We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bailey River a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bailey, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
There are moments of spark and moments of entropy. Creativity, for me, follows these waves.
Sometimes my whole being feels lit up – whether I am in a high or low emotional state – to create. I have practiced attuning to those moments, knowing when they are present and responding by opening the valve.
Sometimes the expression is dance, sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s spending time with the trees crafting a botanical piece. The emotional state doesn’t matter. The down emotions bring a force of creativity that is different from the creative expression of the up emotions – I love them both.
When I go into entropy it just means I am being asked to honor the space before creativity rushes in again. The process of being with the spark and the entropy cycle is it’s own type of creativity – I am creative with the natural rhythm of myself.
Many of us fear the entropy, wondering if the spark will ever come back. What I’ve noticed is that the spark will always come back when we can honor the lack of spark to it’s full extent.
My creativity is so deeply entwined with my emotional landscape. I have used it to express all the things that words won’t ever touch. I become embodied in my human experience when I turn to creativity instead of more harmful ways of coping. It has been such a gift in my life, especially for the darker emotions.
At the same time, there is also this lightheartedness that nourishes my creativity – child-like innocence and play.
Sometimes being creative is for the purity and joy of it – the way a child engages with the world. I have experienced many moments of abandoning myself to play, which has led to epic discoveries and new expressions of art.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a beauty facilitator.
This expresses itself through music and botanical art.
Whenever I question the importance of art in the world I return to this knowing –
“Beauty in the environment calls out the beauty in humans”
What is clear to me is that I am here to surround us in beauty, connect us to the earth and share sounds of rebirth.
Song came to me at the age of 12.
Botanical Artistry began as soon as my fingers could grab a hold of plants.
Songwriting became my way of processing intense emotions and finding liberation in myself. I have devoted 23 years to it’s rhythm in me and I am in the beginning stages of releasing these sounds into the world. We all know how powerful music is for our moods. We know exactly what song to put on when we need it.
I feel honored to offer my sound for these moments.
You can find me under sonnen on all streaming platforms. I am about to drop a 3 song EP in November. This EP encompasses my process of rebirth lately. I am in the midst of a painful relationship, career and overall life change. The only thing I could do to move this energy, honor it and feel empowered was to express it all through song.
The other half of my creative expression exists in visual art – specifically botanical.
I was a large scale event floral designer for 13 years – until the pandemic hit and all my jobs disappeared.
I could feel something new wanted to be born.
Enter YAVANNA.
YAVANNA is the goddess of nature in the Lord of the Rings books.
Botanical art/floral design has always come naturally to me, but I struggled with the waste of the floral industry.
This led me to wild foraging. I would go out in nature, discover what was overgrown and utilize it in designs.
Most recently, I have been wild foraging overgrown Ivy (considered an invasive species here in Oregon) and creating botanical art with it.
My business is now fully aligned with the desire to love on the natural world as an extension of love for ourselves. The waste in the world expresses the trashy-ness we feel within. I notice the difference in humans when their environment reflects beauty back to them.
While I am open to event design focused on wild foraged and locally sourced florals, I also offer wild foraged botanical pieces – I’ve installed many dried installations in wineries, restaurants and shops. I’ve also created botanical wonderlands for events, wildlife habitats where birds have raised their babies and led ivy basket weaving workshops.
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?
Delusion
Exquisiteness
Devotion
You have to be somewhat delusional to believe in yourself. At times I’ve received feedback or seen something that convinced me to quit or not aim as high. When I believe all these messages I find I struggle to follow my inner truth. I stay safe. There’s nothing wrong with staying safe and feeling supported in life, that’s a great foundation, but having a delusion of the possibility has helped me continue to ride the edge and see just beyond my comfort zone. It’s led me to take beautiful risks and feel the rush of feeling my truth come into form.
How do I know my truth? It is my Exquisiteness. To be exquisite is to express the self that endlessly wants to emerge at every moment. You could say it is my uniqueness, but it’s more than that, its what bubbles up with joy. My exquisite nature is unbridled energy – it has not path to follow – no one to guide it. That is the ultimate joy, and so cliche’, to just be yourself.
When I’ve allowed this delusional exquisiteness an open field how do I find the boundaries that put it into action? I give myself to Devotion. If we’re just delusional and exquisite it becomes chaos, trust me I’ve lived that. Devotion gives the unbridled energy a path to run on. My devotion can be to my financial needs at the moment, to a business plan, to my own self care – whatever is calling for my commitment in order to grow and create foundation.
What if you gave yourself to a delusion you’ve held? Even if it never comes to fruition can you feel the energy created by that force? To me, this is about feeling into that crazy dream and seeing where it leads you.
What if you took some space to drop into how exquisite you are? I don’t care how mediocre you believe you are – the pure act of breathing is radical. There is so much beauty only you can share in your unique way. Feel that tingling of child-like excitement illuminate the feeling of exquisiteness in you. Look at yourself in the mirror and just say “wow”. Be in awe of yourself. Feel how your body wants to give and share this energy in the world.
What is your current devotion? Do you feel devoted to what you are creating or the foundation you are building? I am devoted to paying off debt and how that comes to fruition might not always be my ideal, but I can do it with my delusions dancing and exquisiteness expressing. I am also devoted to stepping out as a musician, you could say I’m letting my delusions of performing on stages marinate in me and my exquisiteness create my unique sound. Ask yourself what you want to be devoted to right now and then engage.
How would you describe your ideal client?
FOR SONNEN
You are someone who is devoted to growth and desires support in the dark nights of the soul, the rebirths, the liberation. You desire music that moves you, supports you, expresses the unexpressed and liberates you. You crave a concert that blasts you open while raising you up. You crave connection in the depths.
FOR YAVANNA
You are someone who sees the power of beauty in environments. You are someone who wants to see less waste and toxicity creation. You feel the alignment of supporting something that nourishes the whole – how it affects the land, oceans, humans and animals. You elevate these things above convenience. Specifically, you have a space, event or landscape that you want to infuse with nature and beauty.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yavannastudio.com
- Instagram: sonnen_max
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2bTOjpXxk4ychjzGEM5yRg?si=-HRPB2naSVGrXIW_okw2bw
Image Credits
Aubrey Janelle
Sierra LaRue
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
