We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Love McCoy recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah Love, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I believe optimism is an act of rebellion. It can be a life line to hope. I don’t want to live in a world without hope so I have learned to build a strong optimistic outlook.
I learned it early from my mother. She was chronically ill during my childhood, but she was always looking for the silver lining. She taught me that spreading positivity, whether through a smile or an act of service for someone in need, could generate healing in the moment.
I became an artist to offer hope to anyone who needs it. I’ve been hand-drawing a daily message of love for 23 years now and it’s like building a muscle over time. It can feel hard sometimes to find optimism and I never want to be numb or put my head in the sand. I feel like paying attention, caring deeply, knowing what tragedies and obstacles we face, can co-exist with an outrageous sense of optimism.
My optimism also comes from my love of humanity. I think humans are incredibly beautiful, complex, tender, strong, resilient, hilarious, traumatized and amazing. We don’t even know the half of what we are capable of. We are so wildly creative. We can find solutions to all the problems facing us, especially when we remember how limitless our imaginations are! We are limitless!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Sarah Love McCoy is an artist and writer working on awakening the power of Love through vibrant color and outrageous optimism.
Creator of the “I Stand For Love” Calendar (in its 23rd year in print!), Sarah’s best known for her daily nuggets of hand drawn wisdom. Dedicated to cultivating hope for tomorrow, Sarah believes that through creativity and care, we can build a world that is more compassionate and full of possibility for all. We just need reminders of our innate wisdom and beauty to help spark daily loving action, inside and out.
In addition to the yearly calendar, she’s created oracle and affirmation cards, a line of stationary, original artwork, murals and more.
Over the past 5 years, Sarah’s donated 10,ooo’s of calendars to classroom across the United States. There is now an I Stand For Love non-profit created to uplift and inspire teachers and their students everyday.
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?
Looking back, I can see that my imposter syndrome was really running the show for many years. But one quality that I feel (may sound funny) that helped me on my path was being stubborn. I refused to give up. I just stuck with it. Year after year, I thought about throwing in the towel on my art. I had never been to art school, I was a college drop out. So I thought of myself as less than any artist I would see in a gallery. It was like a mystery to me how people became successful artists.
But i was too stubborn to quit. I wanted to be an artist so bad, that I just kept at it. And I’ve been full time running my art business for 12 years now. No turning back!
Part of my success was my deep desire to be as free as possible with my time. I never wanted to ask permission for time off or to be beholden to someone else. So I made a lot of sacrifices and self published everything. I took the slow path to build something with very deep roots. It’s not glamorous and I don’t have a huge following online. But my customers are so loyal and everything I’ve grown has been word of mouth through the years.
The last thing I think I’ll say is to keep a low overhead. Running an art business through the years, the economy, personally and globally, can really effect what people can afford. I’ve had 1 employee for 12 years now, never taken out a loan over 10K, have yet to open a brick and mortar store. I’ve just kept things pretty tight and through the ups and downs, I’ve been able to bounce back with a steady flow of support and keep growing year after year.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Overwhelm can be so debilitating. I wear a lot of hats in my business and can get overwhelmed on a daily basis. What I try to practice is a sense of self love that is so deep and true, my overwhelm becomes like an illusion. I believe that overwhelm is also a tool of the patriarchy to keep us powerless so when I feel it, I like to remember that being calm and joyful is an act of rebellion against oppression.
Couple of my favorite quick practices are:
I put my hand on my heart and say I love you. I can do this a dozen times a day. If my mind is spiraling or I feel lost in so many daunting tasks. I literally stop, take a deep breath and say I LOVE YOU to myself. It interrupts the overwhelm so quickly. I remember that I am not what I do. I AM. I am a precious being, one of a kind creation. I am worthy of love. I say it in the mirror to myself as well. Deep breath, hand on my heart, I love you. So simple, So powerful.
Another thing i do is zoom out and think of the big picture. I love astrology for this. I think of the Earth, the cosmos, the magical and precise rotation of the planets. How amazing it is to live on this gorgeous planet, what an honor to be alive. With butterflies and rainbows and waterfalls. It. can really help me to zoom out all the way to the milky way and just be in awe of the universe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://istandforlove.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/istandforlove/
Image Credits
Photos by April Burkhart
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
