Meet Abigail Seabrook

We were lucky to catch up with Abigail Seabrook recently and have shared our conversation below.

Abigail, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Growing up, I always thought my purpose was to do something really big with my life like becoming a famous actress, a professional athlete, a rockstar, an astronaut, etc.
I thought that if I didn’t do something big and crazy with my life, it wouldn’t have meaning or that I wasn’t important enough.

Over the years, my perspective has changed of “my purpose”.
I believe that as human beings we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be a certain way or to accomplish a million things. As we get older, we feel even more pressure because we feel that our time is running out. We compare ourselves to other people and their accomplishments but I’ve had to remind myself time and time again that everyone has their own timeline.

I have been an artistic soul for as long as I can remember. I have done and tried everything that has to do with the arts. I have been a dancer, singer, actress, model, photographer, director, writer, set designer, and a painter.
After experiencing all of these different areas of the arts, It made me realize who I want to be and who I was meant to be in this life.

I’m a storyteller and a teacher.

Storytelling is how I express myself to the world. I have told stories in many different ways through the arts and I love connecting with people and making others feel something when they see my work. I want to make people think and see things from different angles. It’s a way to inspire, relate, and help others.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Last year, I found a job that makes me feel fulfilled and happy. I feel like all of my experiences as an artist have led me to this job. Five years ago I never would have pictured myself in this role but here I am.

I am a Creative Arts Coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club of America.

I never thought I would ever work with kids. I love kids, but I didn’t think my job would involve them.
This job made me realize that part of my life’s purpose is to be a teacher. What I love most about what I do is creating connections with the kids I work with and passing my knowledge of the arts down to the next generation.

In the world that we live in today, it’s hard to have human connection with social media present.
It’s one of the biggest distractions and it’s affecting people everyday, especially children.
I like to show the kids that there’s more to life than a screen. I think social media is fine in moderation but it’s important to experience life outside of technology.
I love putting together crafts for the kids to do to challenge them and to try something new. One of the coolest things I’ve noticed about my job is that when I have a whole room of kids do the same craft, not one of them looks the same. The kids can do their own spin on the projects and tap into their original creativity. It’s fun watching the kids grow and seeing what they can accomplish.

Who am I outside of my job? I am an artist. I have bounced around different areas in the arts but in the last few years I’ve really focused on modeling, photography, creative directing, set designing and storytelling through all of these things. I believe a picture is worth a thousand words. I love when an idea pops into my head and I can bring it to life. I have been a model for eleven years. I started doing typical modeling gigs like modeling clothes for stores and mainly doing fashion modeling. Over the years, my style has changed. I have been more into storytelling modeling. I get a lot of my inspiration from books, folklore, fairy tales, and traveling the world.
A year and half ago, I bought a camera because I wanted to experience the other side of the camera. I’ve always loved photography and I even took a photography course in college but I didn’t really get into it until I got my camera.

It opened my eyes to storytelling in a whole new way. I felt that I had more creative control and I could capture the vision’s I had in my head a lot better than just being a model.

After getting more into the other side of the camera, I expanded in more ways and wanted to challenge myself. I learned more about creative directing and set design. I wanted to help other artists bring their visions to life and not just my own. Over the years, I have accumulated a lot of props and decor from photoshoots. I started bringing a bunch of the things that I had to create sets for photoshoots. I had an amazing opportunity this past year to create a set in a local photography studio. I called my set design, “Victorian/Vintage Charm.” I found some really pretty furniture on facebook marketplace and found dried flowers from local farms and spent months preparing for it. I was so proud of all of the work I had done and the results.

After this opportunity, I have done other set designs for photoshoots and some of my favorites that I’ve created were, “Renaissance painting”, “Sleeping Beauty”, and “Alice in Wonderland” inspired sets.

I found a new passion. I think that’s one of the coolest parts about life. You’re never too old to find a new passion.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Do it scared and take one step at a time.

