There’s something to be said for living differently. I have immense amounts of respect for people who do things their own way, for people who live life not just to be different, but because they genuinely believe in what they do.
Jen is that person.
I know Jen through a friend. A 20 something artist, Jen filters everything through the lens of beauty, color and potential.
How she see’s the world, and her place in it, then, is especially interesting.
When it came to changing a community, Jen talked about the importance of surroundings, the way art can change a mindset and how the two things combined can change community.
Her best work, she says, is done when she’s working for free, helping someone or simply creating for the sake of beauty.
She paints in elementary schools, decorates cakes for local bakeries and creates a mural in the community center downstairs from her apartment.
Her way of making a difference in the community might be out of the ordinary. It doesn’t focus on meeting glaring needs or creating revolution in the system of society. But subtly, poignantly, the creations she imagines, the walls she paints and the way she see’s the world makes a difference. It makes people think. It brings them joy.
Jen might not see what influence her art has. She may never find out that someone was inspired by seeing her piece, or that they were thankful for the work she did free of charge.
Maybe a community change starts with small things, things of beauty, of service, of making ordinary things extraordinary.
Maybe that’s where the unexpected is exactly what the community needs.
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