Meet Jennifer Moraca

We recently connected with Jennifer Moraca and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I have bipolar disorder and complex PTSD and it makes life an uphill battle sometimes. I think people tend to romanticize the struggling/tortured artist trope. There is an idea that great art must come from suffering. And while suffering is a part of life and a lot of great art is inspired by hardships we face, poor mental health can be a real detriment to art. Living with mental health issues is a lot of work; it makes everything you do take a lot more effort. When getting through the day is a struggle, it is almost impossible to create.

For me, medication and therapy have been essential to my ability to care for myself and I’m lucky that I have good health insurance that allows me to access those things.

Having a support system is also very important. I owe my partner (both in music and life) Ron so much. He bolsters me when I am struggling and helps me so much in my day-to-day life. I’m so grateful for him and for the circle of friends I have who support and love me and lift me up. It’s so important to surround yourself with the right people, who will make you a better version of yourself.

And then after that, it’s just trying to be both diligent and gentle with myself. I have to be diligent about self-care and monitoring my symptoms so I can be the best version of myself that I’m capable of being on any given day. I have to recognize when I need rest and when I can push myself. One of the worst parts of my particularly illness is that it leads me to be exceptionally hard on myself and to have a lot of feelings about not being good enough. I have had to work very hard at being more gentle and accepting of myself, because harshly judging yourself is the fastest way to kill any creativity you have. It’s a constant journey.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My partner Ron and I are an acoustic duo called The Odd Birds. We’ve been playing music together for almost 14 years and we both grew up with music from the time we were small kids. Ron has been playing the guitar since he was wee. I picked up the guitar later in life but I’ve been singing since I was small.

My favorite part of what we do is our harmonies. I love singing harmonies; I was a choir kid when I was in school and that is where a lot of my training comes from. And Ron and I are lucky because our voices complement each other really well. We get compared to Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris a lot, which is fine by me because I’m a huge admirer of both. But we have a ton of influences and our music is a hybrid of old-style country, folk, and a little bit of rock thrown in for good measure.

We have two albums out now, an EP called Better Days and a full-length album called Tremolo Heart. We’re currently writing and recording our third album, and we’re going to release a single from it later this year.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first one is resilience. I struggle with this every day, but it is so important to be resilient. The music industry is difficult; in a lot of ways it feels designed to break you or your spirit. You’re going to face a lot of rejections and a lot of the time it’s going to be an uphill battle and you can’t let that discourage you. That’s obviously easier said than done. I have found that a support system of fellow musicians helps with this a lot. People who have the same struggle and are going through the same thing.

The second thing is dedication. It’s really important to be dedicated to practicing and writing and constantly trying to improve your craft. Because you will suck at things, especially when you’re starting out. Sometimes you’ll hit plateaus and feel like you’re not improving for a long a time. You have to keep at it regardless. And again, this is an area where I struggle, especially because dedication requires you to be gentle with yourself, which is not a strong suit of mine. If you’re constantly stuck on how you’re not good enough, you’re going to start to hate what you’re doing and then you’re not going to want to work on it. You have to be able to look at where you are objectively and give yourself grace and remember why you love your art each and every day. The best art is created from a place of love and joy in the process.

The last thing is courage. The first time I went to a songwriting meetup, I was too afraid to share anything, because I thought nothing I wrote was good enough and I was afraid of being judged–and that was with a group of people who are close friends. I got over that eventually, but it was difficult. Writing a song can feel a little bit like stripping yourself naked in front of other people, especially if it’s about a personal topic. And you can’t be afraid to dig deep. That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have boundaries and privacy–you are always allowed to tell your story on your own terms. But if you’re creating from a place of fear, if you’re constantly thinking “If I write that, will people like it or judge it?” you’re limiting yourself. Sharing your art can be scary. Writing truthfully can be scary. If this is something you’re struggling with, create like no one is going to see your art. Tell yourself you don’t ever have to share it. Then find a small group of people, or one person at least, that you can trust with your work and share it. Once you rip that band-aid off, it gets easier and easier to be brave with your art.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I have always had a problem with comparing myself to others. Like I said, I’m exceptionally hard on myself and I find myself saying “Why aren’t I as good as this person”? And that is completely unproductive. It’s one thing to admire someone or too be inspired by someone’s talent, but to compare yourself to them tends to lead to envy and all kinds of negative emotions. For me, it takes away the joy of creating. I’m trying to remember to live in gratitude for what I do have and to remind myself to look for ways that I’m better today than I was yesterday, which is all that really matters.

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Image Credits
Main Image: Tracy Byrnes Other Images: C. Elliot Photography Doug Schmude Ken Yoshida

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