when I read this interview I felt it in my soul. and then I binged on cool moms. thank you elise.
“I think art is the way I cope with a lot of things. It’s how I level with the truth, and it makes certain experiences—like trauma and pain—feel as if they’re not in vain. When we have really life-changing experiences—yes, we can grow from them and become better people and all that—but I feel most accomplished if I’m able to create a tangible reminder of that point in time. The book is a beautiful thing that can mean so much to so many people, but for me, it’s a creation of healing. And that’s important to me. I feel like once I make the thing, then I can walk away from it. Now it’s like, that was that time.
If your evolution and your change are authentic, the people who fuck with you are going to grow with you.
There's nothing that I think is a greater privilege than getting to intimately watch someone become themselves.
I think there’s a privilege to being a “cool mom” because it’s someone who is able to continue to make their identity and their passions a priority, while still prioritizing parenting. But it doesn’t work like that every day. I have days where I feel like I really killed motherhood, and we had an amazing day. And then there are days where I'm like, “I want you to sit in the playpen, and I want you to watch Sesame Street for like five hours so I can do all of this stuff.” I think I'm a much better artist or writer or host on those days.”