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Bentley Kalaway's avatar

Thank you for sharing. Highly resonant. Reminds me of a time when I was "cancelled" from a "performance" that I was sure was "the sign." I collected the "almosts," believing that enough of them would add up to something. I now know with every fiber of my being what you put so beautifully. My own "longing, becoming, devotion, and trust was exactly how I returned to myself, over and over again. And that is a priceless gift.

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Thank you so much, Bentley.

I’m really touched that these words resonated with your own journey. Through the quiet returning to ourselves, again and again, I think we find more pieces of what’s true in us. Grateful for you reading and taking the time to share your reflection. ☺️

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McCall Erickson's avatar

I find so much resonance in your beautiful sharing. Thank you. After years of struggling with the ups and downs of sharing my writing publicly, I keep coming back to my deep knowing: my writing is my devotion. Not a hobby. Not a job. Not a thing that can be monetized (without consequence), but my truest, sacred devotion. And I love your phrase "I create from truth, not urgency." Me too, or else I suffer in ways I'm just not into anymore. ;)

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Writing as devotion, yes! I love that, and I feel it deeply too.

Not everyone is called to create from that soul rooted place, but it’s taken me a long time to understand that this is my path. And like you said, when I try to force it or chase something else, I suffer in ways I’m no longer willing to accept.

Thank you so much for reading and reflecting here. It means a lot. 🥰

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McCall Erickson's avatar

You're so welcome. It means a lot to me, too, to hear you say the truth of you. I relate so much.

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✿ 𝙺𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊's avatar

I felt every word. What you’ve shared is more than a story—it’s a mirror. Thank you for the honesty and the reminder that this path is never a mistake.

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Thank you so much, Kamila.

I truly believe we are mirrors for each other, and it means so much to hear that these words landed that way for you.

When something I’ve written from the deepest parts of my soul resonates with someone else, it feels like the most beautiful reminder of why we share at all.

🥰

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✿ 𝙺𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊's avatar

This right here is why I keep showing up—to read, to write, to feel seen. Thank you for making art that meets people where they are.

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Phoebe Brooks's avatar

Beautiful, Ela! Thank you for your words. 🩷

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Thank you for reading and for leaving a trace behind. Being seen is wonderful but knowing it landed with someone, even more so. Grateful you’re here. 🥰

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Phoebe Brooks's avatar

An honour, my love!

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Rachel Lemmen's avatar

"My art is my soul's language." I've never thought about it quite like that! Thank you for continuing after rejection...it's not easy!

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Thank you so much. It’s taken me a while to realise that too. I always knew my art was what healed me, but only recently did I understand it goes even deeper than that. It’s my soul’s language.

And yes… the rejections. I think I needed to be blasted with all the feelings to move through them, to feel them fully. Now, even when they still sting, I’m not attached to them in the same way.

Strange gift, isn’t it? 🥰

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Asia Bochenek's avatar

So many truths in here. Your story about not giving up because your art is something eternal, something that cannot be stopped. It's infinite. It's consciousness itself. Let's treat it the way it deserves- with honour, not rejection numbers. And what is a rejection from this perspective, actually?

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Ela Bochenek 🎨's avatar

Thank you, Asia. Art as something infinite, something that continues no matter the outcome, has taken me a while to embody, and I think I’m still in the process of truly feeling and understanding it. And yes to treating it with honour. And yes again: what even is rejection, when the work itself keeps whispering to be made? 🥰

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