It’s always been challenging for me to start things because I overwhelm myself with looking at the whole picture. I’ve always loved the quote, “Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase”. I feel like when we start something new, we compare ourselves to everyone else. I compare myself to people who have been doing something for years which is silly if I’m only on my day one. Those people who are really good at what they do also started where you started. On day one.
There’s going to be a million thoughts running around in your head. “What if I’m not good enough?” “What if I fail?” “What if it’s all a waste of my time?”

It’s better to try than to not do anything at all. How will you know if you’re good at something unless you try? The worst that can happen is that you don’t like it or that it’s not a good fit for you but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something out there for you. Everyone is good at something. It can take a while to find your passions but that’s part of your journey. Everything you experience in life is a step towards finding your purpose and your passions.

2. Rejection is Redirection

This is one of my favorite quotes that I say to myself every day. It’s gotten me through a lot in my life. Being involved in the arts hasn’t been easy. It comes with a lot of rejection and no matter how many times you’re rejected, It’s never easy.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today without my rejections. I believe that some rejections are necessary. Sometimes an opportunity is not meant for us so we’re rejected because we are meant to go in a different direction and that’s okay. Sometimes rejection feels like the end of the world. Another thing I love to say to myself is, “When everything feels like it’s falling apart, it’s really just everything falling into place”.

I don’t believe that anything is an accident. I think everything that we experience in our lives is a learning experience. Every single person on this planet is a teacher. You learn from others and others learn from you. We teach each other lessons that are necessary for our growth.

3. Step out of your comfort zone.

It’s easy to fall into repetitive patterns. We get comfortable doing the same things because it’s what we’re used to but staying put in the same place and not stepping out of your comfort zone will stop your growth.
I know that growth is uncomfortable. Change is uncomfortable. As much as we don’t want to admit it, change is inevitable throughout life.
Over the years, I have tried to be more comfortable with stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Sometimes changing directions is a good thing to learn more about yourself and what you’re capable of. There’s parts of ourselves that we haven’t even discovered yet and there’s versions of ourselves that we haven’t met yet. How exciting is that? There’s so many opportunities and experiences that the world has to offer.

Take a risk, learn as much as you can and learn from your mistakes.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

A challenge that I always face is getting in my own way and being my own worst critique. I get in my head a lot and I always have those “what ifs” pop into my head when I want to do something or try something new.

Something I tell myself when I’m struggling with this is that I have made it through every obstacle and challenge in my life this far and I can continue to make it through future obstacles and challenges that come my way.

I love to do so many things but I can’t do everything all at once. I’m not a robot. I also need to take breaks because I spread myself too thin a lot of the time and go from one project to the next without taking a breath in between.

Giving myself time to reset and rest is something I’m currently trying to work and improve on so I can be more present with all of the projects that I’m working on.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Abigail.Seabrook and @musesinmoonlight
• Other: email: abbybrook31@yahoo.com

Image Credits

1st Photo: Photographer: Madeline Reinhold and Dress Designer: Jack Attackk Clothing
2nd Photo: Photographer: Emma Parla-Aziz and Dress Designer: Jack Attackk Clothing and “Alice in Wonderland” Concept/Set Design: Abigail Seabrook and Creative Directors: Abigail Seabrook & Emma Parla-Aziz
3rd Photo: Photographer: Dylan Stewart and Dress Designer: Jack Attackk Clothing
4th Photo: Photographer/”Sleeping Beauty” Set Design: Abigail Seabrook
5th Photo: Photographer: Rachel Dampolo and Studio: The Little Loft
6th Photo: Photographer: Abigail Seabrook and Dress Designer: Jack Attackk Clothing
7th Photo: Photographer and “Victorian/Vintage Charm” Set Design: Abigail Seabrook and Studio: The Little Loft
8th Photo: Photographer and “Victorian/Vintage Charm” Set Design: Abigail Seabrook and Studio: The Little Loft