HeArtwork: Find Your Voice

This was not the plan.

I was not supposed to be the person doing this interview.
Even if it was my idea.

We were brainstorming ideas about who we would interview for this month’s newsletter. And politics came to my mind. But of course it did. It’s an election month. There are so many things going on, and all at once. It’s almost impossible to turn on a screen and not see something political staring back at you. I’ve been feeling so many conflicted and frustrated emotions. So many times of feeling like things on our larger political stage is out of my control. Beyond my shaping. Even if I vote.

But then I reflect back on the importance of local politics. How influential it is on our lives. How we have the opportunity to shape it. Ways that we already have! I thought about local level politics and people I may know that we could talk to. And Dan Whitfield came to mind.

I had already met with Dan Whitfield previously when he was taking his campaign tour through Piggott, AR. I had made a point to go meet him in person and get his thoughts on the issues. So it made sense when we were planning for this month’s newsletter to get someone to speak about the issues. To educate local people, myself included, about the issues they would be voting on and the impact they could have.

The idea hit me like lightning and I knew we had to do it. We had to get Dan on. Had to talk about it before election and get the word out. It was a great idea.

But I was not supposed to be the one doing the talking.
Matt was. Matt who is so much more eloquent than me. Matt who doesn’t say “uh, um, yeah” , every other word. Matt who is much more qualified than me to not mess it up and do it justice.

But Matt could not schedule one more thing in his very busy day. And it was my idea. In the midst of all the reasons why I felt inadequate to do it, I knew I still had to do it. Because it was important.

My activism has been a guiding force in my life for many years. Its something that has helped to define who I am as a person. But it’s also been something that’s often left me feeling isolated. It’s been something that’s often broke my heart. I have so many aspects of life that I’m in love with...with the environment and social justice and people. Things that compel me to action. But year after year I have seen politicians and policies and perspectives that would disregard these deep loves. It would tell me I was wrong. That something else mattered more. That my views were nonsensical, irrelevant or irrational.

And over and over and over I felt unheard. I felt like I was screaming from the bottom of a well, and no one cared. That feeling of your efforts being futile, your voice not being loud enough to ever be heard, or feeling like your vote doesn’t actually mean anything beyond a symbolic act….these continued pressures of society exhaust me. They give me a sense of weary that I can’t accurately describe. These pressures add a layer of anxiety to my world, because it becomes one more great, big thing I can’t do anything about.

Except I don’t want to believe that. I don’t want to believe I can’t do anything about it. I know there are things I can do about it. Starting here.

So I knew I had to do this interview. And I had to do my best. Because it was important.

When I first met Dan I appreciated how much he helped me to feel heard as a constituent. He spoke about and reciprocated concerns I had as a voter. He knew the struggle of being an ordinary American, trying to do their best to take care of their family while also being a productive and involved citizen. He knew the frustration of seeing a broken system continuing to stay broke, and no one taking accountability or a step towards fixing it. He knew the sadness and anger and anxiety that comes from feeling like politics is one step forward, but 20 back. This resonated with me about Dan’s campaign.

While he has since put an end to his 2020 run, he continues to be active on social media and is making future plans for how to get more citizens involved in their local elections. Dan joined us October 19, 2020, opening day for early voting, to discuss the local Arkansas ballot initiatives, running as independent candidate against Tom Cotton, Ranked Choice Voting, and how politics can affect our mental health. 

Each topic of conversation seamlessly fed into the next one, as good conversations are prone to do. I found that speaking truth and feeling heard about those truths open up whole roads of communication that I hadn’t thought to explore prior. It opened up heArtwork that needed to be expressed.

Feeling heard helps us to better process emotions and thoughts within ourselves that are needing released. I’m thankful for the opportunity to speak on these topics with Dan, and look forward to future conversations we will have with him and other truth tellers, change makers, and heArtwork artists. Click Here for the complete interview with Dan Whitfield.