The Importance of Experience Representation

I think we can all agree that there is a lot of weight in representation. To feel like you connect with the characters you read about or watch on TV, like you can really see yourself in those roles. But I don't think we talk about experience representation enough. And maybe that isn't the best way to phrase it but listen I just work here.

What I mean is seeing a character who has similar life experiences that you do. I saw a post recently about Elphaba, and first of all, all hail the great green queen 🙌

But I saw a post that said she is for those

-with Absent Fathers

-that have been bullied

-that are self-conscious

-that are lonely

-that never feel like they are enough

-that remain kind after so much hurt

I'm not remembering it all but something like that. And honestly I felt that. I won't spoil anything, but when there was some self-blame for something totally out of her control and her friend told her it wasn't her fault, I lost it.

The depth of which I felt that character while watching this movie was impeccable, and that's should be the point of art!

Art is meant to express and pull the audience in and provoke emotion.

Writing is my main form of art, and as a writer my main goal is to connect with my readers on a really deep level. Not because my readers feel immersed in the fantasy world I created or really enjoy the magic and whimsy, but because the characters and experiences move them.

When I was younger I experienced some pretty traumatic events, and struggled a lot with PTSD from them. The anxiety and panic that came with it made me feel so alone and, yes there was something wrong with me, but I felt ruined, like I would never recover, like I would be wounded forever. One book and one book series helped me through and I will never shut up about how much they mean to me.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and the Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins.

Watching Katniss handle life after the games was so intense, and made me feel heard for the first time in my life.

Angel/Sarah, in Redeeming Love, is abused and the man who hurt her haunts her every thought and she's numb inside. And again I felt seen. I felt like if these women could find a happy ending, and experience some healing then maybe I could too.

Katniss had an outer shell around her, a numbness about her after losing her father, and had to be tough for everyone around her, but Peeta gave her the gentleness she craved. That and many other things make me feel so seen and heard, so understood.

It's no secret that my book is based on my life, and Endora, our main character, is a version of me. A young, spritely, fairy who craves love, who puts on a brave face and a happy facade, but deep down she is dwindling away and losing herself.

But her loneliness, dramatic family life, and sense of self-loss aren't the only things that make her relatable.

She has chronic pain (and feels like a burden because of it), she feel the pressure from her community to stay in a lifeless love, she hates being vulnerable and would never dare show anyone any weakness. She will try to convince you she doesn't have any. And most of all, she's afraid of challenging her status quo because she's barely surviving.

These are some things I haven't seen much in pop culture, in fiction, in story telling. But I know I'm not the only one. If you create art I encourage you to share your honest life, you never the impact it can make to your audience.

And as I sniffle again from tearing up writing this I will leave you with one more note.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. No matter your struggles, you are not the only one to feel the way you feel. To have experienced the pains you've felt.

And more importantly, pain fades. Please stick around for the magic that another day can hold. I promise you, there is hope, there is recovery, there is so much joy in choosing life and choosing yourself.

I hope you will stick around to read more about life, chaos, and BTAM, my upcoming fantasy book based on my life.

Stay Magical Friends