Meet Oliah Fall

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oliah Fall a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Oliah, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Well, it’s similar to learning to play guitar. When I first started to play, I found the steel strings painful on my fingers. The more I played, the easier it became, as I built up callouses on my fingers. As we navigate life’s hardships and challenges, we gain strength (and hopefully wisdom) which makes it easier to bounce back after difficult experiences.

I’ve faced a number of major challenges in my life, including my struggles with ocd and depression, anorexia in my teens, growing up with an alcoholic parent, and my mom’s serious stroke when I was in my twenties.  After my best friend and partner died of cancer while I held him in my arms, I had to move through the deepest, most intense grief of my life. I felt as though I’d been beaten-up by the Universe.  And I just lost my drive to live for a while.

Having creative outlets to express my difficult emotions has been essential for me. I turned my heartbreak and grief into art, poetry and songs. And seeing a wise & spiritually aware counselor was pivotal to my recovery as well, as was my connection to and support from family and friends.

Life is a continuous lesson. And what I’ve come to realize, is that every experience, especially a difficult or challenging one, is an invitation to grow and evolve, and ultimately to become a better person. I haven’t always had this perspective. When I was younger, I wasn’t really asking myself, “What is this experience trying to teach me?” Now that I understand the deep value of this self-reflection, it makes the journey a little smoother.

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

I’m a multi-medium artist. I draw and paint, mainly in oils on canvas and also watercolor and sometimes acrylics. I’m a singer-songwriter in an indie-pop duo called Nerve Ascending. We’re currently drip-releasing our first album on all listening platforms (apple, you tube, spotify etc.) I write poetry and prose. And I’m about to publish a collection of my poetry called, “Beyond the Tree of Dreams.” I dabble in photography and I particularly love to photograph bumble bees and nature.

I’m also a certified holistic health coach and Theta practitioner with a passion for all things health & wellness.

While I was in art college (in Maine where I’m from), I became aware of the environmental and health impacts of many art mediums. A fellow student warned me that the turpentine/mineral spirits I used to clean my brushes was being absorbed into my bloodstream. So I resolved to find healthier, more eco-friendly art mediums. These days I paint with organic “Natural Earth Paints,” that I mix myself with walnut oil or biodegradable plant-based acrylic medium and powdered rocks and minerals. These times we live in, call for environmental awareness and we owe it to our own well-being and to the health of all life on this planet to strive to really “green-up” our art as well as our whole way of living.

I lead guided ThetaHealing meditations regularly and I write my own scripts for meditations as well. I see health as multi-dimensional, encompassing the body, mind and spirit. I also feel that there is an essential connection between health and creative expression.  And it’s my goal to enhance well-being through creative expression and to enhance creative expression in health-conscious ways that are good for the planet.

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?

Creativity & creative expression for sure have always been essential to my journey as well as curiosity and having an open mind.

My advice would be to stay curious, keep an open mind, and ask questions.  Remember that life is an ongoing lesson and there is always more to learn.  Having a sense of humor also really helps pull us through.  Laughter is good medicine.  Don’t forget to laugh at yourself and have fun!

Are there any challenges that you’ve been or are currently facing?  And what have you found helpful in overcoming these challenges?

Well, I’m dealing with the pressure of time and a feeling that I should’ve accomplished more by now in my life.  I feel like I need to be more self-disciplined and better at managing my time.  I’m also struggling with writer’s block.  I’ve been trying to write a book and I’m finding that a daunting task. I start writing projects and lose interest or drive and don’t follow through.

I have found it really helpful to have a daily practice such as “morning pages,” where you freely, stream-of-consciousness write, quieting the inner critic. I aim to start that practice again.  Meditation is also helpful for clearing the mind and enhancing creative flow.  It’s just a matter of prioritizing these daily rituals.  So I’ve got to get to it!

The Faces lyrics, “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger,” sometimes seem to be the anthem of my life.  And yet, apparently time is just an illusion and all possible timelines are happening at once so….we’ll see?  ha ha

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us Oliah. 

Yea for sure, thank you so much.

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