#theimportantproject

I think it's hard to pinpoint the one thing that's truly important, but I think lately the thing that's been resonating with me is this idea of emotional honesty, and allowing yourself to be a really open person. With the world, and also with yourself. Trying to find honesty with your own emotions, sharing that with other people, and being okay with it. Being okay with how you feel, not trying to lie to yourself about how you feel. I feel like lately, especially after moving to a new place, it's really easy to want to change and shape yourself in a different way. I did a lot of that when I moved here from Florida. I got new tattoos, I changed my hair color and cut it, and I became just this whole other person. Someone that I've kind of always wanted to be, but I never lost this essence of who I am. I have this really passionate essence of myself, I feel things really really deeply, and I think for a long time there was a bit of shame that came with that. Because I don't think that a lot of people really feel comfortable with an intensity like that. I wasn't even comfortable with it for a while, but I've learned to be super unapologetic about who I am. And, in a way, it's made me feel more comfortable with OTHER people, because I'm more comfortable with myself. I think everyone is trying to do their best to make connections, but I feel like we're missing a lot of it because people are too scared to be vulnerable. And too scared to be honest. I think we're afraid of hurting people. I've done it, rather than being honest with someone I'll just kind of shut them out. But that's doing an injustice to them, and to me as well. Because what sort of impression are you leaving when you just disappear out of someone's life? Jaclyn Weber Pompano Beach, Florida #honesty #openness #beyourself #streetphotography #pdx #theimportantproject (at PSU Lincoln Hall)

🔸🔹🔸🔹🔸🔹🔸🔹🔸 The word that keeps sticking in my head when I think about what's important is persistence. I feel like if I let myself be persistent in whatever I love to do, or if there's something I see that I want and I'm persistent with it I usually can get to it. When I think of jobs I've wanted I would like go in every day and talk to people until I got the job, or I wanted to learn the flute really badly so I just taught myself the flute. And that's where I'm at with comics right now, just trying to talk to everyone about it, and learn what I need in order to keep moving forward. Comics are the most important thing to me, and drawing in general. It's become a rhythm and part of my life. If I don't get the chance to draw in my day I go crazy. Drawing is where I feel the most me, where I'm in my own head finally, I'm not distracted by anything else in life, especially phones and technology. I feel like it's really my time, my quiet time to express who I am. Talking can sometimes be difficult for me, but with drawing it's easier for me to express how I'm feeling, or I dunno, the deeper part of me. I can kinda show that when I'm drawing. I love that comics are so easy to get into but at the same time they're so complex. It takes so much time and effort to make a comic, just a single page can take forever. And I love that the whole process is all physical. I have no desire to draw on the computer, I want to be able to create it all by hand. I started making comic just about a year ago, and now I'm taking classes with the Independent Publishing Resource Center. You should always just keep going. Even if people are like what are you doing or this is weird, don't listen to outside voices. Even your inside voice will sometimes be like is this even worth it? But I think it is worth it, because if it's really something you care about then it will pay off. Candice Goodman Medford, Oregon #persistence #comics #justkeepgoing #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject (at Stumptown Coffee Roasters)

Well always friendships, and I'm a big advocate for the environment, so recycling is very important to me. And justice and equality. I run a paralegal service, and I'm always working towards what's fair. I like to make sure people get what they earn and aren't shorted. I have a degree in art too, I've always loved art. Visually arts mainly. I'm a visual person so for me, it's not so much about the story, but the visuals that really get me excited. When I was 25 I left my home in the cultural void of America to do commission photography on a cruise ship for $300 a week living in a 6x9 cabin with a roommate and I never looked back. This year I entered the Big 500 art show, it was my first time, and a lot of fun. I did photos for the show, a landscape from France, and my most famous piece, which is a collage from Havana of naked lady statues. They're very scandalous and have been censored by one printer which refused to print it. It was so "sexually suggestive" apparently but I'm just like, dude, they're stone boobs, there's nothing goin on there. Currently my favorite medium is still photography, but I spice it up at times, because photography is so devalued since it's become such a mass produced commodity. You can buy a hundred of these and print a hundred of those from shutterstock. So I do photo transfers, where you paint a surface with a gel matte medium, and you ink jet print then press it onto the glue, so now your image is like pressed onto this wood table, and the wood shows through a little bit. My favorite quote recently is by the lady on Shark Tank and it says "An entrepreneur is someone willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week. Which is so very true. LeeAnn Gauthier Saginaw Michigan #friendships #environment #art #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject (at Lan Su Chinese Garden)

