Cracks

We live in a world where it is so easy to create an impression that is not real.  More than ever before, we can share our narratives online in ways that create the best version of what we want the world to see. But what if what we think the world should see is flawed?

My dad, Tommy, was an amazing man who lived during a time where it was very hard for him to be true to who he was. He created a life based on what he believed society needed him to do. He got married and had a family. I’m here as a result but my dad is not. He died when I was  eight years old, one of the first aids cases in Philadelphia.

The grown ups left to care for me thought the truth was harmful to me so they kept it a secret. They created a version of reality that left out the truth for me to know. It wasn’t until later in life that I figured out for myself what that truth was. For me, it was devastating because I loved my dad fully. I would have wanted to know everything about him. I would have wanted to know the real him. I never got this and I also lived years of questioning what was wrong with my dad. I always knew there was something being hidden. 

As Tommy’s daughter, I can tell you with certainty that I am who I am much because of the amazing creative spirit that lived within my dad. 

Art has an amazing way of showing us ourselves. It has a way of revealing things we never realized could be beautiful. I can’t even count the number of times that perceived mistakes that I hide beneath the surface of a piece, create the beauty that ultimately defines it. As I looked to further explore the idea of the things that we hide beneath the surface, my most recent piece, What You Can’t See, emerged. 

It is those cracks in the perfection of our humanness that make us the amazing unique individuals that we are. Don’t hide the real you. Don’t rob the world of your unique beauty.