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I want to share all the many things that are happening, because they’re exciting. But who would want to read such a jumble of ideas and artworks and news stories?
I know I wouldn’t… but hey, scroll down to the end for the full details and links and things if you want. I put them at the end so as not to give you a heart attack in the middle of the week.
Seriously though, don’t you feel like our attention spans are stretched thin enough as it is without subscribing to emails that bombard us with EVEN! MORE! THINGS! TO PAY! ATTENTION! TO! ——?
I mean, sometimes it’s good to doing loads of things at once and have the fingers of your attention, as it were, in many different pies. Right? Like, this month has really hit the ground running already, creativity & making-wise. And sometimes life is like this – it’s like all your juices are at max and everything is fluid and easy. I feel like the beehive has been looking lately: busy, dancing, in flow.
It’s just that this level of ‘productivity’ can’t last. I literally wrote about how I was feeling kind of crispy around the edges only 2 weeks ago. Isn’t it great that substack is here to keep us cognisant of the truths of our lives? Whatever would we be doing without it.
I don’t think it’s supposed to, because cycles are embedded in the very bones of this earth. But of course, you want it to go on forever. I’m trying to stop at the top of the wave and admire the view before it plunges me back down.
Questions for me, you, the universe and everyone
Is there anything you can do less of this week? Is there anything you can be satisfied with being mediocre at? Are there feeds you can leave unscrolled, shopping carts that are not checked out?
No actually, I’d really rather not
Honestly, if you think about it even more: peak optimisation and peak potential realisation are actually at the heart of so many things that are wrong with this world. Look at the climate crisis: how much of that is the result of always wanting better things, wanting to be the best, wanting to grow the fastest?
Can we just…not.
Maybe this kind of mindfulness is better than an enforced ‘write 10 things every day’ kind of gratitude practice. Does anyone actually even do that for real?Maybe it works for other people.
Notes of note
I’ve been really enjoying the Notes feature in substack! Here are three recent notes that I’d like to share in connection to everything we’re talking about here. Plus some rewilding because that’s my jam.
Alright. Here are all the things. Avert your eyes now:
My zines & weavings shop over on Ko-Fi is open again! Yay! Check it out here.
I shared an origami book tutorial on Instagram. Watch it here, it’s a piece of cake.
I’m creating a weaving collection to raise awareness around sea life and jellyfish in the face of a looming El Niño returning in 2023.
I hosted a video hangout last Friday at That Monthly Zine Project, with the aim to just be chill and make art and zines together. We have our own permanently open jitsi room, which is cool.
I’m taking part in Messy May, ‘the daily-ish journaling challenge for imperfect creatives’. The pages in the picture up above are a response to that. These were from day 5: where the keyword was ‘elevate’, and the teacher was Tina Hois.
I’m writing daily and have a wordcount & accountability buddy to prove it (yikes)
I turned 38 yesterday!
I’m learning the fine points of A.I. image generation for work. I already work with A.I. extensively for textual content, and have been since last August. Bing Image Creator is a good place to get started for images!
Phew, God. Are you ok? You’re ok. It’s ok. We’re ok.
Thanks so much for reading, you mean the world to me. See you next week!
Jessica
Happy belated birthday Jessica! Those times in full flow are intoxicating hey. I’m still learning to surrender to the change towards fallow when it inevitably comes. Internalised capitalism is a difficult one to dismantle but I’m determined.
Happy birthday! From another 38-year-old May baby.