Happy Friday!
This newsletter is all about making art as resistance, providing inspiration, ideas, and more.
In this issue: Looking back at some of your favorite picks⚡️
Creativity captured
Making Stuff > Doomscrolling
It feels important somehow to keep scrolling right now. If we just consume all the information, all the terror and rage, we'll be better informed and better able to fight back. Right?
But … doomscrolling just leads to inertia and hopelessness. Worse, it's supporting big tech at a time that they're supporting the bad guys.
This short video is an excellent antidote. Even if we're exhausted and sad, we can make stuff to feel better (and act as part of the resistance). Here's ten things you can make, even if you're not sure what to make!
Make something heavy
"We create more than ever, but it weighs nothing."
A lovely ode and guide to making things that you can touch, feel, and take pride in.
Laziness is just rest
Laziness is not a moral failing, as we've been taught to believe. Really, laziness is needed. And maybe we should rename it as rest.
This article takes on the case for “strategic laziness,” talking to artists and athletes about the power of rest for creativity.
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to a college class of short story writers who'd read my story in the Pushcart Prize anthology. One student asked about working through writer's block. I said: take a break. Don't keep pushing, because you'll end up resenting your creative work.
So I'll say it again here, and this article backs me up: Take a creative rest when you need it. You'll come back stronger for it.
Relearn the Internet
We've forgotten that there's a whole wide, weird, wild internet out there. A
s Offline Crush puts it: “You can’t call it the ‘online world’ if you never leave your feed. If your entire internet life happens inside TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, or Twitter, you’re simply mall-walking, and malls are fine: predictable, climate-controlled, food courts and chain stores on every corner, but don’t mistake the mall for the city. The city is bigger, stranger, full of alleys, basements, and hidden doors. That’s the real internet, and you haven’t been there in a while.”
So Brooklyn offers a step-by-step map to rediscovering the internet. If you're feeling stuck, or apathetic, or all of the above, this could be just the treasure hunt to find something hopeful and inspiring.
Free writing and unclenching
Freewriting is a powerful way to spark creativity, or even just brain dump. But for The Imperfectionist, it's also a part of a technique they call ‘unclenching.’
“Unclenching into life demands that we relax in the midst of the uncertainty and insecurity, because 'in the midst of the uncertainty and insecurity' is where we always are. The reward is the aliveness, agency and sense of purchase on life that comes from no longer pretending otherwise.”
As a person who has been mainlining ibuprofen for a perpetually clenched and ruined jaw, this article spoke to me : )
Linkapalooza
I'm reading: Beings, by Ilana Masad. A quiet book, one that combines a couple that spots a UFO, a lesbian sci-fi writer, and a queer archivist into a unique story that's stuck with me.
I'm watching: Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Season 3. Damn you, Erin and Heath, for making me addicted to my first reality show. And damn John Oliver for evangelizing these “human hand grenades.”
I'm listening to: Nine Inch Noize. Because I'm obsessed.
I'm sharing:
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🎙️LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: Get empowered with the Art of Resistance Podcast
🦄 EXPLORE THE RESISTANCE LIBRARY: Guides, resources, and recommended reading
📚 GET ART FROM AMY: Books and music for your lists
📋 READ THE GUIDE: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance
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