Creativity, Resilience, and Hurricane Helene with Darcy Wade

Four years ago, artist and art therapist Darcy Wade joined me to talk about her own journey with art and creativity, including how her  discovery of expressive arts brought her back from a period of disconnection with her creative side and helped her recovery from addiction. Darcy has since moved from North Carolina to Colorado, where she’s now undertaking fundraising efforts to help folks back home in the wake of the destruction from Hurricane Helene. She talks to me about the history and artistic culture of Western North Carolina—particularly Asheville, but also the surrounding area; the creativity, ingenuity, and community that arises from crisis; her journey from North Carolina to Colorado; how awe and wonder elevate our lives, and more. You’ll find links to our previous conversation and Darcy’s fundraiser below, and I hope you’ll check them out.

The Roger Ebert piece on elevation is here.

Episode breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

01:18 Resigned dream job, faced challenges.

07:24 Art and creativity integral in daily life.

13:37 Art project raised $7,000 for North Carolina.

17:09 Stuck in Denver due to licensure requirements.

25:32 Artists help Asheville mountain communities with essentials.

31:25 Nature-based expressive arts; paused for now.

34:13 Pass exam for new job in youth.

39:12 Expressive arts therapy empowers diverse artistic expression.

44:54 Children’s fresh perspectives inspire and move me.

48:37 Redefining “bad” art: Challenging traditional definitions.

56:00 Embrace sensitivity; curiosity fuels personal growth.

Darcy Wade Show Links

Darcy’s website

Facebook

Instagram (art)

Instagram (personal blog)

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Transcript: Darcy Wade

Please note: This is an unedited transcript, provided as a courtesy, and reflects the actual conversation as closely as possible. Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors.

Nancy Norbeck [00:00:06]:
Welcome to Follow Your Curiosity. Ordinary people, extraordinary creativity. Here’s how to get unstuck. I’m your host, creativity coach, Nancy Norbeck. Let’s go. Four years ago, artist and art therapist, Darcy Wade, joined me to talk about her own journey with art and creativity, including how her discovery of expressive arts brought her back from a period of disconnection with her creative side and helped her recovery from addiction. Darcy has since moved from North Carolina to Colorado, where she’s now undertaking fundraising efforts to help folks back home in the wake of the destruction from hurricane Helene. She talks to me about the history and artistic culture of Western North Carolina, particularly Asheville, but also the surrounding area; the creativity, ingenuity, and community that arises from crisis,; her journey from North Carolina to Colorado;

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:00]:
how awe and wonder elevate our lives, and more. You’ll find links to our previous conversation and Darcy’s fundraiser in the show notes, and I hope you’ll check them out. Here’s my conversation with Darcy Wade. Darcy Wade, welcome back to Follow Your Curiosity.

Darcy Wade [00:01:18]:
I’m so happy to be here. Thank you so much.

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:21]:
So it’s been four years, which is kind of mind boggling.

Darcy Wade [00:01:28]:
It’s blowing my mind truthfully. I know. Four is my favorite number though, so that, that I don’t believe in coincidences, but yeah, 4 years. So a lot has happened

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:41]:
in the last four years. And for people who missed your first conversation with me, I’ll have a link in the show notes so that they can go catch up on that. But but tell me what’s going on with you now.

Darcy Wade [00:01:54]:
Yeah. So I remember when we had the first conversation, I mean, we were in COVID times. It was 2020, and I was still in Asheville, North Carolina. I am now in Denver, Colorado, and it’s been a journey getting back there. Follow your creativity or your curiosity and creativity. I mean, that has been definitely the theme, trusting the process. I mean, just to kinda bullet point. Yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:02:20]:
Moved out to Denver, Colorado, started, you know, my professional career as a therapist with the focus of expressive arts and art therapy and nature based expressive arts, which we had talked about. I almost I almost feel like that first episode helped manifest a lot of that. I thought about that after the fact. And Yeah. And then, you know, I was on a sober journey, not drinking and taking Adderall, which Wade my 2, you know, crutches and a lot of stimulants. And I did relapse after about two and a half years. It I thought it was like an intentional relapse. I thought I was doing it really carefully, but I’ve since learned that it was very much a real relapse.

Darcy Wade [00:03:03]:
And that brought me back to Charlotte, and that was 2 years there, Charlotte, North Carolina, which is where I’m from. And that was a hard journey being there. I was basically, like, couch surfing, living with my parents, living with friends, but I really like tapped back into being an artist there, which I can talk more about later. And then, I finally got the call, literally, like the call from above, that I needed to put myself into treatment, because my addiction had gotten really, really bad. And so I did that back in March of this year, 2024, and was there for about a month. And then that is actually what brought me back to Denver. I I did sober living and I did like a outpatient treatment out here in Denver. They were like, oh, because my the the original residential place I went to was in South Carolina.

Darcy Wade [00:03:56]:
It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was just what I needed. And then it was they were like, so for aftercare, do you wanna go to Denver, Colorado? I was like, yeah. That’s that’s been the plan the whole time. Let’s do it. And so that’s how I got back out here. And I am now, like, officially, like, the art therapist, expressive arts therapist.

Darcy Wade [00:04:19]:
We might we probably will talk more about this. I just experienced a really hard situation where I was working kind of my dream job as an art therapist for really at risk youth out here and, found out my mother I’m actually the one that caught this. My mother has been diagnosed with chronic leukemia, and that plus a lot of other things have caused me I had to resign, which has been really, really hard. But kinda going along with follow your curiosity and trusting the process, I resigned, like, the day before the hurricane hit down in North Carolina, hurricane Helene. I think I’m saying that right. I always wanna say Helen. And had that not happened, and I Wade, like because I’m doing a fundraiser that we I just did the numbers we’ve raised already, just in presales, about $7,000 that has directly gone back to the Western North Carolina population who are a lot of my friends down there. Had I had not lost my job, or been out here in Colorado, none of this would have happened.

Darcy Wade [00:05:24]:
So, yeah, there’s my elevator pitch on the past 4 years. Wow. I know I’m gonna try really hard not to cry through this, but also I, I accept any emotions because they’re also real.

Nancy Norbeck [00:05:39]:
That is a lot.

Darcy Wade [00:05:41]:
It’s so much. Yeah. It’s a lot. And a really big piece I just wanna highlight while it’s like coming to me is like the power of creativity and the power of community. Like, creativity is what fuels our problem solving skills. Like, my friends, like, your friend, like, our people down in Western North Carolina are literally surviving. Those who did survive the storm, many who did not, many lands who did not, many animals who did not, but the ones who are there being creative, they are working together in a community. They are fighting to save everybody they can.

