Finding Meaning

One of the challenges of being a Mormon anything, not just an artist, is that people, members and non-members alike, assume that you have a certain bias before they learn your true biases. This creates the opportunity to either affirm or restructure these biases, but people will often judge you and your work from a certain perspective. For example, I'm obviously Mormon, but I'm also a feminist. These are two words that people often don't associate (at BYU the term "feminist" is often regarded as a dirty word and people think they'll cause offense by assigning me this label) and I often have to find a way to reconcile the two words in people's minds (I think being an LDS feminist is just having common sense, but I won't delve too deep into that here). I think the most important thing one can do as a Mormon or just as a human being is to stay true to what you know to be true. People are more likely to take you and all of your biases seriously when you're genuinely doing your best to portray truth. The challenge is in doing this with reverence to your subject and respect to your entire audience.

Just as we're surrounded by degrading and detrimental stories, we're literally surrounded by stories of light. Literature, films, television, YouTube, you name it, uplifting stories are only a glance away when you're actively seeking significant meaning. Having eyes to see and ears to hear is the most crucial component in finding these stories, because if you're just going through the motions, even the most powerful piece of scripture or doctrine will be to no avail to the listener who isn't in tune to its medium and message.