We Make Meaning

I explore what it is to be human and how we make meaning of our experiences, the stories that connect us to the worlds within and around us.

I’ve always written. On small scraps of paper or notes in my phone. In journals and notebooks. On a laptop. Text embroidered into a hospital gown. Audio recordings made while walking through the woods. These writings range from poetry to creative non-fiction to short story, scribbled out in small pockets of activity across my life. Sometimes in a rush, spilling through my hands, and others as slow musings over weeks or months.

I’ve always written, but I’ve also always been something else first: A daughter and sister and partner. An au pair in France. A Chinese language and literature student. An outreach worker for the homeless. A Peace Corps health volunteer. A US government contractor working on refugee and human trafficking issues. A gallery assistant at an art museum… And, today, an artist.

I want to make space for Jill the writer to stand on equal footing to the crowd of other things I’ve been. This platform is an open space for me to bring together old writings and new, flashes of thought and longer considered pieces, creative nonfiction and fiction — and to allow them to breathe beyond the confines of my notebooks and journals or other isolated places, to allow them to exist together outside.

This isn’t about sharing perfect or finished pieces, but is a living archive of inclinations that give insight into writing and creativity as a gateway to meaning-making, how we make meaning of our human experience as part of the wider world across time.

There are a million worthwhile things to read in the world — thank you so much for choosing to read my words!

Very warm wishes,

Jill