Darcy Wade [00:06:17]:
It’s incredible, and it’s heartbreaking at the same time. Isn’t it interesting

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:25]:
how Wade, in Western culture, tend to discount creativity and community until it’s a life and death situation and we can’t survive without either? Yeah. Because that’s really what I’m hearing as as you’re saying this is, you know, we know as human beings, we’re wired for both of these things, but we like to pretend that we’re not and that we can get along with, you know, not doing the creative thing because we’ve been told that that’s not important, and that we can just do everything ourselves, you know, the whole rugged individualism thing until your house washes away. Yep. And then you can’t, because, actually, that’s not how humans are designed to work, and also just kind of not how nature works.

Darcy Wade [00:07:18]:
And

Nancy Norbeck [00:07:19]:
then we find out that we need them both literally to survive.

Darcy Wade [00:07:24]:
100%. One thing that has always stuck with me that I learned when I was, you know, studying expressive arts therapy, which which was my main focus that in somatics, for my clinical master’s degree. I remember learning about how, like, you know, indigenous and ancient cultures, like, art and creativity was not separate. It was a part of everyday functioning. It was like while you cleaned, while you cooked, while you did anything, you were singing, you were dancing, you know, you Wade, like, making things, you were crafting craftsmanship. And so it’s rooted in our lineages. And that’s a huge part of, like, this is like, you know, as we are recording this right now, and you are an amazing person for being able to bump this up for the urgency, but, like, it’s it’s just like a reminder of the importance of community and creativity. There was another point I was about to make, which it will come back to me.

Darcy Wade [00:08:23]:
I just lost it, but yeah, I mean, all of what you said 100%. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:08:28]:
Yeah. I think I think it’s a shame Wade only remember it when it gets down to the brass tacks. Yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:08:35]:
Oh, that’s what I was gonna say is, like, right now as we’re filming this is a lot of us who are directly connected to WNC, we really know what’s going on. There’s so much that has not been released that people outside don’t know. But as a nation and and globally, the Western North Carolina Appalachian culture is like where so much of our creativity and our arts and our lineage it’s it’s the culture of America. America’s a very young, you know, nation and our creatives have built a lot of this culture that we have as Hurricane. And that is very rooted in the Appalachian, you know, Blue Ridge Mountain, Western North Carolina. And that’s what has been literally and metaphorically kind of washed away. But the people on the ground right now and who are connected are fighting to keep that alive, along with a lot of humans. And so it’s powerful, and it’s a national wake up call.

Nancy Norbeck [00:09:34]:
Yeah. It’s a wake up call in a lot of ways. I mean, Asheville is so far inland that no one ever expected anything like this to happen there because of a hurricane. So it’s a climate thing.

Darcy Wade [00:09:47]:
100%. 1 in a 1000% chance of this happening, and this is where it’s so important that this is getting out. Like, there’s been a lot of people mind you, I’m in Colorado. A lot of people out here don’t even realize what’s happening or at least not to the extent, and people are like, well, why didn’t people evacuate? I know like, there are friends of mine and people I know that once they got the message to evacuate, the the roads were gone. They couldn’t. Their cars were gone. It was so unpredicted to this level. And, of course, we know that there’s, you know, destruction, Hurricane Milton down in Florida and other areas, and, like, there’s so much that’s been affected.

Darcy Wade [00:10:26]:
But, like, the reason Western North Carolina, WNC, is so important to be aware of is, like, it was a 1 in a 1000 chance of this happening, And it’s home Wade. Like, it’s getting closer to home and the reality, climate change, all the things. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:10:42]:
Yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:10:44]:
Yeah. Big breath. Yeah. Water. Using my I said before we started filming, I literally have like my squash mallow behind me, my my squishy, like, regulation ball in my hand. I have water with electrolytes, like taking care of ourselves first, taking care of our families, taking care of our community, and then we take care of the world.

Nancy Norbeck [00:11:08]:
Yeah. So you’re so far away, but you have so many contacts at home. Yeah. So how are you I mean, it must feel it must feel frustrating to be as far away as you are, and yet at the same time, you know, it gives you resources that you wouldn’t have if you were there to be helping out.

Darcy Wade [00:11:32]:
100%. I mean, like, as I have said, I’m kinda now forgetting what I said prerecording to now, but it’s okay. It all it all comes it all is important. You know, I lost my job as an art well, I I had to resign. I wouldn’t be really respectful in how I word that. I I had to resign, due to, yeah, finding out, you know, I I was the one that caught that my mother had chronic leukemia when she came out to visit me in Colorado, and the elevation brought the jaundice to the surface in her skin, and I knew what that Wade. I immediately took her to the ER. We found out she has leukemia.

Darcy Wade [00:12:09]:
I think she’s had it for a while. And then just other things. I’m in recovery again. All these things led to where I was the job as an art therapist, it was my dream job, still is, but it ended up being more dangerous in a lot of ways because of the population. It’s really, really heartbreaking, like, youth that have just, like, ended up in really bad situations. And, yeah, I had to resign, but then I was able I resigned literally, like it was like the day before the hurricane hit. And had I not had all this time off, you know, it’s been, what, like, 2, 3 weeks since all this has happened. Feels like 2 weeks, 2 years, and 2 days all in one breath.

Darcy Wade [00:12:51]:
But, yeah, being out here in Colorado and mind you, I I was planning actually to move back to Asheville before I got myself into rehab. So I could have very easily been one of the artists down there impacted, but, you know, God took me out here to Colorado to get clean and sober. And then being out here without a job, when everything hits, it allowed me to have, like, you know, Internet access and just, you know, I channeled my anxiety. Like, those 2 days, when we couldn’t hear from everyone like, my my partner is from Marion. His family’s in Marion, North Carolina. So, like, we were watching this from when it hit. And we there was, like, at least 2 days, maybe even more, where we we hadn’t heard from everyone. We didn’t know who was alive.

Darcy Wade [00:13:37]:
And I was channeling so much of my anxiety into, you know, this drawling, of 2 hands holding North Carolina with a heart over where Western North Carolina is. And I immediately just was like, we need to make money, we need to do things with this. And I I just reached out. Mind you, every time I’ve done things like this in the past, it’s all been Asheville based artists and screen printers. So I’m having to, like, build community out here in Denver, trying to network, trying to figure things out and get this fundraiser going. And as of today, we have raised 7,000 that we have donated back to the WNC community, and that’s just in presales. So, yeah, being out here and the luxury of not being impacted directly, but still being affected by it definitely helped this fundraiser get going. And that’s been a huge, huge thing, especially just highlighting the power of art and creativity and just following your curiosity.

Nancy Norbeck [00:14:33]:
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:14:37]:
And I somehow haven’t drank this whole time.

Nancy Norbeck [00:14:43]:
I mean, that’s a major accomplishment. And and I, you know, I can’t imagine You mentioned an intentional relapse before, which is something I’d never heard of, but I I can’t imagine, you know, thinking it was one thing and realizing it was something else and what that must do to you psychologically and then, you know, going and and dealing with it the way you did, and then all of this stuff on top of that, and how that influences you and your art and your drive to do something in this moment too.

