Butterflies & Rainbows

Emily Snyder -- Painter/Mixed Media Artist -- @snydesigns_

It is what it is. You can’t go wrong if you accept what is inevitable. When life throws you curve-balls, you aren’t expected to hit a home run every time. Sometimes you don’t even hit the ball at all. It is what it is. Life isn’t a ball game though. People experience real-life struggles, daily. Depression is a real thing and is something that affects one in every five adults in America. Ironic how numbers are commonly used in ways to describe statistics of America, when in America you are simply just a number. Maybe America is the problem. So why not… leave? Emily did just that.

Greece came into question as a study abroad option for a college program. She felt college was something she had to do, but it was somewhere that she didn’t belong. Not in the sense that she wasn’t capable, but rather the environment was off. The common phrase, “if you’re depressed in one place, you’ll be depressed in another”, was told to her many times before venturing off to a land where that proved to be invalid. Everything Emily knew about money, people, and art flew out the window of the plane over this new territory and a new state of mind took its place. Her art flourished, as her perspective of life became art. As art is life itself.

When returning to the States encouragement was heavy, as her whole view on life was completely altered. Although, some things never change. Coming back home made her realize that growth was evident in herself, but others still had the “everything’s not fucking butterflies and rainbows” type of attitude that Greece helped her escape from. Not everyone was accepting of this ‘new’ Emily. Close friends she thought had good intentions-- turned to lessons. Without all of this, she wouldn’t be the artist, or person, she is today.