An Invitation to Unapologetically Fill Up Space

When I thought about what I wanted this year to look like, the first image that popped into my mind was the singer Hwasa at South Korea’s Blue Dragon Film Awards show late last year. An impromptu moment between her and the actor Park Jeong-Min, who co-starred in the music video for her hit single “Good Goodbye,” filled my Instagram feed for weeks.

The moment that went viral began with Jeong-Min discreetly getting up from his seat—as Hwasa performed the song on stage—picking up the shoes she’d discarded off the platform and standing next to the stage waiting with his eyes locked on Hwasa. Her face never gave away that she saw him, but she must have noticed because it wasn’t long before she strolled off stage and met him by the stairs.

She sang the rest of the song to him, her face radiating, dancing with an air of freedom and joy. Playfully throwing her shoes aside after he gently handed them to her.

K-pop and Kdrama fans worldwide went wild for this moment, buzzing about how cute they looked together. The romantic in me was right there with them, but what really captivated me in the reels of that moment wasn’t Jeong-Min, it was Hwasa. Free-spirited. Radiant. Filling up the space with her verve and her vocals.

That moment reminded me of one of my favorite memories from my grad school years living in New York City.

Through an unlikely connection, I’d made friends with a rookie Wall Street trader, Ben. He wasn’t like your typical finance bros. He was thoughtful, caring, and fun. Sure, he was a little full of himself, but he didn’t take himself too seriously either. (Overconfidence has always been one of my flaws, too.)

That first summer in the city—when neither of us had many friends—we did something together almost every week. One night, we met up near his apartment in the financial district to watch Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise’s delightful action film “Knight & Day.” It was a week night. Ben was tired from a long day at work, but I wasn’t. So, I carried the conversation for us as we left the theater, exuberantly chattering as we walked through the dark, empty streets near his apartment.

Just as we were about to walk across the street to his apartment building, he cut me off mid-sentence. With laughter in his voice, he said, “Lindsey, do you realize you keep getting louder and louder? I’ve been waiting for your voice to hit a crescendo and come back down. But the volume of your voice seems infinite.”

Of course, I was a little indignant and annoyed at first. Then it registered that his voice wasn’t scolding and his face was filled with amusement rather than annoyance. I realized that I had unconsciously been enjoying filling up the space with my voice. Letting it expand and echo off the mostly empty buildings around us. (I have a talent for speaking at a volume others would have to shout to achieve).

That was my Hwasa moment. Unapologetically filling up space.

Those two stories capture what I’m chasing this year—despite all the horror and political madness around us.

I want to unapologetically fill up space with words, art, and whimsy. To celebrate life even in all its brokenness through the radical acts of creation and connection.

Will you join me ?

How do I want to fill up space in this virtual art club?

Along with connection and joy, I want to fill up this space with:

• Creative prompts for fellow writers and visual artists
• Illustrations and visual experiments
• Book Blueprint reflections sparked by participating in #AmWriting’s Book Blueprint Sprint
• Outtakes from the novel I’m writing, My Little Women (that’s not the real working title, but I can’t give everything away 😏)
• Pictures of my sassy ginger cat, Virgo
• Bonus goodness: playlists, zines, creative bingo cards, etc.

How do you want to fill up space this year?

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