Darcy Wade [00:15:22]:
Yeah. I mean, I remember talking about that in the our first episode together of how through all the ups and downs, the good moments, the bad moments, the years where I just felt so lost. And, you know, those those still happen. We’re human. It’s a it’s a wave. We are all learning to ride. And, I art and creativity has always been the baseline, the grounding force to help me navigate the turbulence when the waves just get too overwhelming. And I I just can’t and I think that’s where, like, my heart is just shattered for you know, at this point, yes, I’m from Charlotte, North Carolina, but I lived in Western North Carolina for 2 Wade.

Darcy Wade [00:16:04]:
And that’s where I got, like, most of my drive and my ambition as an artist. And just knowing that so many not only, like, just people impacted, like, losing so much, but losing, like, the original, like, art, being swept Wade. Like, I’m I’m just picturing that on top of just everything else. But yeah, I mean, what a powerful time I will say to be creative because we are needed and it’s necessary.

Nancy Norbeck [00:16:33]:
Yeah. And I I’ve never been to Asheville, but, you know, my, my friend who’s there lived there for a while, and then she briefly moved up to, I think it was Massachusetts. And I’m not even sure that she stayed there for a whole year because she missed Asheville so much that Yeah. She moved back maybe 6 or 7 months ago. And now, you know, she’s dealing with the aftermath of all of this. But I I have a feeling. You know, I haven’t really talked to her because of the whole situation, but I have a feeling that if I ask her if she regrets moving back, she’d still say no.

Darcy Wade [00:17:09]:
A 100%. Well, that’s the other thing too is, like, yeah, I’m out in Denver, and that’s kinda because I have to be like my, my professional mental health, clinical mental health licensure is out here in Colorado. And I looked into trying to transfer it. And just because of, like, reciprocity between state to state, I have to be out here for a couple more years to be able to move back. But the plan is, like, I’ve always wanted to move back to Western North Carolina. Once again, heartbreaking, the reality, like, my dream home is, like, in the mountains, kind of more secluded, right next to a river. These are the places I got swept Wade. And I’m just, like, you know, very grateful to, you know, God, my sobriety, just, like, myself for following, you know, the curiosity that led me out here to be able to be safe right now.

Darcy Wade [00:18:00]:
But, like, yeah, I mean, in the big bigger picture, this is a huge, huge, like, loss and, many, many, many steps backwards for our art community, for Western North Carolina, you know, just for so so many people. And, yeah, fighting the good fight because that is home.

Nancy Norbeck [00:18:21]:
So for those of us who haven’t been to Asheville, what what is it about Asheville that makes it so special and different from other places?

Darcy Wade [00:18:30]:
In the artist, it’s such a hub for artists, creatives, musicians. A lot of those are specifically what my fundraiser, and I’ll provide you links that you can link that the show notes. But, you know, there’s such a creative atmosphere there. It’s like the phrase of Asheville. I remember when I first moved there, it’s like, keep Asheville weird. And it was just, you know, of course, it’s, like, grown into a lot of breweries, which a lot of those people are friends too. And, you know, the mountains. Oh, my gosh.

Darcy Wade [00:19:05]:
Like, the Blue Ridge Mountains like that. You know, because I lived in Boone. I worked in Old Fort. That’s where I did wilderness therapy, and that’s one of the areas that got, like, completely washed away. Swannanoa, like, my mother, like, this brings tears to my eyes every time, but the Swannanoa music gathering and Swannanoa is an incredible collection of musicians who meet every year, and it’s right there in Swannanoa on the Warren Wilson campus. And I haven’t even been able to look, but Swannanoa is like gone. And that break my heart because my mother wasn’t able to go this year, even though she had tickets because of her leukemia. And we kept saying next year, next year.

Darcy Wade [00:19:48]:
And, you know, that’s the that’s the heart wrenching thing people need to realize is, like, it’s gonna take so long for this all to recover if it can recover. Like, the lands are hurting. But, yeah, I mean, Asheville, it’s I know they’re trying to still open. I know there’s a lot of places in the surrounding Western North Carolina who, because of their resiliency, they are open. And like, there’s artists there, there’s musicians there. Like, they want people to come and support. They need that. And we’re just, like, you know, Helene, crossing our fingers for places like Asheville and Black Mountain and Lake Lour, who I mean, like Lour, that’s where Dirty Dancing was filmed.

Darcy Wade [00:20:22]:
Like, those places got demolished, and that’s a lot of, like I said, our our art culture in this nation.

Nancy Norbeck [00:20:30]:
Wow. That’s amazing. Because Dirty Dancing was set in the Catskills in New York, and yet

Darcy Wade [00:20:38]:
They found a lot of the scenes, like around that Wade, it was in Lake Lourdes. And I’m like 99.9% sure I’m right on all this. I mean, out full transparency, like, I know I’m dysregulated, and I know I’m exhausted. I have a huge exam I’m studying for tomorrow for my licensure that I have to pass. It’s like $400 if I don’t and all these other things, but, like, you know, it’s hard to keep track of it all. I think the most important thing for anyone listening, thank you, it’s like do the research, listen to the locals. It’s hard for a lot of us who have just been and I’m I’m speaking to someone who’s not even down there, but, like, there’s so much information going on. So, like, you know, fact check, but I’m doing the best I can with this little brain.

Nancy Norbeck [00:21:22]:
Just for clarity, I’m not saying that you’re wrong about the Darcy dancing thing. That kind of stuff happens all the time that you know, set in one place but filmed in another. But, you know, never would have occurred to me that

Darcy Wade [00:21:32]:
it that

Nancy Norbeck [00:21:33]:
it would have been filmed in North Carolina, though I’m sure they found a place and said, well, this looks enough like, you know, upstate New York somewhere. So, you know, because that’s what they do.

Darcy Wade [00:21:42]:
I like to remember my dad telling me when we went there one time for a family trip. But, yeah. I mean, just that whole area. It’s just it’s magic. It’s beautiful. And, yeah, here I am in Denver, which is equally as beautiful. You know, the Front Range, the Rocky Mountains, but, like, such a connect and so much influence. I I’m pretty sure this definitely like, I hope I’m saying this right.

Darcy Wade [00:22:04]:
I’ll backtrack myself after the fact. But, like, I’m pretty sure, like, the Appalachian like, the French Broad River is one of the oldest rivers in the world. And that’s when the rivers that it got up to 25 to 30 feet in a lot of areas, like Marshall, North Carolina, where that’s a huge hub for herbalists, artists, musicians, you know, armors, so so so so much. But yeah, I mean, like, yeah, it’s so much. We don’t have to talk the whole thing about the the venue, but it’s important, and it definitely is a a big focus. But, like, yeah, I mean, as an artist, this is impacting all of us.

