- Read Time: 5 min read
- Publish Date: May 16, 2026
- Introduction: A personal reflection on growing up as a military brat and how creativity, adaptability, and art became tools for resilience, identity, and connection through constant change.
Growing up in a military family often means living between worlds — adapting to constant change, rebuilding community repeatedly, and learning resilience at an early age. For many military children, creativity becomes more than self-expression; it becomes a way to process transition, identity, and belonging.
Childhood photo of Julie Davis with her father, an Army aviator, reflecting the early experiences of growing up in a military family explored throughout this article.
Growing up in a military family shaped much of my understanding of resilience, adaptability, and connection — themes that continue to influence both my artwork and creative practice today.
Growing Up Between Places
I was born on a small Army base in Oklahoma, which doesn’t have much significance to me other than it predetermined my role as a “military brat”- the term being like a badge of honor, because of the moves, stressors and cultural experiences that make us ,“Brats”, more resilient than our civilian counterparts. As many other military children do, my brother and I traveled the world with our parents and grew-up as modern-day gypsy’s- moving to and living in over 10 different places during our school-age years.
Being part of this American sub-culture, a unique culture that makes up less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. population, has provided a plethora of rich challenges and opportunities that helped shape who I am as an artist. One of the most prominent characteristics that I attribute to this Army Brat sub-culture and to myself is-resiliency.
Creativity as Stability
Resilience is a skill that you CAN learn and strengthen. Start with awareness- awareness of situations, awareness of your own emotional reactions, and awareness of the behavior of those around you. In addition to awareness, you can strengthen you resilience, through understanding that the world is full of challenges and problems, and despite that, you have the ultimate power to choose how you will feel and how you will react in every situation. This is your ultimate power-deep within the human-spirit. Claim it! No one else can make you feel a certain way or make you react in a certain way.
Creativity gradually became more than self-expression; it became a way to process movement, identity, memory, and belonging.
Learning Resilience Through Change
Today, I express resiliency through my art. Despite my traumas and challenges, I choose to use the creative process as an opportunity to heal and overcome them. Despite conditions of depression and anxiety, I choose to express colors of joy! There is an overwhelming need for light and healing in the world today and I cant ignore the voice that keeps reminding me “be the change you wish to see.” Art, for me, is a reminder of and a way to share my humanity, my purpose, my connection to all that is, and my power to choose how I want to feel and how I want to literally create my life and impact others. Art can do that!
Art became a way to create continuity in a life defined by constant transition.
Over time, I began to recognize that constant transition was shaping more than my surroundings — it was shaping the way I observed, connected, adapted, and created. Frequent moves, changing environments, and the experience of repeatedly rebuilding familiarity taught me to pay close attention to emotional nuance, atmosphere, and human connection. Creativity gradually became more than self-expression; it became a way to process movement, identity, memory, and belonging within experiences that often felt temporary or constantly evolving.
Art as Identity
Over time, I began to recognize that the adaptability developed through constant change was also shaping how I approached creativity and connection.
No matter how busy and chaotic life around me may feel, I can always return back to art, for solace and reflection. My mental health requires me to do so- to stop what I’m doing and enjoy making art on a regular basis. In every painting, my objective is to use color as a tool for self-evaluation and healing and then to share this healing experience with the viewer. I want my work to be both confronting and comforting. My goal is to create art that provides the viewer with an intellectual, spiritual, and healing experience - to feel the promise of a brighter future, the power to choose their reality, despite their circumstances, and to connect through compassion. Be inspired, and then inspire others!
Created as part of an ongoing exploration of resilience and identity, “I AM” reflects the layered emotional experiences that continue to shape both my artwork and creative practice.
Looking back, I now understand that resilience is not always formed through certainty or permanence, but often through movement, adaptation, and the ability to continually reconnect with meaning and identity through change. The experiences of growing up in a military family continue to influence how I approach creativity, storytelling, and connection today. Through both art and reflection, I have come to appreciate the ways creativity can transform transition into understanding, memory into meaning, and change into something enduring.
Author Bio: Julie Davis is a multidisciplinary artist, floral designer, and creative professional with experience in visual storytelling, UX design, digital content strategy, and floral industry operations. Through writing, design, and artistic practice, she explores the intersection of creativity, connection, resilience, and customer experience.
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