Hi friend! Any time I second guess myself about whether my art is worth making, I remember this: true art represents an opportunity to develop a deep, meaningful human connection. When art can make you really feel something, there are few things more powerful.

When I write poetry, it is my hope that you will do more than simply admire words applied to a page. I hope you can almost step inside my eyes—to get a sense of the very same feeling that was invoked in me at the time of my conjuring those words together. In that way, a good poem can be almost hologram-like: if you turn your head and look around the little window of a world I’m giving you a glimpse into, you should see that it’s less of a painting on a wall and more of a three-dimensional space to itself.

And I’ve found few things easier to form a shared bond over than a love for music. One of my best friends, Conner, is one of my longest-standing friends, largely because of our deep, enduring love for the art form. We’ve had hours and hours of conversations centered around music. And your friends are some of the best sources of solid recommendations when you run out of things to listen to.

One of the ways my neurodivergence manifests itself is my encyclopedic knowledge of music. At one point I was actually an aspiring music journalist. I’m sure I’ll tell you all that story one day. I have this uncanny ability to store music in my mind and play it back in real time, with perfect pitch, just like it’s an actual recording. I call it the “MP3 Player in My Mind.”

Art can have powerful real-world impacts on people, too. I once tried my hand at producing and selling my visual art—at the time, my medium of choice was block printing. I was out in Denton, Texas for an art and music show. Hardly anyone attended, but I made friends with some of the local artists there. One of the artists was named Daniel Folmer. I was a fan of his music and, to be honest, was a little starstruck when he walked over to my table, checked out my stuff, and purchased two of my prints. To this day, he remains one of my first (and only) art patrons. I remembered that today out of the blue and texted him to let him know how much that meant to me.

Support small artists at every opportunity you can. Art is such a crucial part of the human experience—and who knows? Maybe you will make a lifelong memory for someone, too.

With peace and love,

—Jared Caravay