creating art in difficult times
my qualifications? I am human!
Why does shouting into the void matter? Wouldn’t people rather be actually creating rather than watching someone else create? Why do people love “day in the life” or “get ready with me” videos? Those videos make me feel seen, heard, in community….but it’s all empty space in the end.
If an IRL friend sat me down to explain, with time stamps, how she got ready for her morning….I would be intrigued. But not as intrigued as watching a stranger actually pouring her coffee or journaling or putting on her running shoes. Because the stranger and I have a cute little parasocial relationship, and my IRL friends are known, familiar, beloved to me. How do other people cope with stuff?
That endless scroll through a dog-specific subreddit? A Youtube channel of a vlogger redesigning her dream home? A beautifully doodled and scribbled Hobinichi Cousin? THE DREAM. Then you take a deep breath and look away from the screen, into your own kitchen, at your own backyard full of flowers and weeds.
I downloaded the app Opal for one week, until my absolute yearning for TikTok (paired with a glass of chardonnay, thank you habit stacking!) became too much. It was a delicious time, scrolling and laughing at basset hounds and nodding along with creators talking about their families, their built-in bookshelves, their trek across Mongolia. My current favorite TikTok account is itchybootstravel, which is the personal account of a woman riding her motorcycle through various countries. She was in Riyadh, last time I checked. I highly recommend her page if you feel like you COULD someday ride a motorcycle but know in your heart of hearts that it’s just not gonna happen.
The shame spiral from deleting an app blocking app just to scroll on the time consuming app was a wakeup call for me. I’ve also been working on releasing that lil demon of perfection and thoughts of monetization (of what? something I do FOR FUN?) with things that I am “good at”. Can you tell I am half-assedly working through The Artist’s Way?
I have been using screens a lot the past few weeks to cope with the terrible news and my feeling of complete helplessness in the face of it all. So what can we do, besides donate and read and create community?
Make some bad art! Tend to our brain gardens!
Plant some wildflowers. I purchased this from our local gardening store, watered the ground and messed up the dirt a little, and scattered the seeds willy nilly. Later on, my husband actually provided the seeds with real food in the form of a little mulch. They are growing!
Go on a walk. The fairy house and the Pacific Ocean were admired on two separate walks. I liked thinking of either a small child or an elderly adult carefully placing the fairy house in that exact spot, near the mailbox, so random passerby could admire it. In a world of screens, let’s have some physical whimsy! (She says on Substack…)
Q: How is going on a walk “art”?
A: You are filling up your brain with images, sounds, smells, friendly cats. All of this will be helpful to you in the creation of said art!
Draw something “bad” on purpose. I have a vivid memory of a primary teacher telling me that the hands I drew “looked like flowers” and I took it as a complement. A Renaissance master I am not and never will be! Dogs are also difficult. But it’s fun! Your mileage may vary on this. I have never been told that I am “good” at art and no one expects me to be good at it. If you’ve got that particular baggage going for you, then I recommend making an old school friendship bracelet. Not the Swiftie kind but the kind you have to knot and pull and weave like a hairless spider person. Good luck.
Book recommendation: Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen
This book is great to bring up if people are doubting your commitment to “doodling” and “scribbling” - you can point out that SCIENCE now proves that creating art and appreciating art is actually highly beneficial for your brain. If you aren’t constantly defending yourself from an inner critic, you might be able to just enjoy this book for what it is; a nuanced, evidence-based examination of the neuroscience of art.
References: I got the phrase “habit stacking” from Atomic Habits by James Clear but he meant something like “whenever you watch Netflix, walk on your walking pad” NOT
“A glass of wine means TikTok time”. Thankfully my dog will bark at me if I ignore him for longer than five minutes.