Changing the Stories We Tell About Ourselves

Euella at the launch of Rising Arts Agency’s Whose Future campaign 2020. Photo cred: ShamPhat.

Euella launches her blog with a motivational message about flipping the script on those self-limiting beliefs.

I thought it would be good for me to kick off my first EVER personal blog post with a bit of an introduction to me. As you’ve probably guessed by now, my name is Euella and among friends I have been known to refer to myself as ‘a professional-pie fingerer’. Since you’re reading this blog, I consider you as a friend too, so feel free to also refer to me as such.

I spend a majority of my time as the co-director of Rising Arts Agency with Jess Bunyan (which I imagine feels very similar to co-parenting a small child). When I'm not doing that, I'm either sitting on various boards, making youtube videos or films, writing, producing and getting very *passionate* on panel discussions.

Making this website has been such a massive under-taking, partially because I can be *extremely* indecisive but also because I’ve spent the past five years trying to figure out how I want to professionally exist in the world. Those of you who know me IRL would know that I have been working on this website on-and-off since the spring of 2020. It has taken me that long because not only was I trying to pin-down my ‘brand identity’ in a pandemic and changing landscape 😭, but I was also really struggling to work out what it is I want to do in my work - as someone who has many passions and professional interests.

Despite being where I am today, I’ve always felt that I was one of the few people in my circle that didn’t have their ‘thing’ - the side hustle that they could make a career from. I’ve also always felt like I’ve kind of stumbled into where I am; that it was mere luck that I happened to be in the right place at the right time, that my career choices have happened primarily because I'm a ‘yes-(wo)man’.

Yet, the other day while I was deep in the belly of my inbox, sifting through old subscriptions and irrelevant emails I’d managed to hoard, I stumbled on the personal statement that I used to apply for university 10 years ago (surely I’m not old enough for that). There, written clear as day was a road map for who I am and what I’m doing today. Below are some extracts from my personal statement (2012) and how they fit with what I’m doing now (2022):

2022

2012

“I am interested in the notion of community and during my secondary school years, I became thoroughly involved with a young person’s charity called ‘Street Dreams’ which worked primarily to take young people off the streets and help them build foundations for their future”

This is a theme that still runs true today. I co-lead Rising Arts Agency a not-for-profit and creative agency for a community of young people - disrupting the status quo, empowering them as leaders and mobilising for social change.

I am still a performer. I am also film-maker, co-run a production company and am a content creator where I share my opinions of the world. Storytelling and expression are strong threads in all my work.

“My background in performing arts has given me confidence and my love for photography and video-making are vehicles through which I view the world and reflect back my observations”

I AM ALL ABOUT GIVING VOICE TO OTHERS! Period. Whether it’s through journalism, film-making, events, my work at Rising, my youtube videos - that will never change.

“Self expression is also important to me; I value my own voice and encourage it in others…”

Coaching and mentoring are strongly embedded in my practice and in the DNA of Rising. I take real joy in helping people lean into their purpose and have continued the legacy of young people helping other young people. Although I can be neutral when necessary, I now refuse to be silent and complicit on issues that I believe are wrong.

“I use the skills from coaching to help guide young people, and although being fairly young myself, I am able to maintain neutrality when looking at issues that could/has affected me”

A lot of my content is about sex and relationship education. I am 100% sex positive, but I’ve always been more interested in the intricacies of relationship building, maintaining and shifting power in those spaces.

“… This influenced my choice of extended project, as I wanted to see to what extent social institutions influence young people’s sexual behaviour… I have tested some of my own observations… via a video blog that I have used the feedback to further my study”

The personal statement showed that all the seemingly disparate things that I’ve done, that I thought didn’t make sense together, was exactly what I had intended, and that made me feel incredibly proud of myself. It showed that all along, I was walking into my purpose, even when I couldn’t see where I was going. It reminded me of a quote my good friend Prince Will Taylor said to Rising’s community of young creatives to mark the New Year:

“I hope this year brings you what you want, but I want you to ask yourself, what are you going to do ensure you are so familiar with your ambition that you can stay true to it even when it is too foggy to see. So that you can stay grounded and focused when things are thrown in the air. So that you can struggle with purpose and celebrate with unfiltered joy when the appropriate moments arise”

I have been able to stay true to my ambition, even when it was too foggy to see. To get to a point in my short career where I can look at all I have achieved, all the doors I have been able to open for others, the interests and dreams that I haven’t let die, is a major achievement.

Now I know what you’re thinking, is this a blog post about manifesting the future you want?

No, it’s not (although I totally am for manifestation). This is actually a blog post about challenging the stories we tell about ourselves - all those limiting self-beliefs that we put out into the world. There are so many reasons why we tell these stories. It might be because no matter how limiting they are, they make us feel safe, or free of accountability. Or it's as simple as we’re just putting back out into the world what others have put on to us.

Yet I want to challenge you to ask yourself:

What are the stories I tell about myself that need to change?

Once you’ve done that, I want you to go deeper:

What are the stories we tell others about the sector we work in or the world we live in that we need to challenge? That do not serve us?

E.g. “That’s just the way it’s always been” / "Change is slow" / "I can't make a difference"

I had held onto this story that I was just a girl who had her fingers in many pies, with no real sense of direction or purpose. When actually, there has always been clear strands to my work; ‘creativity’, ‘young people’, ‘justice’, ‘community’, 'empowerment' and 'sex positivity'. I’m so proud that I can round off a decade knowing that already in such a short space of time, I’ve been able to honour the path that 18 year old Euella set me on.

Here’s to the next 10 years, b*tches 🥂. It’s time to get familiar with your ambition.

Euella celebrating amongst her friends - photo cred. Ruby Walker Photography