Story & Lesson Highlights with Syd Linkletter of Rio Rancho/Corrales/Santa Fe/Albuquerque, NM

We recently had the chance to connect with Syd Linkletter and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Syd, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Good morning to you too! I’m definitely wandering. I am lost in a lot of ways but this year particularly has been big for learning about and finding myself. Specifically the realization of my cult upbringing. Figuring myself out and feeling like a part of the world has been a major milestone in this year of the snake.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely, my name is Syd and I’m a visual artist who specializes in illustration, and lately I’ve been working on my book, TarotSaur, which is set to come out soon this year. It’s full of my own writing and paleo-art illustrations and is my longest book to date, and is completely self-published at this time. It combines occult themes of divination with my own personal gnosis studies of fossils. It is a highly theoretical based book and I’m proud to release it soon in physical form.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
With the cult context I feel like this question is especially sprawling.
I truly believe I’ve been an activist my entire life, but until recently I never had the tools or encouragement for it. I’ve always cared about human-rights, the environment, animals, and the arts. It took 18 years for me to leave the homeschool cult I was born into, and only this year at 25 have I realized the true weight of where I came from, and I’ve been able to start repairing that part of my identity. I essentially have had to re-examine my entire life through my new lens of understanding. I feel equal parts grateful for that understanding, and that I want to scream at the sun for the rest of my life.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Honestly, getting my GED. I’m partway done with it now, but funny enough even though I was in a homeschool cult I never really did much schooling. The one subject I was actually taught during that time was math, and surprise surprise it’s the one subject I’ve felt the weakest in my whole life. And I’m proud to say it’s the first module of the test I’ve now fully completed and passed.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
That belief is that if you work hard everything will fall into place. It’s right there with practice makes perfect. Point blank, if you keep doing the same thing and just hope your situation will improve or change it won’t. You have to be smart about it, pay attention, and if things keep not working, pivot. It’s ok to change your mind, even if you’ve been grinding for a long time. The sunk-cost-fallacy is such a big deal especially with creatives. There’s already so much pressure to stick with what will be a hard career, so the thought of being flexible with your goals feels like giving up, but it’s not. If you can change, grow, pivot, and adapt, you can also call it quits with projects or ways of working that just don’t work and don’t serve you.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they’ll say I did some dangerous stuff that ended up working. That I connected neurodiverse people with more understanding of their lives and peers. That I made art that hurts just right. That I asked questions that needed asking. And that I shined a little more light on the dark underbelly of the occult and art. I hope I’m remembered for causing good trouble.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
wispofwords.net

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Highlighter Series
Life, Lessons, & Legacies

Shari Mocheit Put God first and trust the process. See God in everyone and everything.

Highlighter Series
Highlighting Local Gems

Sabina Bower I’m actually at that point right now. I wake up genuinely excited to

Highlighter Series
Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?

Del Kary Definitely what I was born to do. Since I can remember, movies have