We are the new Bohemians. Won't you join us?

On my short walk to work this morning, I started to think of the time I've spent in Austin. The whole purpose of moving here was to try my hand at cinema, and maybe discover myself along the way. I never expected to be where I am today. It seems as though every passing day holds little surprises for me, surprises for which I am so grateful. 

I've been in the same building as Stan Lee (yes! Stan Lee!), met some of my favorite filmmakers (Mike White who wrote School of Rock, and Robert Rodriguez, you know, Sin City, Planet Terror), met actors, filmmakers, musicians, artists, etc. These people all have regular full-time jobs (except the previous three listed above). But what sets them apart from your average joes is their passion. How lucky are we to able to pursue our dreams? We may never make it big, but we get to do what we love! My passion is cinema, and I have been able to produce some work that has won awards. If you told me when I was younger that I would be an award-winning producer living in Austin, TX in my early thirties, no way would I believe you. 

I come from a small country town at the tip of Texas. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but that town just wasn't for me. I've always felt different. I was bullied as kid, up until high school. I guess some people don't like "different". I looked and acted different, but to me, that was normal. In a city like Austin, I am the normal one. To the friends I have met here and welcomed me with open arms, no questions asked, I want to say thank you. In my eyes, we are the new bohemians. We create art, in every possible form. Art forms in our minds as we sleep, becoming dreams we MUST make into realities. Those dreams consume us, until they turn into our passions. 

I would rather live this life as someone who pursued her dreams. I may not have much to offer this world, but I have a welcoming heart, and a great mind, full of dreams and ideas that consume me until I burst.

So if you were to ask me, "Jackie, are you happy?" I would have to honestly say "yes". Because I am a part of the new Bohemians. Dreamers and thinkers and artists and truth-seekers who question and ask "why".  

I am lucky to have these people in my life. And I am lucky to be a part of this movement. 

Won't you join us?