Nancy Norbeck [00:22:47]:
Yeah. Well and and that’s the thing that that really when I have heard people talk about Asheville, that’s always what I’ve heard about. It’s kind of it’s kinda like when you hear about Austin, Texas, which I also haven’t been to. And and they also say, you know, keep Austin weird. It’s the the Wade kind of kind of vibe. It’s, you know, you hear about Asheville, and it’s always in an artsy kind of context. So it does it does seem like, you know, it’s kinda like Asheville, Nashville, you know, very artsy kind of communities that that have built themselves up around that. And so it’s not the only reason to support them in the wake of a hurricane, but it’s an extra reason to say, hey, you know, this is a real cultural enclave.

Nancy Norbeck [00:23:35]:
And so, yeah, we wanna help people get back in their houses, but we also wanna help support the artists that have been affected by, you know, potentially losing their work and and losing their studio space, losing their their musical space, their instruments, their, you know, whatever it is that they’re using for their particular art and helping them to get it back, especially if it’s their livelihood.

Darcy Wade [00:24:00]:
Yeah. 100%. Like, I’m thinking right now, and I’m really bad with, like, name pronunciation to just, like, preface saying that I might butcher names, but I’m pretty sure. But, like, my friend Jerry, I know I know how to say the word Jerry, but his last name, Cahill, I’m pretty sure I’m saying that right. He, is one of the founders of Wade Printworks. Rad stands for River Arts District. They are who printed my shirts for during, like, COVID, the Black Lives Matter, all the protests. I did a fundraiser, my first fundraiser for the racial justice coalition, like and Jerry’s one of the ones and his partner at Wade, Matt, they printed my shirts and they lost everything.

Darcy Wade [00:24:46]:
Like, we’re for art District in Asheville is, like, no more. I it’s it’s amazing the things that did survive. Like, my friends who are potters, I’m seeing them posting pictures of, like, little pots that made it and all these things. There’s such a metaphor in that. But Jerry has been working directly with Beloved Asheville, and Beloved Asheville is an amazing organization that’s been around for as long as I have known of Asheville, probably even longer, that really focuses on the homeless population, the addicted population. I mean, that in it itself, like, I immediately knew, not to be too morbid, but the death toll was gonna be really bad in this area because of all those who Yeah. In the Appalachian Mountains, there’s a lot of addiction, a lot of homelessness. You know, those people, unfortunately Yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:25:32]:
I mean, we I don’t even need to say more about that. But, you know, Jerry and Beloved and the Wade Print Works River Arts District Group, they have been literally the ones, like, even though they lost everything, they’ve been nonstop on the grounds in Asheville doing things that you would never expect, like like like going into these territories, into the smaller areas of the mountains that, people are stuck and stranded. And it’s been, like, you know, 2, 3 weeks elders who have not been able to flush their toilet because there’s no running Wade. There’s nothing. And they’ve been going in and, like, bringing them water to they call it gray water to help them flush things into clean. Like, it’s just and so it’s like, these are artists, like, at this point, they are, like, the professionals. Like, I have friends working with FEMA. I have friends, you know, working with all the different organizations, but, like, these are artists at the area who they could have left.

Darcy Wade [00:26:29]:
And a lot of people did because they had to, and I just wanna be really careful in saying that anyone who had to, like, retreat and go elsewhere just to, like, take care of themselves, that’s really important. Every single piece of this puzzle is important. But a lot of those who stayed, the artists, the musicians, the locals, the business owners, the nonprofit owners, they are fighting to save their own, and they don’t really know what they’re doing, but that’s the power of following your curiosity and the creative process and problem solving, and they are saving lives and they have been nonstop. It’s it’s remarkable.

Nancy Norbeck [00:27:01]:
Yeah. It’s amazing what what, you know, necessity being the mother of invention. Mhmm. You know, what you can come up with when you have to. And I’m I’m really glad that they’re finding ways to support folks like that.

Darcy Wade [00:27:16]:
Yeah. Yeah. This I saw someone post this, and it’s so true. It’s like this area, I think doesn’t get a lot of credit too, but it’s a lot of survivalists. It’s a lot of, like you know, this is where I worked, Wilderness Therapy in Old Fort, North Carolina. And a lot of people who live there, like they, they do choose, they choose to live in a little bit more of like secluded mountain area, but they know how to survive. And it’s the power of community of like, yeah, people have prepared they they have, like kept supplies, but everyone’s sharing with with everyone. And that’s beautiful, too.

Darcy Wade [00:27:56]:
Yeah, so there’s a lot of good. The quote that sticks with me right now is, like, I might butcher this, but essentially it’s life is both beautiful and tragic, and we have to pay attention to both.

Nancy Norbeck [00:28:12]:
Yeah. I think there’s wisdom in that for sure. And not just when tragedy strikes.

Darcy Wade [00:28:18]:
Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:28:19]:
No. Yeah. It’s it’s in every moment.

Darcy Wade [00:28:22]:
Yeah. Gratitude. I mean, that’s and I can kind of, like, do a natural segue just into kinda, like, what’s been happening in my life behind the scenes, in the past 4 years. But, like, you know, just trying to, like, go back to the roots, like, you know, the whole nature based expressive arts, which I I’m pretty sure I talked about that Oh, yeah. In this episode. Yeah. Yep. You know, just it’s not even just about learning how to survive, you know, not only in this world, but in our natural world and like, you know, our we are humans, we are animals too, and appreciating nature.

Darcy Wade [00:29:02]:
This has stuck with me a lot too. And this, I think just gives a paints a picture pun paints a picture of maybe how my mentality is through all this. It’s like, yes, we honor and we grieve all those who have who lost their lives in this catastrophe and all the other catastrophes that are happening in the world. But at the same time, you know, mother nature spared a lot. Like, I can speak for myself. I know a lot of people in Western North Carolina, and every person I know personally survived. And that’s the power of like, yeah, like their resiliency, but I also just really trust nature. And, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment, it’s it’s bigger than us.

Darcy Wade [00:29:45]:
It’s a bigger thing to comprehend, but mother nature is wise and also is hurting because of what humans have been doing. But I know that’s been a really big guiding for, like, my recovery journey, especially round 2 and just being an artist. Like, a lot of my art still revolves around just like nature, listening to nature, trusting the process, and it’s helping me regulate as I grip my little stress ball

Nancy Norbeck [00:30:21]:
like crazy. Yeah. I I really I remember being really fascinated with your your nature and wilderness therapy work before. So I’m I’m curious to know, like, I mean, how how did you I’m assuming that you still work in that way in Colorado? Like, how how is it is it different out there? Have you had different opportunities to expand it, to explore it differently?

Darcy Wade [00:30:53]:
Yeah. I mean, since we last talked, I did end up starting a private practice, which technically is still operating. I mean, well, it’s it’s still active. I’ll say that. I’m not working through it right now just for, like, ethical boundaries. I’m still in recovery. I’m trying to be very ethical about what I do. But my private practice that I started, I think it was in 2021, based in Boulder, Colorado, and it’s called heart of earth healing.

