We were lucky to catch up with Jillian Lauren recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jillian, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?
My empathy has been built over years of experiencing a lot of life in condensed periods, not always by choice. The resilience, adaptability and acceptance that were born out of each situation and circumstance led way to an increased sense of empathy for people around me and the unique experiences that they held. I have always been a nonjudgmental person and aimed to understand the intention over the action of people.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Jillian Lauren. I am a contemporary portrait artist looking to unify the definition of beauty and balance through pop style portraits and intricate backgrounds. My artwork has been published, displayed, sold and is the basis for poems and other literary works in over 18 states and in three countries. Most recently, my artwork is being hung on the set of the Donnybrook Show, which is a show that airs every Thursday on PBS. My artwork is purchasable on my website, www.jillianlaurenart.com, where you can now find different merchandise adorning my work such as beach towels, notebooks, phone cases and few other things I am quite excited about!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For me, thus far, resilience against anxiety, fearlessness in networking and willingness to do the work have been the most impactful on my journey. You never know what opportunity is going to be your ‘big break’, and a lot of times, the jobs that you do get, are not a break but rather a small stepping stone on to the next opportunity. I have had to learn that particular lesson a few times, specifically the part of not becoming discouraged when the success I thought I would find in a particular event wasn’t necessarily that. Working an art career is like trying to get in shape; you have to take consistent actions on a daily basis and trust that the work you are doing will give you results.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I have learned to take a breath and to allow myself to feel overwhelmed. It has been my experience that when you try to avoid a feeling, the avoidance causes the feeling to grow to a point where you can no longer manage it on your own. So in order to avoid the debilitating feeling of it, I set a timer on my phone for a reasonable amount of time, usually no more than five minutes, to sit with the feeling and breathe it out. Once I have done that, I focus my attention to what I need to finish and try to find similar tasks amongst the projects. I then accomplish what I can for the ‘similar tasks’, then try and knock out the biggest part in each. Once I get through that, the rest is pretty smooth sailing.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.jillianlaurenart.com
- Instagram: @JillianLauren.Art
- Facebook: @JillianLaurenArt
- Other: threads: @jillianlauren.art
Image Credits
Jillian Lauren Matt Gamez