portraits of the lovely//witchy Portland artist and designer Yuriko Zubia on the roof of The Important Project world headquarters AKA #WeWork Custom House

happy holidays from my dog turbo and i! this was the first year i've had to juggle two christmas celebrations since my parents divorced, and it's definitely been a challenge. i've been working really hard to balance my time between all of those that i love, as well as trying my best to be sensitive of everyone's feelings regarding navigating this new territory. i think the most important lesson i've learned is that change is unavoidable and healthy. if you're flexible to the change in your life, i think happiness will find you all the easier. i hope you all had a wonderful day with those that you chose to spend time with. lots of love, the important project❤️ 📷: @joyeatsworld #christmas #dogsofinstagram #chachachachanges #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject (at Veterans Memorial Park)

I think we need to be concerned about the continuation of our race, and look more at what we're doing now and what we can do in the future in order to make sure that we survive. I think that's the most important thing. They just found flowing fresh water on Mars, and everyone is more interested in that than the water on this planet that we're destroying every day. I think everyone has to put in effort to help. One person stacked upon each other six billion strong, that should be enough to change it. That was enough to mess it up, so that should be enough to change it. Or at least make it better. If we could just focus on living our own lives and being happy, I think some of these big issues wouldn't exist. Just be happy with what you have. I'm happy where I am, and it's nothing fancy. Just live life happy. Robert Romo Oak Harbor Island, Washington #survive #water #behappy #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject (at Sisters of Saint Francis Church)

Okay. I honestly think that the most important thing in life is to just let people love what they love. Just in all aspects of life. Like, some people enjoy hanging out with their friends. Some people like hanging out at home and spending time with their family. Like big things, some people just love religion and get a lot from it and some people just don't. Down to little things like some people just like dogs and some people like cats. It's just that simple! I dunno, letting people enjoy what brings them happiness whether they want to get married and have a family, or you know, have a super solid career; just letting them do that I think is so important and can really make or break a relationship, if you're willing to let people just love what they love. And you should let people explore. I wish I really would have had a lot more freedom in my life to kind of explore like, different political ideas, different religious ideas, different career paths. Just helping people explore and immerse themselves in stuff they're kinda unfamiliar with, I think is really important. My favorite quote, it's actually the Icelandic tattoo that I have, is "Inside me a madman sings." Which I really like, cuz I feel like everyone sort of has a fun side, and kind of like a dorky side, among also kind of having a dark side. I really like thinking about it, and you know, we're all just, so complex in our emotions and our experiences in life. I just think that's really cool. Samantha Taylor❤️ Salt Lake City, Utah #letpeoplelove #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject (at Ringlers Annex SW 12th And Burnside)

Spending time with my parents. Even if it's just saying hi to each other in the morning when my dad's getting ready to go to work, it's special. Family is important, they're always so kind and generous with me. This year we're going to Canada. My first time. Victoria. Our friend has a little thing that they have, they get hotels super cheap. Um. I love to draw dresses, and I love listening to music and dancing. Music and dancing is important because, it just brings your emotion out. And It's important to love your friends and family. You make sure that you love them and always try to make them happy. Magnolia Portland, Oregon #family #music #drawingdresses #dancing #pdx #streetphotography #theimportantproject