Darcy Wade [00:31:25]:
It’s not gonna be helpful to look that up because I’ve made everything private, but it was like the concept of like the word art is in both heart and earth, and I don’t believe in coincidences. And then the focus for me, and I I had a lot of success with this, it was really hard to end this, but I knew I had to go back home to North Carolina, and pause. But I was seeing clients out, like, we would go on, like, walks around some of the, like, beautiful lakes out here in Colorado. We would meet at the foot of, like, Chautauqua, which is like the front range, beautiful, mountainscape in Boulder. I definitely hosted a lot of groups. I like nature based expressive arts groups, and it it’s so fun, and I’m planning to do more. It’s just beginning. We just took a pause.

Darcy Wade [00:32:17]:
Yeah. That that is like soul food for me, like, for my heart. 100%.

Nancy Norbeck [00:32:23]:
Are you still working with a lot of kids?

Darcy Wade [00:32:26]:
Mhmm. I’m gonna try to get through this without crying. Oh, it’s so hard. Yeah. I mean, I worked, at a really amazing place called Denver Children’s Home, and we are in very good relations. You know, they were really taking care of me. It was hard to see in the moment, but it was like I needed to resign to take care of myself. And they saw that, but for the 4 months I was able to work there, until honestly, my health just kinda got in the way and everything else.

Darcy Wade [00:32:59]:
Yeah. Our main population is kids right here from Colorado who really grew up with not a lot of family, if if any, and a lot of them ended up in gangs. And, you know, it’s just fighting to find that sense of community. And because of that, a lot of the kiddos and I have to be very careful about what I shared just for and I’m obviously not gonna share any names or anything. Absolutely not. That would be big no no. Right. Like, it’s like kids that just got into really bad situations because they were young, and they now have charges against them.

Darcy Wade [00:33:31]:
And it’s kinda like going to different children’s home is their their attempt to try to, like, do get not in the system, not go immediately to jail. And it’s so hard. But, yeah, those were the kids that I was working with and doing art therapy specifically with. I was hired as an art therapist. I those kids are amazing, and I I was starting to, like, connect a lot of things to be able to, like, do things in the garden. We had a new amazing community garden there, and so really trying to get the nature element to them. And there’s still there’s still hope. Like, I I have full faith that this will all be connected later when I have the capacity.

Darcy Wade [00:34:13]:
But, yeah, I mean, I love working with the kids. And I do have another job lined up, and that’s why this exam I’m taking tomorrow is so important because I have to pass that to get to the next stage of my licensure to be able to get this job. But this new job, like, they’re giving me free range. Like, it’s basically doing a private practice, but through, like, a company. And yeah, I mean, I I can’t I wanna continue working with the youth. Anyone honestly, who is curious about how creativity in nature can just really help because that is truly what has allowed me to be, like, alive today, honestly. And I just wanna share what wisdom I have gained and continue to gain, and I really love working with the kids.

Nancy Norbeck [00:35:01]:
Yeah. Do kids take really easily to art therapy? Because I have to imagine that they that they do probably more than adults do.

Darcy Wade [00:35:10]:
They do. They do. And it I remember specifically this one kid, I wanna say he was like 15 and he had just gotten there. And I think the art therapy group I was leading was one of his first, like, entrances into, you know, our program. And I remember like trying to like hand him, like, paint stuff. And he’s like, I’ve never painted before. And I was like, woah. And, like, by, like, group 3, he loved it and Wade, like, already saying how his favorite type of painting art was abstract art.

Darcy Wade [00:35:40]:
And it just it was like watching these kids who didn’t really a lot of them didn’t really have a childhood because they were, like, in survival mode from the get go. Watching them just, like, reconnect with their their childlike wander, which is a huge part of, like, the creative process and the curiosity behind that. Like, it’s powerful. It’s medicine. I like bringing the focus back to, like, Western North Carolina. I’m so, like, amazed and just, like, my heart lights up when I see all these videos being posted by my friends of groups sitting together by candlelight singing to each other and dancing and just, like, painting. And it’s like, that’s that’s the artist way.

Nancy Norbeck [00:36:22]:
Yeah. And, you know, you mentioned wonder and I wonder and awe really fascinate me because I think that they’re they’re kind of what’s the word? They’re kind of hard to pin down. You know? They’re hard to describe it. If you have a really awe inspiring experience or moment, it’s hard to explain it to somebody else. So so it’s kind of difficult to connect with somebody who wasn’t actually there. Like, if somebody else was there with you, then you don’t have to explain it to them, and it’s great because then you you just kinda you know. You know, you Yeah. You were there, and and you you have that connection, and you don’t need words, and yay.

Nancy Norbeck [00:37:05]:
But if somebody else wasn’t there, you Yeah. You just you trip all over yourself, kinda like I’m doing right now, and and it’s really hard to communicate it. Whether that’s, you know, going to see Bruce Springsteen on the beach in Asbury Park like he

Darcy Wade [00:37:22]:
did a couple of weeks ago the kids, by the way. You know? Anyway Or

Nancy Norbeck [00:37:28]:
or, like, seeing a fabulous sunset over, you know, the mountains in New Zealand or or something like that. You you know, it doesn’t it doesn’t really matter what it was. It’s it’s equally difficult to explain to somebody else. A photo or a recording is not the same as having been there. It’s but it’s something your awe inspiring experience probably still felt the same way to you as my awe inspiring experience, even if it was a completely different thing. I don’t know. It just it just fascinates me because I think that it’s this feeling that is important somehow, but that the English language really lets us down. We don’t have good words for it.

Nancy Norbeck [00:38:13]:
We we know what it is, but we can’t talk about it easily. But it I don’t know. It it’s important. I don’t know what you what you think. Help me

Darcy Wade [00:38:26]:
out here. Fire. I know that those listening because this is just audio. Like, I’m sitting here just nodding because, like, you’re I have been where you are so many times trying to just explain what expressive arts therapy is to people. Like, I don’t know. Just come do it. Yeah. Right?

Nancy Norbeck [00:38:44]:
Like, it’s hard.

Darcy Wade [00:38:45]:
Away Wade happy. It’s so hard and that’s that’s the power too of, like, the creative process, especially when it comes to healing. I mean, essentially, it’s synonymous. Like, creative creativity is healing. For the most part, when people are tapping into their creative power, it is in turn healing them in some way. And then trying to explain that though to people who haven’t tapped in. Oh my gosh. Like, shout out to the movie Soul.

Darcy Wade [00:39:08]:
Have you seen that?

Nancy Norbeck [00:39:09]:
Oh, yeah.

Darcy Wade [00:39:10]:
Oh my god. Like What

Nancy Norbeck [00:39:11]:
a great Darcy.

