Survival Is A Creative Act: Suleika Jaouad’s American Symphony of Contrast—Cancer, Art, Music, & Life

What do you do when the power goes out? You improvise and turn it into a creative act. 

At the age of 22, confronted with a leukemia diagnosis amid the tumult beyond her control, Suleika Jaouad made a profound decision to embrace the art of journaling. Deliberately opting to distill insights from her affliction, she endeavored to endure her newfound residency in a Manhattan hospital in a meaningful and aesthetically resonant manner while giving ink to the intricacies that proved profoundly challenging to articulate. What began as a daily journal evolved into Life, Interrupted, an Emmy award-winning column and video series showcased in The New York Times, chronicling Suleika’s experiences from her hospital bed. 

Our conversation today revolves around her leukemia diagnosis at a young age, the relinquishment of independence and identity in the throes of illness, the transformative power of writing as both agency and healing, and the embrace of the tumultuous and uncertain in-between space that defines life post-illness.

We also discuss her newly intimate Netflix documentary, American Symphony—a beautiful exploration of Suleika and her husband, John Batiste’s lives individually and together. 

This is exchange is about what it means to live a creative life, to be in a creative, collaborative relationship, and how mindfully to navigate hardship. 

I hope it will be a wellspring of inspiration for you.

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