Meet Lilith Lavender

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lilith Lavender. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lilith, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

Baby steps. I’ve found that my higher, happier self lives just outside my comfort zone. It took me five years from the time I bought my van and graduated college to set out on the road and started taking my artistic path seriously. I wouldn’t have even thought to build out a camper van and become a traveling artist if I hadn’t found myself (if only very briefly) homeless in Seattle seven summers ago. By this point, I had come to understand that stability was an illusion. I spent so much of my life prioritising what I was taught would keep me safe: staying quiet, pursuing a “respectable” career, putting myself last. I knew I was ready for a radical change, but it took time for me to take action about it. I first had to learn the hard way that playing it safe doesn’t protect you from getting hurt, that staying lonely and creatively unfulfilled hurts more deeply than rejection ever could. I started making art just for myself again. I live freely on the road and always have a place to call home in my van. Now I love my unconventional lifestyle, and I’m not afraid of setting my own path as a creative because I’ve learned that I cannot control the future, but I can shape the present.

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

I am a nomadic artist. I gather stories, memories, and experiences from my travels around the country and put it all into my art. I love to paint murals for two reasons: one because I get to paint much bigger than my van has the space for and two because I get to collaborate with others in bringing a vision into reality. I get to travel to unique destinations to paint murals, meet wonderful creative people, and paint something that people will gather around and share stories and laughter for decades to come.
Lately I’ve been feeling called to share more of my story and my values through my art, and I’ve been painting smaller originals to explore that. It is important to me that I make art that celebrates women’s liberation, same sex love, and respect for Mother Earth as I would not be the artist that I am without these values and lived experiences. I find that live painting at events, sharing my original paintings online and telling the stories behind them allows me to express my authentic self with the world.

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?

Enthusiasm, resilience, and delusion have served me the most on my journey. Enthusiasm because the best, most qualified person for the job is the one who is absolutely obsessed with their work, so pursue the things that excite your soul. Resilience because it takes a lot of failures to figure out what works and what blows up in your face and you need to learn how to bounce back from that and not take it so personally. And delusion because you have to create opportunities for yourself before anyone knows or cares about who you are. Apply for your dream job long before you think you’re qualified to do it. Listen to the crazy ideas because there’s wisdom in them.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Choosing myself has been essential in my journey. When things are overwhelming and I want to quit, I have to choose myself and continue to put in the work to build the life that I want. When I am unsure of the direction in life I should take, I choose to honor my intuition and don’t let someone else’s criticisms dictate my decision. I made a commitment to get to know myself better and create a life that feels true to myself. We can and should be compassionate, generous, and selfless while remembering that our lives are for ourselves and our happiness does matter. We are our best selves to others when we learn to treat ourselves with that same kindness.

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