Darcy Wade [00:39:12]:
It’s so good and so such a great way to explain exactly the concept we’re talking about, which is essentially expressive arts therapy. It’s just expression tapping into that ancestral, that, like, deep rooted, you know, a blessing being human is we were given thumbs, which means that we are allowed to create with these thumbs. Obviously, you know, my heart goes out to a lot of, like, those who are, like, disabled, and that was a huge population I actually worked with in Asheville. Shout out Open Hearts Art Center. That’s a huge place that, like, I’ve been directly donating to because I worked there for basically the whole time I was in Asheville. And we we worked with artists in the Western North Carolina community who had, like, a bunch of different, you know, yes, disabilities, but the correct term is differences. And, you know, I remember working with a woman who didn’t have access to her hand. She had cerebral palsy, but we I helped her translate writing and write a book and amazing things like that.

Darcy Wade [00:40:12]:
And it’s it’s hard to explain. And that’s where like, when we are able to capture it into words like this podcast, that’s where I’ve always loved this whole premise of what you’re doing, and I’ve wanted to stay connected because it’s important. And it’s yeah. I mean, sometimes you just can’t find the words, and that’s where you let the the the art talk for you.

Nancy Norbeck [00:40:35]:
Yeah. As as we’ve been talking, I’m I’m remembering that, the late great Roger Ebert, the film critic, wrote a piece one time about elevation. It’s what he called it. Is that that moment when you’re watching the movie and you get the goosebumps because something amazing is happening. And and he he may have had a way of putting it into words. I’m gonna find it, and I’ll put a link to it in the show notes because I remember reading that piece maybe, I don’t know, 10 years ago, and thinking, oh, yeah. That’s that moment when, like, you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up when you’re in the movie, and and you just have this moment and you might start to cry. And, you know, and and not every experience of our wonder makes you cry or or makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up or whatever.

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:19]:
But I think I think there’s some crossover there, but it’s Yeah. Maybe it’s just feeling like there’s something bigger than you happening. I

Darcy Wade [00:41:27]:
don’t I

Nancy Norbeck [00:41:27]:
don’t know.

Darcy Wade [00:41:27]:
There it is. That’s it. Yeah. No. I mean, that it’s weird. I would it’s not weird because I really just trust that we’re on the same wavelength right now. I think a lot of us creatives are because, surprise, if you haven’t noticed, it’s like the world’s on fire everywhere right now. Mhmm.

Darcy Wade [00:41:43]:
And it’s really hard. I mean, it’s really hard. Everyone’s dealing with something and, you know, mad respect for just pushing through one day at a time. But like, yeah, I mean, creativity in itself, and I think this is where I’ve always, like, used it as my my lifeline, like, my anchor in this world is because it does in turn, connect you with just the bigger picture, the greater community to God’s spirit, to mother earth, to, like, whatever human language feels right for you. It connects you to that bigger energy, which gives us hope. It gives us faith. And without that, what is the point of this whole human experience?

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. Not to get everybody going, oh, it’s all pointless. That’s not what we’re saying. But but, yeah, there’s there’s something that, you know, connects us to stuff that’s bigger than us. I actually there there was a book there’s a guy named Dacher Keltner who’s a some kind of psychologist out at, Berkeley, I think. And he released a whole book called Awe last year. So he’s obviously got lots and lots of words for awe.

Nancy Norbeck [00:42:56]:
And it was Wade? AWE. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was an interesting read, but he he divides it into different different categories, like, you know, group movement and, you know, all all sorts of stuff. But I’ve you know, now I wish I had read it more recently. But, but he’s too.

Nancy Norbeck [00:43:17]:
Yeah. There’s all sorts of stuff that can elevate the the immediate moment. And he’s he talked a lot about, like, everyday awe, which I don’t think we think about all the time. We think about, you know, the sunset over the mountains or the Bruce Springsteen concert on the beach or, you know, the big things that that we think about and and that, you know, we separate into these elevated moments. But, you know, there are there are these ordinary ordinary moments. You know, I was just thinking the other day about a student that I had once when I was teaching. I taught ESL kids, and a lot of people told me that they couldn’t do creative writing. And I was like, why? Why? Just because English is their second language, you think they can’t write a poem? I mean, what what you expect them to write an essay for their English class, but you think they can’t write a poem?

Darcy Wade [00:44:09]:
And it always always comes down to someone down the line told them they couldn’t because of what their experience is, and that’s where we come in and say, yes. You can.

Nancy Norbeck [00:44:19]:
Yes. You can. And my kids regularly wrote all sorts of stuff, and we, you know, would put it in the literary magazine. And one of my kids wrote a poem that ended up in the literary magazine, and the school chaplain at the end of the year asked him to read it at the final chapel service. Oh. And he got up and and read it. You know, I’m like, yeah. Really? So you wanna tell me again how ESL kids can’t write poetry? Yep.

Nancy Norbeck [00:44:45]:
Can’t do creative writing? Because that one just did, and he’s not the only one. You know? That’s a moment of everyday awe. You know?

Darcy Wade [00:44:54]:
It literally brings tears in my eyes every time, because, like, this is, you know, for all the, like, mothers out there, fathers out there, you know, just, like, even adopted parents, like, our youth is our our future as we know. I mean, I’m I’m I don’t have kids my own, but obviously, like, I I love being around children and working with children. There’s so much wisdom to gain from basically everyone in that younger like a little bit more naive, you know, they’re still kind of in that Wade that wall. That was me trying to combine Wade wander and all they’re in that. They’re just in that, yeah, childlike, just seeing the world with a really fresh perspective. And I I try to tap into that a lot, especially when I’m out hiking, when I’m doing art. Just every process I’m trying to, like, see it from like, okay, What am I actually experiencing without all of the other noise and chatter that’s happening and all of the different, like, you know, things that have happened throughout my life that told me, no. I can’t or not good enough or all the things.

Darcy Wade [00:46:07]:
And it’s like, this is when we rewrite we rewrite. That is a tongue twister. Those, neuro pathways. Like, you know, speaking as a clinical therapist, I worked in neuro. I’ve done a lot of my own work. You know, I I put myself in treatment, did a lot of brain spotting, did a lot of, EMDR, all the things. Like, we have the ability to rewire our our our brain and rewire these connections that are telling us we can’t and to not go there, to not fall out of curiosity, to not try to do this, to not try to do that. I think what is really being highlighted with what’s happening in Western North Carolina right now after the hurricane is the power of the creatives, especially in crisis, the power of the, quote, unquote, hippies.

