WRITE! DANCE! PAINT! SEW! CRAFT! CREATE! EXPRESS!

I took a little break from the blog to announce XSTSY MEDIA’s Fall Magazine Vol. 1! It was our biggest issue yet! The print version is available at XSTSYMEDIA.com, with 38 pages of creative and informative stories. Each magazine we produce, I see our growth and the vision all falling into place. XSTSY MEDIA is the outlet for my imagination to run wild, hopefully stimulating creative projects in others to share on this platform.

Sometimes it is hard to stay motivated and feel like what I am producing is worth anything or anyone's time. Deep down in my heart, I know I am doing all of this for me, my career and our News/Life Editor, Taylor's career. But overall motivation can be difficult to find within yourself as a freelancer. Especially when the A.I. driven, corporate world dilutes all forms of originality by using non-human resources for their creative projects.

Taylor recently published a blog centered around the current job market and life of post-graduates who are still unemployed. That article reflected a big issue in our economy which emphasized XSTSY MEDIA’s mission to provide a space for college graduates to feel a part of something while they are constantly being rejected or replaced.

The more I look into how well an article is going to do or how many likes I will get on my Instagram post, I lose sight of what I believe looks visually pleasing and the messages I am trying to convey. That is when I work on calming down from my self-relavancy spiral and remember why I am doing all of this in the first place. Yes, to differentiate myself from others in my job market but also because I love to write and I love to create. I think a lot of people stunt their abilities to create really cool sh#t with the fear of it not doing well or getting any likes.

I can attest to the feeling of loneliness or discouragement constantly producing content to a crowd filled with crickets or in a field that feels oversaturated. Even though they might read it, you have no idea if they did or didn't, or liked it or not.

Crafting and creative projects has and still is a huge part of my life. As a young girl, my mom gifted me a stationary set that I still have and use for hand written letters and notes. A bead collection that is over a decade old, is still in my rotation when making jewelry. And the running stitch my mom taught me as a kid, remains a skill I still apply when sewing clothes.

So when I start to lose the plot, I remind myself of that little girl who did not care what other people thought of her art and made it for herself. The girl who spent hours on Kid Pix to never end up saving any of the documents. No matter how imperfect it was, I wore that handmade bracelet and displayed my paintings on my wall. It was the feeling of producing something no one else could, from my own two hands. An idea that was once a vision in my head is now in the physical world and that in itself is something magical that doubtful artists should remember.

Society is currently witnessing A.I take over creative jobs and so breaking free from creating based on the algorithm is exactly what we should be doing as creatives. We should create art because it satisfies ourselves and not in hopes of virality.

Surrounding the conversation of A.I. art, I believe that soon the human race will no longer feel an internal connection to A.I. art and crave the emotions only humans can embody and portray in art. Something I hope society can begin resembling in the coming years is a 1960s to 1970s surge of protest art mindset that will get the point of humanity across.

Art and beauty are all in the eyes of the beholder, we know this lol so I encourage people to write, create, dance and express their individualism through art whether or not you think it's perfect enough to show off.

XSTSY MEDIA is a prime example of someone who loves to write and has novice graphic design skills but still creates magazines even if they are not fully in the correct column or the dimensions are a little off. It's my magazine and I have that beautiful, creative freedom to make it look however I want.

Supporting small creators supports humanity in a time where human connection is becoming a rarity.

When I studied a few graphic design classes in college, it opened a whole new world of creativity for me that could translate into my career. XSTSY MEDIA has no pressure of success but wants to have fun while making a way for my name to be the one you look up to hear the truth.

XOXO,

S☮︎