An Inspired Chat with Terese Young of Roswell

Terese Young shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Terese, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Both! I absolutely believe in setting goals and taking steps, even tiny ones, to create what you desire in life. But some of my most treasured memories are spontaneous moments that unfolded when I threw plans out the window and let the magic of life surprise me!

My husband, Ian, is a total planner. That’s NOT my natural state. We laugh about our early days of traveling together. He had every step mapped out while I was definitely more of a, “let’s see where the wind blows us” personality. He now jokes that I broke him!

The truth is, we’ve both learned from each other the value of both. We take a lot of trips together and have the perfect balance now of coming up with a loose plan but leaving plenty of space for just exploring off the beaten path. He of course does a better job at coming up with the initial plan. And my strong suit is grabbing him by the hand to say- let’s go peak around the corner!

Plans are so valuable as long as you can be flexible to adapt them along the way. Maybe because I’m an artist I’m a huge advocate of visualizing what you desire in life. But from my experience, not getting too locked in on the “how” details to get there is the best approach. I’ve had some pretty magical outcomes of situations that I never could have planned in a million years! They only happened because I stayed open along the way…

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a contemporary abstract expressionist artist. That’s a mouthful but basically I’m a painter who is absolutely obsessed with color and thrives most when using music and intuition to paint. When I listen to music, I feel certain songs deep in my bones. I use that to create very calming. “ethereal” pieces.

As a matter of fact, someone once described my art like this: “If music could be seen, I think it would look like your paintings. A lot of instruments playing to make a whole tune but like listening, you can focus on your chosen instrument and tempo. I shall describe your work as musical…and nature.”

I melted when I read that (thank you Michael Kinnes!)!! Music and nature both play such a detrimental role in my life. My dream is to collaborate with a musician and have my work used somehow in their expression,

Now that I’m in my 50’s (52 and proud of all those years!) I’ve noticed a confidence and freedom in my work that I didn’t have when I was younger. I was definitely more timid to try new techniques. Not anymore. I don’t second guess myself nearly as much as before. That’s applies to my art as well as my life in general.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I’m what psychologists call an “empath.” It means I’m walking around the world with an extra antenna up (or 3!) picking up A LOT of tiny subtleties in people’s behaviors, moods, etc. It’s also called a “highly sensitive” person. It’s genetic but I was told as a child I was “too sensitive” and really believed it was a bad thing.

It’s taken me an entire lifetime to undo that messaging and embrace how I was just born! I can’t say that I never fall victim to still viewing it as a weakness or that there aren’t some really hard things that come along with being this way. But Ian helps me a lot with it too.

If a situation pops up that reminds me of the challenges of sometimes feeling other people’s pain as if it were my own, he’s very quick to mirror it back to me as a superpower with compassion. Seeing myself through his eyes has helped me view it MUCH differently and see the beauty of how it makes me unique. I’m really grateful for that!

I truly believe that experiencing the world the way I do makes me a better artist. I’ve kind of become an expert at processing emotions because of my nature. Add that with my blending skills and it helps me create pieces that express more depth.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
When I was in my early 20’s I really struggled at times with an immune disease called Ulcerative Colitis. It got REALLY scary for me at times. Doctors had no explanations for what caused it and sometimes linked it to stress,

One Dr. told me when I was 23 or 24 that I’d have to be on a preventative medication the rest of my life for it because flare ups were so common with this disease. My reaction was…oh HELL no!! That sent me into a DEEP dive of exploring the mind-body connection to try and understand why my own body was attacking itself for no apparent reason.

What resulted was a phenominal understanding of how my body communicates with me in soooo many different ways. I never went on that medication. I’ve been in remission for almost 23 years without a single problem.

That horrible struggle that at times literally brought me to my knees was one of the best gifts in my life. I could never have gained such wonderful, valuable knowledge about myself without that suffering. It led me down a very unexpected path that I’m grateful for all the time.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I actually laughed when I read this question because I’ve wondered many times if I should put more energy into separating them. I decided quickly not to. For better or worse, I think what you see if you meet me is VERY close to the real me.

The older I get the less I give a shit what others think of me and it’s soooooo liberating. Maybe because I grew up being more of a people pleaser, I’ve swung far the other way now and don’t see that changing. However, my beloved accupuncture Dr still tells me I’m too nice so maybe it’s me trying to counter that empath side of me.

But generally my philosophy is, unless you’re a serial killer or hurting people, then you should be the most authentic version of yourself in public. Fly your freak flag high! I do worry a little though what I’ll be like in public in my 70’s at this rate. I might be wearing tutus and going up to tickle complete strangers! I’m kidding. Kind of…

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say that I lived a life sticking up for what I believed, loved with all my heart and explored as much of the world I could with childlike curiosity, That I broke free of any limitations I felt were holding me back, all while laughing and playing as much as possible. Oh yeah, and that I also left a trail of some damn good art spread all over the world!

I’m still working on the art and limitation ones but can say that I’ve succeeded in all the others. I suspect that every one of us has the lifelong pursuit of breaking free of our own limitations. I’ve overcome MANY but there are some stubborn ones that I’m determined to slay. The playful aspect is important to me because I come from a long line of very serious women who had extremely difficult lives and barely left their home state, including my mom. I made a decision at a young age I was going to break that cycle and I have…

Contact Info:

• Website: www,teresemyoung.com
• Instagram: @teresempaintings
• Linkedin: Terese (Meshanko) Young
• Facebook: Terese M Paintings

Image Credits
11Alive/Atl &Co