Darcy Wade [00:46:52]:
I remember we laughed about this when I was trying to explain expressive arts in episode 1 when we did this. It’s like, you know, we’re kind of seeing now that, like, this culture and this way of life is really, really sustainable and it’s grounding. I mean, they literally overcame majority of them overcame and survived a major catastrophic, I in quotes, this is how it’s been said, biblical level catastrophic once in a lifetime events. And they are just showing us the power of that deep rooted resiliency that comes from being a creative. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:47:36]:
And and to what you were saying a minute ago about, you know, listening to all the messages that say, no, you can’t. You can’t do that. You shouldn’t be this way. You should, you know, do this other thing. That’s that’s literally why I’m launching a course called make bad art. Yes. To

Darcy Wade [00:47:55]:
get people

Nancy Norbeck [00:47:56]:
out of, you know, making bad art goes literally against the grain because everybody believes that if you’re gonna make your if you’re gonna make art, you have to make good art. Well, how do you think you get to make good art?

Darcy Wade [00:48:08]:
Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:48:09]:
Nobody starts out making good art. Yeah. Guarantee you the first time you try to make any kind of art, whether it’s taking a photo or, you know, drawing or writing something, it’s gonna be bad. And if you judge yourself on your first effort, you will never make a second effort. But if you sit down and you deliberately make bad art, then you say, oh, look, I made some bad art. Maybe I’ll make some more because that was fun.

Darcy Wade [00:48:37]:
I love that I love that so much. And I would even like, you know, taking it, like, a step further, I mean, this is where my creative brain and my expressive arts brain is, like, seeing the beauty in this process of, like, once you realize the power of what has been deemed, quote, unquote, bad art, you see it’s not necessarily bad. It’s more of just, like, not maybe accept it. And okay. So who who got to have the rights to tell us what is and isn’t accepted in the art world? And I know and this is a huge thing we talked about in my first episode Wade, like, how blocked and, like, defeated I felt when I was kind of being told that my art was not good and things like that when I was in college and that whole story. You know, I actually weirdly relistened to that episode. I got called to relisten to it, like, not long before you had tagged me. So this is all, like, posting the music, and I love it.

Darcy Wade [00:49:30]:
But I was, like, remembering just how hard that was for me as someone who is an artist who had always been told throughout my life, I I was so good at art. Mind you, I was not really good at a lot of other things. I’ve grown. I’ve learned. But art was always my thing. And as someone who even had that foundation, the 1, 2, 3 handful of times that I was told my art wasn’t good stuck with me in such a Wade. And that’s where we are I love your course. I just already love the sound of it, and I will happily help promote it because, like, getting people to realize that, quote, unquote, the bad art is where the magic happens because that’s where you’re the most vulnerable and real, and you’re doing it for you and not anyone else.

Darcy Wade [00:50:09]:
I love it. Yeah.

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:10]:
And it gets you out of what other people tell you about it.

Darcy Wade [00:50:13]:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:15]:
Beautiful. So it lets you be yourself. I mean, that’s that’s the whole that’s the whole thing. That’s why I’m so excited about it. Because so many people, even if they’re, you know, we all get all of these messages about who we’re supposed to be. Well, what about who you wanna be?

Darcy Wade [00:50:29]:
Yeah. And you know what? I even have it right here. You know who I’ve learned? Yes. I’m an artist and I’m a human, but you know what I wanna be? I wanna be a good person. Like, that’s literally, like, Logan. She’s got a

Nancy Norbeck [00:50:42]:
hat that says “be a good person” on it.

Darcy Wade [00:50:44]:
Yeah. I’m showing her it. It’s my, like it’s literally, like, my, like, emotional support hat. But I this is actually a company here in Denver. It’s really tragic. I think I actually and I might have to backtrack this too, but I think it started during COVID time. I know that it was kind of founded. I it might have already been around, actually, but where it really got highlighted, when I when I learned about it, it was, a really innocent individual was shot and killed from a I think it was a gang thing.

Darcy Wade [00:51:16]:
And then, you know, they they’re utilizing their platform, be a good person to just raise awareness about all of that stuff. And just remind people that at the end of the day, when you’re still trying to figure out who you are, you know you can be a good person. And that comes in all shapes and sizes, but that’s also how we all come. And it’s all about, like, what you’re feeling in your heart and the altruism and, like, the just authenticity. And I I’ll speak from just what I’m seeing with my fundraiser. Like, I’m literally not keeping a penny. And that’s hard because I don’t have a job right now. It’s really hard.

Darcy Wade [00:51:49]:
We are constantly being sort of, like, tempted with all these, you know, things that maybe aren’t the best choice. But every time you choose the right choice, you choose to be a good person choice, more magic happens, and it ends up, like, expanding tenfold. And it’s always worth it in the end. Always.

Nancy Norbeck [00:52:09]:
Yeah. Well, and you know, my my instinctive reaction to be a good person is that probably the person you really wanna be is the person you are deep down inside.

Darcy Wade [00:52:21]:
Yep.

Nancy Norbeck [00:52:21]:
That that doesn’t always come out because you’re influenced by all of these other things that are telling you buy this thing, or be this person, or this other person’s more perfect than you. You know, but all of you know, the the famous exercises like, who are the people that you idolize and why do you idolize them? And those qualities are the qualities that you probably already have that you don’t acknowledge in yourself. I mean, that’s I think that’s true. I think that that, you know, the person that you wanna be is is what’s really deep down or you wouldn’t wanna be that. And the things that get in the way are things that aren’t really you. There are external factors that make it harder to live up to that.

Darcy Wade [00:53:04]:
100%. I can speak from from my own experience, like to anyone who’s listening that is or has gone through addiction of any kind. Like, I still I will always refer to myself as an addict because at the end of the day, like, that is how my system is is is, like, formed. And I know this, and that’s a beautiful awareness that I now have, and I’m able to, like, accept and move forward with that and not see it as, like, a a a something that’s holding me back. It’s more of, like, if someone had an allergy. Like, I’m I’m allergic to something. Okay? Like, I’m allergic to alcohol. Like, literally, like, if I drink it, it does not do good things to my psyche or to my body, and that doesn’t mean it’s everyone.

Darcy Wade [00:53:49]:
But, yeah, like, even though I have struggled with addiction my whole life and it’s a forever long process, I’m someone who struggled with still struggle with anxiety. I’m definitely like a neurodivergent individual. I’m an adult person who is just now kind of coming to terms with all the hidden disabilities. Shout out to, like, the sunflower. I use that a lot. It’s like my symbol right now because I learned when I was, you know, experiencing having to help fly my mother after we learned her diagnosis back from Colorado. We had to I had to help fly her to North Carolina. It took like a week to get her to that point because the elevation was messing with her hemoglobin levels.

Darcy Wade [00:54:30]:
And sunflower is a symbol, at least in airports and a lot of other systems of like, hey, there are hidden disabilities that you may not notice on the outside. Oh. Yeah. I know. I I get chills every time about that because I I literally dressed as a sunflower when I was taking my mother to the airport the first time, the first attempt when the doctor said that she was stable, quote, unquote. And I thought I lost her in my arms just in the checkout line to try to get our tickets. It was terrifying. It was overwhelming.

