Asking someone their pronouns is human for “I care and you matter.”

I think about this a lot. When people meet me, they ask what I do for work, or where I went to school but never what pronouns I use. I’d love to see that change. My job and my school history are never going to be as important to our relationship as who I am.

For my part, I’m working on having the courage to treat my pronouns as a part of my name when I introduce myself. That’s still hard for me, but I’m doing it. It’s going to get easier, I know.

Side note - Although I have been using the Adobe suite since I was around 11 years old, I find myself able to be more creative in a shorter timeframe using tools like Canva. As a designer, I don’t feel as though my work is lessened by using a simpler tool, for a simpler task. I’ve never understood the notion of gatekeeping based on tools.

I feel the same way about all creative pursuits - the best camera is whatever camera you’ve got. The best paintbrush, the one that’s clean. The best pen, whatever you find in your bag. The best notebook, the one you can afford. When you claim that people are only real artists, writers, or podcasters when they use a certain set of tools, you’re basically leaving the house with a T-shirt that says you are a fucking tool.

xox Joany 🍕🍕🍕