Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maya Mitchell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Maya, 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?
He was standing in the painted cinder block corner, pressing his little body into the wall as if he could will himself inside of it. The other children were playing exuberantly in the foam pit of the gymnastics studio where I coached. Pressing his hands against his ears to block out the other children’s excited squeals, he made perfect sense. He had autism spectrum disorder.
This one child changed the trajectory of my life. I peeled him away from the wall and engaged with him for an hour. Mom tipped me $40. Unusual, as a gymnastics coach for 3-year-olds, rarely, if ever, receives tips.
I called a woman who ran an autism clinic to discover why I had a special bond with this little boy. She was a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), the first I had heard of the role. She was so impressed by my story, she hired me. Under her, I became a Registered Behavior Technician and worked for 7 years in autism with children with behavioral profiles requiring higher levels of support. I was in love. I applied for my Master’s in Counseling Psychology and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in May 2021.
The major result of this decade was not my education or the trajectory of my career. As I walked the arduous journey to become a BCBA, I began to realize that it was not just the children I worked with who had autism. I do too.
This fostered a greater sense of self-compassion as I began to understand the innate difficulties I have struggled with my entire life. For example, I find eye contact, coordination, nuanced speech, and sarcasm challenging.
After observing the kiddos I worked with, many had unique, extraordinary gifts. I began to contemplate my own. I have two ancillary skills: To capture the human face in paint and to create unique melodies. I’ve been writing music since I was 9 and started painting at 10. These seem to be innate qualities, that I believe, come from my diagnosis. To not pursue them seemed a waste. Not a waste of talent, but for myself, a waste of joy. This is who I am.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Surviving the aftermath of my sexually abusive, drug-addled father, I found my grit. I left home at 14 to put space between myself and him. Being on my own so young taught me independence, ingenuity, and to have a powerful, and necessary, voice.
He would visit, so when I graduated high school, at 17, I moved to Europe without providing my address. He still, somehow,
managed to send me one letter. I never responded. This was the last communication we had before he took his life.
Recovering from his death, I traveled, enchanted with the way it made me feel, or not feel, to be somewhere strange and new. I pull so many of my creations from my wanderings. I have circled the world to the East and been to 21 countries. I worked under a one-eyed Italian chef in Switzerland, joined a monastery for 10 months in The Netherlands (taking a vow of celibacy), and shaved my head in India while following around the funeral procession of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The first time I surrendered to death was in a taxi cab in India. Since then, I’ve had several near-death experiences, many of these occurring in faraway places. My experiences have given me the fearlessness to pursue my art and music. I have never done anything scarier.
My music comes from a place that is utterly not my own. I open my mouth while strumming simple chords on my banjo, and strange melodies flow out of me. The words will still need work, but the melodies come in chunks of meandering notes. I do not feel I am creating them. I am the vessel.
I do impressionistic, large paintings of people. I adore the human figure and find fascination in faces. Who carries wisdom? Who carries doubt? What are you afraid of? I put my paintbrush in the wet paint and let it guide me over the canvas, fast and impulsive. I do not think. I just paint.
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?
What are 3 qualities/skills/areas of knowledge most impactful to my journey?
GRIT
IMAGINATION
STUBBORNNESS
GRIT
The primary, most success-bestowing quality I possess is grit. Grown out of my challenging childhood, it is typically defined as coarse, gravelly, dust. When applied to human behavior, Angela Duckworth, Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has a different definition. Grit is the determiner of success.
Talent, intelligence, and luck are often thought of as the secrets to achievement. These are not your secret weapons. Instead, it is grit. A combination of mental strength, resilience, and overall positivity, grit is how you cope with falling down. Grit means you get back up.
IMAGINATION
I have a vivid, powerful imagination. It has given me the ability to dream. It opened up my mind to the possibility of being a singer on a stage, playing my music, in front of a crowd. I had my first performance last month. It opened me up to painting on enormous canvases and having gallery showings. Although I am shocked I got here, it was my ability to dream that led the way.
STUBBORNNESS
My mother says that if I were a cartoon character, I would be the squirrel in Ice Age attempting to get the acorn. I once failed a test 5 times before passing on the 6th. Stubbornness is not a derogatory word, as often assumed. My stubbornness has given me the wherewithal to pursue and accomplish the skills and achievements I have attained.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHERS PURSUING THEIR DREAMS:
FOLLOW YOUR JEALOUSY
Jealousy is your nose telling you which scent to follow. Often deemed a negative term, it is a guide, a lighthouse telling you in which direction to turn. No one wants to be thought of as jealous, but we all are. We all yearn for things beyond our current grasp, often discovering our jealousy in the displays others show us with their realities.
Stuck in the airport during a flight delay, I noticed a young woman playing the banjo. This was the first time I had been exposed to the instrument alone and I immediately started to drool. I wanted to tear the banjo from her hands and run. I was so jealous.
This was my cue. I came home and signed up for banjo lessons. I often use the banjo to write my songs.
To follow your jealousy, you must conquer your fear. Fear of the impossible, the fear of what you could become.
Fear is the greatest threat to artistic freedom and creative inspiration. Mother Muse is a fickle friend. Fearing her, or your creations, is the true death of creativity.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I draw my strength through my parents, my mom, and my step-dad, who is entirely my father. I took his last name, finally, when my biological father died.
My parents foster my stability. They are my safety net, allowing me to leap without looking down. I am braver, better, and stronger with their buoyancy.
Contact Info:
- Website: UrbanPortrait.Org
- Instagram: Instagram.com/pieces_of_maya
- Linkedin: Linkedin.com/in/mayacamillamitchell
- Youtube: Youtube.com/@MayaMitchellMusic
Image Credits
Viviane Carvalho
