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Will Hoar

@willhoar

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Human jus’ trying to do good and be kind | @owolfsouthwest is the love of my life| Santa Barbara, CA 😎🌴

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Getting Sober was the best decision I’ve ever made. It is the foundation on which I’ve built a life beyond anything I could have conceived.

Every day -one day at a time - for the last 18 years - I have made the choice not to drink.

Addiction = Isolation. By the end of my drinking and drugging (September 2007), I was living in a basement in Northern Maine and very much alone.

In honor of #mensmentalhealth month, I want to highlight that in #sobriety I have received the gift of intimacy and community. I have a tribe. An amazing community of brothers scattered all over the world.

Had I not made the choice to get sober, I would not have reconnected with nor married the love of my life @owolfsouthwest , which is one of the greatest gifts and honors of my existence.

It wasn’t until getting sober that I was effectively able to address outside issues like my #cptsd from past traumas and my #depression and #adhd

Addressing and maintaining my #mentalhealth has been central to my #recovery and sober life. It has allowed me to survive and thrive through rough times and harrowing moments.

If you’re curious about improving your life, and you think you have a problem with drugs and alcohol, give sobriety a shot. There’s absolutely nothing to lose.

No matter who you are or how great your life is…we all have baggage. Maintaining your mental health is a game changer. Facing your past, your demons and your shadows is some of the most instructive, demanding and healing work you can do.

Not only do you benefit from addressing your mental health, but also those around you. #mentalhealthmatters

***

Slides 1-7 are from this past year.

Slides 8-15 are from last year.

I celebrated my 17th sober anniversary in London, was able to surprise my oldest buddy for his 42nd birthday, and reconnected with childhood friends I hadn’t seen in decades. (sobriety builds Community). I was also able to visit #istanbul and spend time in #hagiasophia , which has been on my bucket list since studying it in Art History class in Highschool.

Travel and the ability to be in the moment and revel and remember every detail of the experience is another gift of sobriety.

Living Life! by @willhoar

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a year ago

My Grandpa, Henry (Harry) Rawle Geyelin, is always on my mind this time of year. Around July 4th. He served in the navy during the Second World War. Many many years later, at the age of 78, he died on the night of July 4th-July 5th. He was an

Absolute legend. Consummate gentleman. Charming. Fascinating life. Men wanted to be friends with him and be like him. Women wanted to be around him or with him.

He was untouchably cool in my mind, but was simultaneously also one of the most caring and loyal humans. A funny, goofy wonderful Grandpa.

Right now, this summer, with the Parade of #tallships making their ways up the coast (currently in Boston), he’s on my mind even more. He was vice-chairman of the concept “OpSail” or “Operation Sail”, which was the first parade of tall ships in 1976 and another subsequent one held ten years later in 1986.

Sailing is serious in our family. A shared family passion and competitive pursuit. Also we share a deep love and connection for #mountdesertisland and #Maine. It is still one of our favorite places to be and to set sail. It is where we have a family plot, and where Olivia and I will rest right by Grandpa someday.

Grandpa’s been gone for decades, but I still miss him, and name him in my evening prayers every night.

Olivia and I named our puppy, Henry, in honor of the original Harry Geyelin.

I would like to think that he’d be proud of the man I’ve grown into and be pleased beyond measure that I found the most amazing love, and share my life with a woman that he would absolutely adore.

Don’t know why I decided to share this. It feels like a kind of random (but also kinda nice) way of honoring someone I love and miss and wish I could know better and now.

Okay that is enough for now.

Take good care. Much love from the Hoar House.

Until soon… taken in Mount Desert Island, Maine by @willhoar

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3 months ago

Exploratory Oil Sketch ✍️ pushing style and playing with color.
Oil on Cardboard

#oilpaintingartist #figurativeartist #figurative_art taken in California USA by @willhoar

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6 months ago

#tbt❤️ This photo circa 2005-2006 of @owolfsouthwest and me just surfaced in my iPhoto memories. It brought back a ton.

The photo was taken on one of the few nights I remember from the perpetual blackout that was my perpetual state of being during the last few years of drinking and drugging. Life was a nightmare. I had long since lost the will to live or thrive, I was dead inside faking a smile. I believe I remember this night simply because Olivia was there, and I’d had a crush on her since we were nine (we’ve known each other since 5 yrs old).

We were still friends, but barely. Never in a A MILLION YEARS did I think Olivia and I would ever be anything more than friends. She was so lovely, pure and sort of untouchable to me in her perfection.

We lost touch at the end of my drinking/using. She, like so many others, couldn’t keep up or bear to watch me continue to self distruct and kill myself slowly.

We reconnected at her 25th birthday party (me almost two years sober at the time), which I’d been invited to by a friend (without Olivia’s knowing or approving). The few following slides show the progression from friends to partners back in 2009-2010.

