Maybe start making art as if life was a sectional sofa
plus: let the Hemingway diss-circle begin!
Let’s begin with sectional couches, okay?
Those kinds that are like a huge L shape for whenever you want to, I dunno, sleep while watching TV.
Or recline like a roman emperor while you have your dinner fed to you by a 12 year old nymphette.
Whatever you’re into, I’m not here to judge.
OK, so, sectional sofas. Keep that in your mind.
Look, I even made A.I1 generate me a picture to help you out:
OK so now, I want you to think of that Hemingway, A Serious Artist Writing About Serious Shit stereotype, but on steroids.
I used to think that to create anything worthwhile, you really gotta go at it, and be that stereotype. For hours at a stretch, uninterrupted quiet, fierce determination, all that stuff.
But now, my time has been disjointed for me, thanks to having a kid who’s like a walking timebomb alarm clock.
And, so far in life already, I’ve learned that the only people who get to create art like that are either professionals or a**holes (like Hemingway!2) or both.
Which brings us to the grand statement:
I’ve started making art as if life was a sectional sofa.
Is this the a-ha moment?
Maybe not?
OK let’s keep going:
Here’s how the ultra-patented sectional sofa philosophy works. I made the really important stuff bold:
Step one: imagine a sectional sofa (see diagram!)
You have a certain number of seats you can take up during the day. If we’re going by the diagram, it’s four. Right? Each seat represents a block of time.
Sit in the seat on the end. In your head. Now, during the day, move to the next seat, and the next. The idea is to move along from one end of the sofa, through the day, to the other end. It doesn’t matter how long you sit in each place: it just matters that when the day ends, you’ve been in them all.
Even short bursts of creativity can yield significant results. Look for pockets of idle time throughout your day, such as during lunch breaks or while commuting, and use them to sketch, brainstorm ideas, or practice your craft. Create with reckless abandon in the margins of the day!
But Jessica! can you not just set a daily schedule and work that way!! Why all this overcomplication!! I hear you cry.
Because my brain isn’t wired that way. I feel time rather than see time. Lots of people do. I own this thing for that reason.
Also because it’s more fun
Not to quote myself or anything, but I’m quoting myself:
What is the fun thing in this horrendously boring dutiful l thing that I have to do? Where is it? Where or how can you find it? What if you stopped being such a boring, dutiful adult in your outlook, and just looked for the fun in everything that you do?
If you hate sectional sofas, though
I’m currently using up my second seat of the day. If the sectional sofa isn’t working for you, though, I wrote an article that expands on this and gives even more ideas, with star ratings, because I’ve tried them so you don’t have to.
How do you make art even amidst this mess that is life? Share in the comments. If you own a sectional sofa, you get extra credit (I do not).
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Jessica
Does anyone call A.I. ‘Al’ in their heads? Like, as in that song, Call me Al? Surely people must do, right? Other people than me I mean?
Until I deleted my Twitter account, my disdain for Hemingway was a matter of public record. Alas, now, that’s gone. So I better start dissing him in here instead.