Creatives in Law. A Discussion with Markus.

I first met Markus in 2015, in a retail job we were not built for. I was saving money for ‘future travels’ but distracted by ‘living in the moment’ BS and Markus was a student, who was always so well presented even though he shared a bathroom with 5 people.

Our friendship actually grew after we both left the job, I photographed him modelling jackets me and my boyfriend had painted and as we spoke more we realised we shared similar values, experiences and opinions, allowing for open and honest conversation.

“A labour of love always pays off, just not how and when you expect” –Scott Belsky (taken from the book Tribe of Mentors)

Something I always remember someone saying to me was “everyone can paint” when I told them I couldn’t while standing in front of a canvas. There is a beauty to allowing creativity, without the self-doubt, as I came to realise.

My friend Markus can write!

I have used art and words therapeutically in the past, so I had a chat with him about his own work, predominantly poetry, and the inspiration behind it all.

Jessie: What inspires your creativity?

Markus: I think for me, it’s my experiences I’ve had and the feelings I’ve felt. These are the two things that inspire me. I write about what I’ve been through, but I do also write about things that I think other people might relate to. I am an emotional person, I feel my feelings very deeply and I think that’s why I use creativity because it helps me get them out.

J: You’ve spent the last 6 years studying law, does being in a stressful environment push you towards creating more, as a sense of freedom?

M: I think my degree was quite demanding and I always felt like I could be doing more work. However, sometimes after nights out or just on trains or when I’m forced to do other things is when I do create. I write based off feeling so I usually write at the time I’m feeling something intense or emotional. I just scribble notes into my phone for the most part.

J: I think it’s brave to showcase raw emotion as you have done within your poetry, have you seen an increase in male poets exploring this craft more openly within pop culture?

M: I personally haven’t seen an increase much at all. However, I think social media is used now for many poets, I have seen guys there but it is more female (dominated). There’s this kind of criticism I think of modern poetry in that it’s not poetry because it’s not like a sonnet or another ‘proper’ form of poetry. A good example would be Rupi (Kaur) or Atticus (a successful male poet who chooses to remain anonymous) who are modern poets but don’t follow the traditional style.

J: Does this effect your confidence to share your own work?

M: I sometimes worry about sharing my own work not just because I don’t follow the traditional route either but also because my poems are always incredibly personal to me.

I genuinely believe that Markus is incredibly talented and clever with his words, they have appeared on and off of his social channels, but it was nice to convince him to let me share a couple, and get behind them too, on here. 

Let the creativity flow, and see what happens.

One last note; after a discussion over dinner one night, unknown by me until months later when he felt I needed it, Markus had written a poem, titled ‘for her’.

M:  I think more people should complement each other and bring each other up. The line ‘I hope once she falls into herself she’ll see why the world loves her too’ is also a reminder that unless you like yourself, you might never feel like others do too.

You can follow Markus on Instagram at @markusdonachie

Let's hope he posts more soon.