“dreams are not destinations but rather fields in which to take off all your clothes and run around naked in the sun.”-bethany toews

Sometimes you are walking along, going about your business, when you stumble across something unusual in your path. At first, there’s curiosity: what is this thing that’s tripped me up? When you take a closer look, you discover a tether —a direct connection to the deepest parts of yourself. It can be a person, an idea, an image, or a beautiful combination of all of the above.  But when you find it, all your cells conspire, humming together in recognition. An identification of something within you that has always been on the tip of your tongue, waiting to be heard, it just didn’t know the words to shout. If only we could get closer to this feeling, go to the source and fill up with the kindred elixir. That’s what the cells are saying.

And that’s exactly how you wind up endlessly scrolling through a stranger’s Instagram feed one night, and, when that’s been exhausted, reading every blog post on their website, feeling like the biggest fan-girl of all-time and not giving one damn. It’s in these rare moments when falling into the depths of digital procrastination don’t feel like such a waste of time. Because, when these pleasant stumbles occur, you understand that at least this time, all that mindless panning has returned you a nugget of gold.  A new connection, a new well of information and inspiration. A new tool to decipher your own thoughts and emotions.

The gold in this case is Ms. Bethany Toews. Girl-crushable, effortlessly cool and the warmest incarnation of humility and vulnerability you’ll find online, she’s the kind of girl you want to befriend, kindergarten-style, and share those details of your life that tend to be less forthcoming with others. It’s this sense of kinship with strangers halfway across the world that brings me so much unexpected joy in this digital age. No matter how many complain of the woes of modern connection, these new avenues offer us unprecedented opportunities to find those gems that make daily life just a touch more sparkly.

So now you know how I found out about Bethany Toews and why I am chomping at the bit to tell you about her. Because when I stumble across a writer/artist/entrepreneur/you name it/ who sets my cells alight, my first instinct is to get to know more about them. Questions start bubbling over in my head and before I know it, I find myself writing heartfelt emails like a hopeful survivor sending a bottle out to sea.

A plane descending to shore, Bethany not only responded to my email but agreed to an interview. Put simply, Bethany is an artist, one who defies categorization. She cuts hair, she takes photos, she writes, she sings, she models..the list goes on. But what struck me most about her work was how much feeling and emotion she packs into her words and images. Her words stirred me, her pictures transfixed me, and —judging from her Instagram commenters— many others as well.

But Bethany’s own explanations do her more justice than my words ever could. Take a moment and immerse yourself into Bethany’s world. She talks about her latest adventure in the magical Austrian Alps of Bad Gastein (pictured below), discusses her thoughts on home and travel and reveals her philosophy of making art out of life.

Read on for these treats and more..

Can you talk about where you grew up and what your favorite form of play was as a child?