go do that.
00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:45.359
Really, really practicing that kind of ear towards yourself and your own inner voice and really understanding what the noise is versus who you are.
00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:48.880
Do you actually offer help to people?
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:55.359
Because you know, you've you have these amazing life lessons that we've talked about today.
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.599
And so many times we miss out on that.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.839
Like, is this a service you do?
00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:01.759
Wow, that's well, that's thank you.
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:02.799
That's very flattering.
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.160
I don't.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:07.759
I yeah, I don't, I don't do any coaching or anything.
00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:14.240
It was something that I had thought about at one point, and then I just started to create film instead.
00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:20.720
Well, I'm really excited to see the film that you bring forth from all of this.
00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:29.599
I, you know, I'm definitely gonna follow you and see where that heads because I love the idea of an independent movie.
00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:35.039
I love all of those sorts of things and seeing the creativity that gets brought to the table through that.
00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:36.400
Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:38.559
I'm I'm excited for this process.
00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:52.799
I kind of see it as a win win situation because at the end of the day, even if the people of power of Tribeca do not, you know, maybe they view a few seconds of what I submit.
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:57.279
You know, I know it's a big process and it's it's a heavy lifting for that team for sure.
00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:59.839
There are thousands of submissions, but it's it's it's a win.
00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:00.799
Win, right?
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:03.519
Because I'm still going through the process of creating the film.
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:04.480
So it's that journey.
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:08.720
Well, and there's something to be said about just being on the journey.
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:09.839
Absolutely.
00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:10.319
Right?
00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:12.000
It reminds us we're alive.
00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:12.559
Right.
00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:31.440
And then, you know, in the moment of even just something as simple as I'm gonna take on some storyboarding, you know, today, and then you get locked on something and you start judging yourself, and you go through maybe I need to sit in the bath for a little while, or maybe I need to go take a walk or take a nap.
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:49.599
And you know, we we we still go through the the journey of emotions, and you know our our humanity and old stories still like to, you know, be triggered and talk back when they feel like they need to be a brat and throw a tantrum sometimes.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:57.599
Tiffany, as we start to wrap this up, is there anything that you want to leave us with as some final thoughts?
00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:10.160
I definitely grew up feeling I had, you know, I had my vision and I had my creativity and I had my ambitions with that, and that's the biggest thing that has driven me throughout my entire life.
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:26.880
But I definitely experienced feeling like, you know, why would I share my story or why would I go to that group of people and join into their conversation, or you know, that community is already set, they don't need me to be involved.
00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:30.720
And I definitely felt like I was in the way a lot growing up.
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.599
And I would definitely tell everybody that is not true.
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:35.599
You definitely deserve space.
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:51.839
The world absolutely values you and loves you, and there is community here for everybody, and there's a place for everyone, and everyone's voice matters, and your perspective is still you, and it's still special, and it's the value is you.
00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:57.119
If you can find a way to be you, you're sharing a big light in the world.
00:31:57.359 --> 00:31:59.519
That is an amazingly beautiful thought.
00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:01.599
Thank you for that, Tiffany.
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:12.079
Thank you so much for being with us today and opening up and talking to us about this creativity and not pushing it and authenticity of yourself.
00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:13.759
I've really enjoyed our time.
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:15.920
Likewise, this was amazing.
00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.079
I had such a fun conversation with you.
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:18.799
This was great.
00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:22.880
I feel like I I had I was able to kind of release some some stuff too.
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.480
Like I was able to kind of, you know, it was it was nice to share.
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.839
It was nice to just kind of be in this really beautiful conversation.
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:30.960
Oh, that's great.
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:32.319
That's what I want to hear.
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.680
That's what this is about.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.279
So thank you again, Tiffany.
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:37.680
I look forward to seeing where you go.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.640
Tiffany Smith's reminder to just be you really hits home.
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:50.559
Because sometimes the most radical act of creativity is authenticity itself.
00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:57.839
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow and subscribe to Lattes & Art wherever you get your podcast.
00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:02.559
And while you're there, leave us a five-star rating and a quick review.
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:06.640
It really helps more listeners discover these creative conversations.
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:18.000
You can also catch our sister show, Art Happens:, the divine mess of art history, where we dig into the chaos, beauty, and wild stories behind the world's masterpieces.
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:20.880
Shows begin December 1st.
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:28.799
Until next time, keep creating, keep questioning, and most importantly, keep being you.