Ep. 96 John Clarence Stewart, Multi-Talented Actor, Poet, and Singer, on Art as Healing, Claiming Your Voice, and His Spiritual Journey
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Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
On the podcast this week is John Clarence Stewart, multi-talented actor, singer, poet, and artist.
John is best known from his role as Simon on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist or Lionel in What/If.
At the heart of John’s acting and performing is a deep connection to self, and a sense of vulnerability and intimacy that stems from his spiritual journey and a courage to jump in.
In this week’s episode John and I chat about where his acting journey began, growing into and claiming his voice, and art as a form of healing. John shares his spiritual journey, stepping into this space as a writer and poet, using his art to explore deep emotions, and the vulnerability, intimacy, and courage it takes to truly experience life. Plus, John shares how he’s changed his perspective of joy, exploring, learning, and remembering the fullest expression of ourselves, he shares one of his beautiful poems with us, his biggest dream, and so much more!
My conversation with John is one of my favorites to date, and I can’t wait to hear what you think! Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“I’ve realized as I’ve grown in to my art, that art is woven into me, it’s part of me. The way that I see the world is through my art. The way that I interact with people is through my art. Most importantly for me, art is the way that I heal. It’s the way that I encounter my wounds, and it’s my way of not only encountering my wounds but overcoming those wounds, and choosing joy in spite of and through the healing process. All of that happens through the art.”
“I was able to find my own relationship to spirit, and find my own relationship through storytelling, through art, to spirit and spirituality which then influences greatly the way that I see the world.”
John’s acting career began in high school when he performed in a play. He thought he was going to pursue a life and career in sports, but everything changed once he found himself on stage. It was when he was in college that he developed a love for storytelling. As he shares in this week’s new episode, the power of being used as a vessel, to be moved and move others through shared emotions and experiences, to comment and craft new archetypes, and push conversations forward, was exciting and transformative.
“Just now, after a decade of journaling and writing poetry and prose, now after all that time I’m stepping into this space as a writer, claiming that space as my own, and claiming the voice that I have as a writer in the world, and seeing the value of sharing.”
John grew into his voice, and began to claim it, and our conversation is a beautiful exploration of the power of art to heal, integrating our art into everything that we do, and stepping forward in our voice.
John’s journey is so beautifully centered in his connection to spirit, one that he’s cultivated and grown into through his life experiences. We explore the power of integrating our art into our lives, stepping forward in our voice, and finding safe spaces to explore our emotions.
For John, journaling was the first safe space that he found to explore and process his emotions. We’re often taught to run away from our emotions, especially the uncomfortable ones, but really those emotions are the ingredients for alchemy. As John shares, vulnerability is a good thing! That feeling of being seen is intimacy, and that’s a good thing! Our emotions are something we should lean into, and allow for greater connection, understanding, and empathy.
After a decade of journaling and writing poetry and prose, he’s now sharing his writing, and claiming that space as his own. John’s words are beautiful, and you can check out his poetry on his Instagram (this post and this one too is so good!) and make sure you listen to the episode until the very end, where John shares one of his beautiful poems with us live on the podcast.
“It’s taken time over the years for me to give myself the grace to step out of my comfort zone, maintain my boundaries in doing so, and then experience life. Life has so many beautiful things that comes with it. So many things that are sometimes painful, but if I shut myself down from any of it, I shut myself down from all of it.”
The vulnerability, honesty, and courage in this conversation blew my socks off! So much (okay let’s be real, everything he shared!) resonated with me. From adopting muting joy as part of his personality, learning to value joy, having the courage to dive in and meet another version of ourselves, and to our beautiful conversation about expression and soul remembrance, I was in awe for the entire hour.
Thank you John for such a beautiful and powerful conversation, one I know so many of us will have on repeat!
You can connect with John on Instagram @jstewiii and Twitter @stewart_iii and you can check out Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist here
The books John mentioned in today’s episode:
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