Making something in response to every throbbing beat

I’m currently in the stage of creation that feels heavy with holding.

The last few weeks, months even, have been full of inspiration. Inspiring people, inspiring places, inspiring art in all its forms. I’ve been on a consistently hearty diet of really good shit. Letting myself gorge on all the beauty after the dark, mindful winter. Gobble gobble gobble. At this point I’m well and truly satiated.

But because I have a tendency towards being, not doing, this can be a dangerous time for me.

All of that consuming and luxuriating in inspiration needs to be channeled now. The fragments of ideas need to be sifted through and arranged in some semblance of order and made into A THING. MANY THINGS, most probably. I can get overwhelmed. It’s why Bird by Bird sits by my bed, waiting to be picked up yet again, so I can remind myself how this thing goes.

It’s time to get quiet and focus, stop consuming as much, to gather the energy required to act. It’s time to get my ass into gear.

A sentence that lingers in a previous newsletter and used to live on my desk?

DON’T REMAIN IN THE ABSTRACT.

I love thinking, I do. For me, just sitting in the ideas is a sexy ass proposition. Turning them over about them and pondering out loud, preferably whilst on a walk with someone who also likes to chat this good shit too? Phew, I’m turning myself on rn!

But art doesn’t work like that. It’s exhilarating to ping ideas around, yes, but it’s only half the work. There comes a time to move from head to body, when action is called for, when we get to the creation part of the cycle. Making is an embodied act. It can be overwhelming when there has been so much good material. When the fragments are scattered across notebooks and images and voice notes and dreams. Having so much is a gift, we know this. So often there are long dry deserts of nothing to act upon. We gotta strike whilst the inspiration’s hot! In the words of Rob Breszny, now’s the time to summon highly pragmatic creativity.

I made the every throbbing beat piece a few weeks ago. I haven’t been completely idle, I guess! I love it. It feels true. My work is always a response to the world, a conversation with it. Maybe this piece is my talisman for the months ahead. The mantra we can all hold close as we wade in and make.

I don’t know if it’s the time of year or the alignment of the planets or just all these weeks of injecting inspiration straight into my veins, but it feels like collectively, individually. we’re on the brink. Something else feels like it’s waiting around the corner. Is it possibility? Hope? Spring? An egg ready to be cracked open.

Do you feel it too?

READ:

I’ve been absolutely spoilt for fiction the past month and adored all three of these. I read Mrs Death Misses Death after Holly McNish said it changed her view on life! I mean! It’s straight into one of my favourite books of all time, effortlessly mixing prose and form and character and please! Read it! I also felt very similar feelings towards Piranesi. From the get-go go my mind was exploding in different directions and it stuck the landing so tenderfully - something that just doesn’t happen very often. And lastly, Hagstone. This was on my doormat after returning home and I had no idea when or why I’d ordered it. I’m a book addict what can I say? If you have a love for women, art, nature, community, surrealism, the Irish - this is for you. I loved it. And that cover!

New research into the dying brain suggests the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, this article! Mind blown emoji x 1000000.

This piece reframed my thinking. Did you know that the term midlife crisis originates as a feminist concept? I did not! “The term was popularized by Gail Sheehy in her 1976 book Passages, which documented the malaise and frustration that tended to pop up in women in their 40s.” Having a few friends who have both hit midlife and quickly reassessed and made drastic changes to their lives, it tracks! And the reluctance we hold in calling this crisis is interesting. I'm guilty of telling one friend - it’s your midlife clarity! Maybe the crises lead to clarity idk, but this definitely made me think about the term and middle-class white women and who gets to claim what.

LISTEN:

Maggie Rodgers is a listen, read, and watch share this month. I got the chance to see her in a teeny tiny gig last month that was quite honestly, spiritual. Her new album is in promo mode which means we get an insight into her creative process - I’ve been extra fascinated with her these past few years after seeing her talk about her thesis examining “Cultural Consciousness, the Spirituality of Public Gatherings, & the Ethics of Power in Pop Culture.” And she loves film photography! Maggie, call me.

WATCH:

Absolutely nothing original to tell ya but we’re about to embark on the last ever ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm and I think it’s the best TV show ever made.

LOOK: