I discovered American poet Nash Consing purely by chance. Scrolling through my Instagram feed on a late May evening nearly two years ago, I came across a collaboration between Nash and fellow Instagram poet, Alexa (@ar_poems). I subsequently followed Consing’s account, and perhaps it was the mix of writing and aesthetics that drew me in or my desire to further delve into the community of Instapoets. Whatever it was, all I can say is I’m glad I did it. What intrigued me about Nash is his ability to write. Most of his writing is poignant, written in short rhymes that seem to touch most people who lay their eyes on them. As many did, so did I. His ability to create meaningful pieces may perhaps be due to the fact that just like us; he’s young. He has aspirations, interests and many other traits that our generation can relate to, yet he’s incredibly insightful. I finally reached out to him earlier this month to talk to him about everything from self-publishing his debut collection of poetry, to how he deals with negative criticism. The following conversation made me feel profoundly humble that he agreed to this interview so without further ado, here it is:

E: Why did you start writing?

N: It was in May of my freshman year when I started writing poetry. A girl I had liked for a couple years eventually told me that she would be moving later on in the summer. As an extremely awkward teenager, I was always too shy to speak out–especially when my statements involved my emotions. However, I remember being so passionate about this girl that I had to do something before she left.

Coincidentally, I had recently followed Tony Ciampa (@emolabs) on Instagram, who posted handwritten poetry with scenic views in the background. I added this influence with my emotions, and the result was a poet born into this kid who had never really taken interest in literature prior to this event, but was passionate enough for this fleeting girl to know how he felt about her.

I never finished the book of poetry for this girl. Instead, I decided to put it online; thus, my poetry account was born.

E: What draws you to poetry?

N: I recently took an art appreciation course and what makes a piece ‘abstract’ is that the content in the piece is still tied to the physical world, and I believe that poetry is just that. The poems that draw me to poetry contain words and phrases that I’ve seen in my everyday life; but they are recycled and twisted in different ways. Poetry, as well as all versions of art, makes me think about life from a different perspective. It’s like seeing a neighborhood that you’ve lived in for your whole life from a hundred feet in the sky. It’s the same exact world–except it’s not, and that feeling of euphoria I get when I absorb or create poetry is what keeps me coming back whether my life feels entirely complete or tragically empty.

E: In 2015, you published your first collection of poetry, The Mattress Catalog. What inspired you to publish this book, and what was the biggest challenge you encountered during the process?

N: The Mattress Catalog was essentially an experiment to see if I could actually self-publish a book by myself. The main inspiration to self-publish was for my followers. At the time, my audience was growing at a fast rate, and I was given overwhelming support on every poem I made. A lot of my followers kept encouraging me to write a book or that my pieces should were good enough to be included in one. Whether or not these were actual requests or just wonderful compliments, I took my followers’ advice, and began assembling The Mattress Catalog.

The biggest challenge I encountered during the process of self-publication was basically the assemblage of the book. I had the content already; that was the easy part. It was the sorting of the pieces and the detailing I had to do to make the book look as non-self-published as possible. I did a considerable amount of research on how exactly to assemble a book. The simplest way was to make a word document of the entire book. Even choosing this option, it was still difficult for me to complete the assemblage.

E: When you started your Instagram account, did you imagine you’d eventually publish a book?

N: Not in the slightest. The main reason that I began uploading my poems on Instagram was to create a file to store my emotions from this vulnerable corner in my heart. I had no idea it would lead to thousands of followers–nor would I imagine that I would eventually met one of them in real life. My friend Lauren (@lunar.bloodstreams) lives 530 miles away from me; yet, we’ve had the opportunity to hang out for two summers in a row now. It’s amazing how the internet has given me these opportunities. Self-publishing is one of those things that I look at and just think, “Wow. The internet gave me this?”

E: Moreover, do you see yourself publishing another book sometime?

N: Yes! I am currently in the works of self-publishing my second book. It consists of longer poems and short stories. The reader will follow a narrative that is personal to me but is vague enough to make the book the reader’s own unique story. Essentially, the book is about the irony of time; how certain moments may seem permanent, yet at the ends of our lives, we will look back at the exact same moment and think that it was so temporary.

I plan on releasing this book by late March/early April, and I’ve been keeping my followers updated on my poetry account pretty regularly. I’m excited about it!

E: Were there any circumstances where people reacted negatively to your work? If so, how do you deal with negative criticism?

N: Thankfully, there have only been a few in my time on Instagram. I believe that Instagram’s community isn’t as corrosive as platforms such as YouTube or Facebook.

One instance I remember in particular was that once, someone commented that they didn’t understand my words because I didn’t use any punctuation. A lot of my poetry does not use punctuation because I want the reader to feel the murkiness in my thoughts, so my poems sometimes seem like a single run-on sentence. To this criticism I responded with a poem where every couple of words included a comma. Although it was sort of satirical, it provided a great effect. Instead of murkiness, the interjection of the commas made the poem, really, choppy like, this.

I think that the best way to deal with negative criticism is to ignore it. If it’s not insightful at all, it’s not worth any attention. But in some instances where the hate seems to have leeched onto my skin, I always respond by creating art. For me, poetry does the trick. Creating poetry serves as a release for me. It’s not destructive. And at the end of this process, you will be able to look back and see something beautiful out of a terrible situation.

E: What’s the most rewarding part of being a writer and sharing your work on social media?

N: The most rewarding part of being a writer is the accessibility it provides to create art. Language is a tool a lot of people take for granted because it is used every day. People do not notice how influential language can be when it is formulated into something intricate. The majority of the words I use in my words are–for the most part–plain. But when I add emotion; when I include passion, the language that mostly everyone uses all of a sudden becomes this huge, staring statement to the readers of my poetry. Writing poetry is rewarding because you are creating art that is merely conceptual to the individual; my words may relate to one person in one way–and something completely different to another, just as how my words mean something personal to me.

Sharing my work on social media is rewarding because I see firsthand how my personal words affect an entire community. I love seeing comments on my posts that say, “Thank you for this, I needed this today.” I also love waking up to personal messages from my followers that say how I’ve helped them with their personal situations. In my experience, I’ve felt the benefits of the internet. Although at times my audience has fluctuated and dissipated, there still exists a community built up of individuals that have been strung together by my words and experiences. It’s connected me with thousands of people over the last couple of years–people who are just like me and the strangers I pass while driving. I think that is beautiful.

E: Who are your biggest influences and why?

N: Most of my creative influences do not come from literature (which is ironic, I know). The book that has influenced me the most is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The way Charlie’s (the main character) thoughts are depicted is something I love the most about this book, because it channels the direction of the story. I try to incorporate that in my work to depict my emotions.

The singer/songwriter Bon Iver is one of my biggest creative influences. When I listen to his music, it creates an ambiance that is tranquil; I always imagine riding a swing carousel in the middle of a snowy forest as I am listening to his records. The way he incorporates his instrumentation with his lyrics in his music creates an ongoing swirl in my head, as if I am swirling around the walls of a circular chamber where gravity doesn’t exist. His music creates an environment that can pull different emotions out of my soul. Bon Iver’s music has always done this, even as my style has changed over the years.

The directors Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan–and their movies–also have a considerable influence on my work. I love Wes Anderson films because of the quirkiness that his films contain, yet the story of them are built with serious undertones. I particularly love Moonrise Kingdom just because its theme of ‘the awkwardness of youth’ is something that relates to my world as I am growing into adulthood.

Christopher Nolan has a (very) different style than that of Wes Anderson, but I love Nolan’s effort to preserve authenticity in his films. I love his films Interstellar and Inception because both films introduce a thought that exceeds the borders of just our world; that there is more than the material world we know–whether that is out in space, or in our consciousness.

Finally, the YouTuber (and former daily vlogger) Casey Neistat is my biggest inspiration. I’ve watched every Casey Neistat vlog from the beginning to the very end and most films before he started vlogging. I have his quotes on motivation and creativity taped all over my walls. He influenced me to follow my passion of words and to not think of the skepticism that will come with it (everyone in my family is in the medical field, and here I am, writing poetry and pursuing journalism and communications in college). His words and advice on life and motivation influence me to keep doing more, all the time, every day. To better understand why Casey is such a big influence, I suggest watching his “Draw My Life” video. Although it is a couple years old and things have added on to his life, his beginnings are what really influence me to keep moving forward in not only my future career but in my life in general.

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E: In the past you’ve collaborated with other writers such as Instagram poet Alexa Marie (@ar_poems). Can you describe the creative process that occurs during a collaboration?

N: Doing a collaboration with another content creator is a wonderful experience, whether it may be a poet, artist, or musician. The piece is always 50/50 between me and the other collaborator. When you are creating the piece, you obviously have your personal perception of what you want to create.

Take the subject of ‘love’ for example.

Love to me may mean something to me if I’m in a relationship, but to someone else, it may mean heartbreak at the moment. I love collaborations like this because although the piece is shared, I get to keep my personal piece of the art, yet also I have to comply with the whole piece, knowing that when people see or read or hear this piece, they will make the art their own. It creates a truly interactive experience for me as a collaborator as well as the person who is evaluating the piece.

E: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

N: Just with my words, I’ve evolved so much. If someone reads my first poem to my most recent one, I doubt that they would think that I am the same poet. My writing has grown with me. I think it has become more serious, more in depth, and closer to my core. As a content creator I’ve become more comfortable with myself and what I put out for the world to see. My pieces still have anonymity, I believe; but it is not as ambiguous as they once were when I was a kid trying to impress a girl however many years ago. The things that I have experienced as a human being has helped form me as a writer today. I’ve become more informed about my emotions and how the world cycles around. But right now, I’m just breaking the ice. I have decades more to learn about myself and the words that I give to the world.

E: Do you have a favourite quote? If so, what is it?

N: The only thing between [you] and [everything you’ve ever wanted to do in life] is [doing it]”

-Casey Neistat

E: Lastly, do you have any advice for your fellow youth?

N: My advice for fellow youth is to not be afraid. As a kid who was always timid about his true emotions growing up, it was always hard to say what I felt because I was too scared. I was too scared to put my neck out. I was always afraid of rejection. In many ways, I still am that very same kid.

But don’t be; especially if you’re creative like me.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Do not fear rejection, heartbreak, or hate. Because one day, all of these things will appear into your life, whether you want them to or not. Don’t be afraid to feel. You may fail in your lifetime–I know that I have. But it does not mean that you have failed at life. The beauty is life is from all the highs and the lows, but most people tend to forget about the lows in life because it is uncomfortable. But don’t be. Just know that life will rise and fall and sometimes you will have no control over it. The only thing you can control is how you react to the influx or descent of it. And if you ever find yourself under attack, you can always respond with art. Whether it’s creating it or absorbing it, there is an almost infinite amount of art that will save you. I know it has for me.

Buy Nash’s book The Mattress Catalog here!

Follow him on Social Media!

Instagram:
@nashconsing
@wyltbam_ (photography)

Snapchat:
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Spotify:
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