Darcy Wade [00:55:00]:
It was scary. I was dressed in a yellow sweater. I had this little, like, hide glitter all over my face. I don’t know why. I just felt called to do that. It’s a god thing. I had this little, like, green, like like, flower looking thing poking out. And I also had just gotten trained at TCI, which is therapeutic crisis intervention.

Darcy Wade [00:55:21]:
I had just gotten trained that, like, the week before, and I was able and mind you, this Wade when there was, like, some kind of technology crisis at the in the airports where there was understaffing as there always is. And when my mother went down in my arms, and I think she was in and out. It was really scary. I’m not even gonna go into that. But, like, I with all my hidden disabilities, I channeled and just knew, and I was like, this is what needs to happen to get my mother into a hospital and be Wade, and I channeled that. And I guess my long way of saying is, like, even if you’re someone who’s doubting who you are because you’ve been told your whole life that you’re not good enough, that you don’t you’re you’re too addicted to things. You’re not strong enough. You’re weak.

Darcy Wade [00:56:00]:
You’re too sensitive. All the things I’ve been told so many times, it it is what builds your character if you just learn to accept and love it and work with it and not work against it and just be curious. That’s a huge, huge follow your curiosity, be a good person, listen to your body, and just trust yourself and don’t give up because, like, that’s what helped me. I I don’t wanna sound too, like, presumptuous or you get to school to say this, but I I do think I helped save my mother’s life a few times. And I think it was all of the above that I just stated that helped me be the person I am today to be able to do this. And that’s definitely, like, what is fueling me right now to be able to just, like, put my all into this fundraiser to help my friends back in WNC. So, yeah, every flaw does help in the end.

Nancy Norbeck [00:56:53]:
Yeah. Well and we are all flawed. And I love what you said about acceptance because, you know, if you fight the flaws, you’re you’re just you’re just deluding yourself more. Whereas if you accept the flaws, they just they just become part of you and they they help you become more comfortable in your own skin rather than less.

Darcy Wade [00:57:12]:
Being human is so interesting.

Nancy Norbeck [00:57:14]:
Isn’t it? But there’s no one no two ways about it. No matter what you do, you’re still gonna be human.

Darcy Wade [00:57:21]:
One day at a time. That’s my favorite forever my favorite, like, recovery, you know, AA slogan, one day at a time, trust the process. Yeah. Be grateful, have faith, stay, you know, don’t do it alone, ask for help, all the things. Hashtag all the things.

Nancy Norbeck [00:57:40]:
Well, before we go, I wanna make sure that you get a a solid chance to tell us in detail exactly what this fundraiser is and how we can find it and what we can do to help out.

Darcy Wade [00:57:51]:
Yes. So the fundraiser is, directly supporting Western North Carolina after hurricane hel Helene. Thank you. I always say it wrong.

Nancy Norbeck [00:58:01]:
It’s my grandmother’s name, so it’s easy.

Darcy Wade [00:58:02]:
Oh, that that makes yeah. It it doesn’t, like, make sense in my brain when I read it. But yeah. So after the hurricane, there was outrageous devastation. I mean, this whole area of our nation has just been, like, almost completely demolished, but there are people down there, my friends, our friends who are fighting the good fight and helping, and they have lost a lot. So this fundraiser is directly supporting them. I’m literally, like, basically just being a channel as when I get donations in, I’m filtering them back out, and we’ve raised 7,000 as I’ve said, and it is helping. I’m I have really put in a lot of work on my social media platforms.

Darcy Wade [00:58:38]:
So Darcy Wade art is kind of, like, my overarching platform for everything. That’s my website, www.Darcy Wade art.com. My handle on Instagram is Darcy Wade Art, all the things. But then even my personal Instagram, I made public, and it’s more of like a blog. It’s more complicated because it has a lot of, like, dots and underline things because it’s D Wade. It’s harder to find. But, I’m trying really hard to post their daily updates about where Darcy donations are going to, updates about what’s really happening down there. Just amplify the voices of my people down in Western North Carolina, our people who are not being heard, and, at the same time, trying to raise money to send to them.

Darcy Wade [00:59:20]:
It’s shirts, stickers, prints. I’m gonna be releasing, I hope hoodies and mugs and maybe even, like, stress balls, like, just really, like, like things that people need when they’re in crisis, also in the mountains when it’s cold when they have nothing. So every single scent is going to help this project help others.

Nancy Norbeck [00:59:41]:
You mentioned prints. Is that prints of your own work?

Darcy Wade [00:59:43]:
Mhmm. Yeah. So right now, yeah. I mean, I am so I actually just started a raffle as well that’s gonna be going until Halloween, and, it’s $5 to enter, and you can enter as many times as you want. Every $5 gets your name into this pot. And, essentially, the winner is going to win a free custom anything you want drawing by me. That’s kind of my specialty, and you can find that under, commission work on my website. But then anything I raise from that, I’m gonna be donating.

Darcy Wade [01:00:15]:
And then also on the side, like, I definitely am still taking commission orders. I’m donating 20% of any commission orders directly back to WNC, but also these are great holiday gifts. And I am gonna be releasing soon, kinda almost like a catalog to my newsletter. So if you’re interested, like, subscribe. It’s right on my website. There’ll be a catalog of all the different items, both for the fundraiser and just my own personal art that you can buy, and it’s great for holiday gifts.

Nancy Norbeck [01:00:43]:
Well, and I I asked because if if you haven’t seen Darcy’s artwork, it is absolutely stunning. So this is a great opportunity to get some and do some good with the money at the same time, and we’ll definitely have links to all of the social outlets and Darcy’s website, and who may even throw some some, artwork photos into the the show notes, the the fuller show notes on my website so that you can check it out there, and you can check it out at her website. But seriously, it’s it’s it’s beautiful stuff. So if you’re looking for something pretty to hang on your wall, this is a great opportunity to do some good at the same time. So

Darcy Wade [01:01:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Thank you so much for having me on here. This this was Wade really important and very special, and I I’m just so grateful.

Nancy Norbeck [01:01:32]:
That’s our show for this week. I’m so grateful to Darcy Wade for joining me and for her determination to help the Asheville area recover from hurricane Helene. I hope you’ll check out what she’s doing and help out. If you enjoyed this episode or know someone else who’d like to participate, please do share the episode. Thank you so much. If this episode resonated with you or if you’re feeling a little bit less than confident in your creative process right now, join me at the spark on Substack as we form a community that supports and celebrates each other’s creative courage. It’s free and it’s also where I’ll be adding programs for subscribers and listeners. The link is in your podcast app, so sign up today.

Nancy Norbeck [01:02:12]:
See you there and see you next week. Follow Your Curiosity is produced by me, Nancy Norbeck, with music by Joseph McDade. If you like Follow Your Curiosity, please subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to tell your friends. It really helps me reach new listeners.