We recently had the chance to connect with Shifra Wylder and have shared our conversation below.
Shifra, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
Thank you. I’m grateful to share my stories and insights with you. I’d have to say, many people including myself, quietly struggle with the feeling of ever-present pressures we place on ourselves and absorb from others, that we always must be producing, be perfect or proving our worth through constant action. We’ve become addicted to productivity and somewhere along the way, we lost the art of simply being enough as we are.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Boston native who got my start at the New England School of Art & Design. At nineteen, I traded clam chowdah for California sunshine to pursue a modeling career and worked as a production artist in advertising. Later, I earned a degree in Psychology and became an addictions counselor in Malibu’s treatment facilities, where I had the opportunity to help guide and empower individuals toward healing. These days, I’m an abstract expressionist painter and author (not to mention a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist). I also lead art workshops blending counseling tools and creative exploration for individuals to gain personal insight and growth.
When I’m not covered in paint, I channel my talent into writing short story memoirs, poetry, photography, storytelling, and my latest passion: creating and writing practical self-discovery guides to help others gain clarity and deepen their understanding of themselves. In January 2025, I published my first book, Cotton Ball in the Wind.
I explore emotion, transformation and the beauty in imperfection. Whether I’m writing, painting, or guiding others through their own creative process, my goal is always the same: to express truth, connection, and the courage to be vulnerable and authentic.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that’s ready to be released, is the one that still believes my worth depends on how much I create or produce and still feels the need to constantly prove itself through doing. For most of my life I believed motion equaled meaning. That if I wasn’t creating, producing or striving, I was falling behind. That drive served me well. It shaped me, pushed me to grow, to explore and to express, but somewhere along the way it became exhausting. It turned into an addiction to doing, instead of simply being. That part has done its job. It taught me discipline and resilience, but now it’s time to let it go. Rest does not need to be earned! I’m learning to trust stillness and let it feel like progress, to trust that creativity doesn’t disappear when I pause, it actually deepens. Letting go of that restless part of me is my next act of courage.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me what success never could; how to sit with myself in the quiet, how to find trust in uncertainty and how to listen to what’s real beneath the noise. Success can validate but suffering strips you down to your essence. It humbles you, softens the edges and reminds you that strength isn’t about appearing strong, it’s about staying open. My greatest growth has come from the places that broke me wide open, not the moments that celebrated me.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes. The public version of me is real, it’s just not the whole story. What I share through my art, writing, poetry and storytelling comes from a deeply genuine, authentic place. It’s honest, raw and vulnerable, drawn directly from my lived experiences but it’s still only one layer of who I am. There are quieter layers between private moments, reflection and what I’m still discovering, that don’t always make their way to the surface. To me, authenticity isn’t about revealing everything; it’s about ensuring what you do share is honest. So yes, what you see is real. It’s the part of me that’s ready to be seen.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
What I understand deeply and what many people struggle to accept, is that healing is imperative and takes time, courage, and stillness. Real healing isn’t pretty. It’s messy, painful, uncomfortable and often lonely. But it’s also where transformation lives. You can’t rush it and you can’t fake it. To live with grace, truth and creativity, you have to allow yourself to fall apart and rebuild with awareness and faith. For me, that faith includes a belief in God. A quiet trust that there’s purpose in the pain. When you make space to heal deeply and become self-aware, you begin to see yourself and others through an open heart and through softer eyes of compassion, and that’s where true freedom begins.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shifrawylder.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulrevivalart/ https://www.instagram.com/shifrawylder/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shifra.wylder
