I often think about how weird it is that bad decisions are being made or destruction is happening in one place, but the sun is still shining, the pasta still tastes good, and kids are still running around laughing in my neighborhood. I’m not really asking for this to change, exactly. If we were all in despair 24/7, then we couldn’t accomplish anything that might alleviate whatever is bringing us down. But I still find it weird.
It’s summer. Summer is the best. But I keep reading the news with disbelief at how the values I thought were important to this country (supporting research, consulting expertise, welcoming refugees, maintaining allies, respecting laws, avoiding extortion) are being thrown overboard.
This isn’t news to anyone. It seems to be the hardest thing to talk about lately because there aren’t quick, easy remedies.
When the pandemic took over in 2020, all the writing projects I’d been working on stopped. Meaning, I stopped writing. I didn’t know what to say, so I just moved blobs around on a page and made collages.
I haven’t lost my words this time, but I have been noticing the appeal of toddler art. I started scribbling in my sketchbook the other day, and may need to fill the entire book with scribbles. It was that satisfying.
There’s a Toni Morrison quote that illustrator and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton has been sharing lately. It goes like this:
This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.
I don’t know how we’ll rein in the absurdity, but I’m going to keep thinking about this quote as I get to work.
Thanks for being here!
Oh! And in other news, my Book of Anger zine is being added to the Zine and Wellness collection of the Bodleian Old Library at Oxford. Time to visit the UK!