The second photo is a snap of the two of us from the summer when we were 10 or 11.

Beyond sharing a bit of us, the point of this post is to reinforce that you NEVER KNOW what life is going to hand you or where you are going to land.

Never in a MILLION years did I think I would end up with a childhood crush, who used to run away from me when I asked her to dance at summer formals. Never in a million years did I imagine that this friend would be revealed as my soulmate and other half.

Life, God, Fate- whatever you believe in- has an amazing away of putting the pieces of your life together in a way that you could never have planned for.

I’ve found that letting go of rigidly held goals and plans while opening up heart space, energy and faith works out in ways that are worlds better and brighter than you could ever imagine.

If you are out there in the dark. Don’t give up or give in. Don’t succumb to the dark or the drug or blacked-out numbed-up existence. You don’t know what’s next. ❤️ by @willhoar

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6 months ago

Runner, 2026
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20 in.

Part of another style and series I’ve been exploring.

What do you think? Should I explore further?

#artistsofinstagram #timelapseart #timelapsepainting #figurativepainting #athlete taken in California USA by @willhoar

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6 months ago

#goldenhour #cali taken in California USA by @willhoar

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7 months ago

Held 1
Oil on Canvas
36 x 30 in

This is the inspiration behind the new series of paintings I’m working on.

I’m painting hands because they tell the truth before faces do.

Hands are the subject not as symbol, but as evidence—of work, care, weight and a life lived.

Held is an ongoing series of oil paintings that explores labor, offering and intimacy through the language of the hand.

Stay tuned 👋

#oilpaintingartist #figurative #hand #oilpaintingart #oilpainting taken in Santa Barbara, California by @willhoar

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8 months ago

#tbt to last weekend. Attended California Hawking Club’s annual field meet with some friends for the first time.

I’ve been going out and watching my friends fly falcons for the past few years. This year, I caught the bug, and am looking to get licensed myself.

So begins a multi year process. I’m at least five years out from proper licensure and being a master falconer. Probably two years from having my official permit. I’ll keep y’all posted on the process…😆. And it IS a process.

Weather in Visalia wasn’t ideal, but it was a great first meet from my perspective.

#falconry #falcons #hawking #hawkers taken in Visalia, California by @willhoar

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8 months ago

On the Water 🌊 #sailing #sailinglife taken in Santa Barbara, California by @willhoar

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9 months ago

Last Night. Took a few 📸 before heading to holiday gathering
Not often we go out these days. Felt appropriate to record ❤️

Despite pain and really not feeling well, @owolfsouthwest made it happen and pushed through the pain. It was important to her that she make it happen.

Olivia is the epitome of grace. No one would know how much pain she was covering with that winning smile. She is so good at covering it, I’m still fooled by how she presents.

Not until we leave the party and she collapses is it apparent how much she is holding and bracing through the evening.

She is the fiercest warrior I know, and the person I most admire

Grateful beyond measure to walk this path with such a resilient, powerful, kind and truly beautiful Human and soul.

I’m the luckiest guy in love.

#chronicpainwarrior #chronicallyill #chronicillnesswarrior #ehlersdanlossyndrome #smallfiberneuropathy #ehlersdanlosawareness #peripheralneuropathy #sjogrenssyndrome #sjogrenswarrior #potssyndrome #chronicallyawesome #chronicallyill #chronicpainsucks taken in Happy Holidays by @willhoar

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10 months ago

An amazing but oh-so-brief trip to East Coast. Jammed with goodness.

First time back in my hometown in over seven years.

First time performing live in well over a decade (conquering a MAJOR fear and roadblock). Despite having performed regularly at the professional level as a kid at the MET, I’ve had blocks and fears that have kept me from performing in front of an audience (or really anyone other than my wife). My entire time in Nashville I was unable to conquer and get back out there. I was fine in the recording studio. But live performance and having an audience had become a terrifying concept.

Grateful for the invitation and opportunity to perform and participate with some of my favorite people.

Traveling, performing and engaging in new experiences enriched and Deepened my connection to Chosen family during the whirlwind tour.

Got to do so much with very little time. Still so much to do and so many people I missed this go around. But I will be back…soon 😁🤩🤗. Hopefully with my beloved.

Olivia @owolfsouthwest was unable to come because she can’t fly, and she was sorely missed.

Grateful. Sending you love ❤️

#parkavenue #broadway #hightea #art #morganlibraryandmuseum #christmastree #treelighting #rockefellerchristmastree #rockefellercenter #walkingaround #nyc_highlights #classicalmusic #bach #wintermood #christmastimeishere

@rockefellercenter @saks @broadwaycom @brickchurchnyc @molliebirney taken in New York City by @willhoar

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10 months ago