The title you chose feels so fitting, "The Perils of Attention" indeed. I was raised in a family where the conversation around the dinner table often centered around how "math and science shape the world and all the rest is fluff." I then watched my older sister bravely step out in college and after two years of coming home and declaring her change to a fine arts degree..and the subsequent violent reaction from my parents and fall out then ensued. So much of my life has been shaped by the compulsion to be a "good daughter", yet the more years I live I am coming to understand how that is a disservice to myself and the whole world really. I've stretched my wings but attention still feels murky....I've relied on the positive feedback and support I've received to keep going and I wish that I didn't need those affirmations to believe in my work and my voice.
The title you chose feels so fitting, "The Perils of Attention" indeed. I was raised in a family where the conversation around the dinner table often centered around how "math and science shape the world and all the rest is fluff." I then watched my older sister bravely step out in college and after two years of coming home and declaring her change to a fine arts degree..and the subsequent violent reaction from my parents and fall out then ensued. So much of my life has been shaped by the compulsion to be a "good daughter", yet the more years I live I am coming to understand how that is a disservice to myself and the whole world really. I've stretched my wings but attention still feels murky....I've relied on the positive feedback and support I've received to keep going and I wish that I didn't need those affirmations to believe in my work and my voice.