Hello, dear ones!
So, it’s uh…been a hot sec, huh?
While I don’t think there are that many of you repeatedly refreshing your inboxes on Friday (though if you are, please know that I love you, and am extra sorry to you, personally) I still feel genuinely bad when I don’t send anything out. It’s the newsletter equivalent of a “text me when you get home,” you know? Just because y’all aren’t staring at your phones waiting for me to pop into your email notifications doesn’t mean it’s not still nice to get the message you’re expecting!
This metaphor is getting away from me, which is about par for the course of the past two weeks. I’ve been having one of those months where I text multiple astrologer friends to ask what I personally did to piss off the planets (they laughed at me), and it has not been the world’s most pleasant experience!
My sanity is basically held together with coffee, fanfiction, duct tape, memes, and spite, so it probably goes without saying that I haven’t been introducing much of the current events ecosystem into that buffet of madness. So, in classic Creativity for Good fashion, we’re taking a new approach for a spin. As always, my inbox is always open to hear your thoughts!
Let’s dive in.
your friday five
five memes getting me through the day (and how you can use them to create for good)
“But how are you, really?”
When someone asks you how you’re doing, what is your instinctive response? How much of your reply is dictated by something other than what you’d really like to say — societal convention, insecurity, fear of vulnerability, discomfort, all of the above, something totally different? How often do you find yourself giving a standard, polite response? Conversely, how often do you find yourself answering honestly? What is most likely to make you lean into honesty? How can you create more opportunities to be real?
Prompt: So, how are you, really? Set a timer for seven to ten minutes and let your answer flow — however jumbled, uncomfortable, stream-of-consciousness, unpleasant, or unflattering it might be. How did it feel to answer truthfully? Create about it.
I didn’t think there would be this many emails in the apocalypse, actually.
What are the ongoing, everyday, mundane tasks that you’re finding most exhausting right now? Have they always felt that way, or is it a new (or worsening) feeling? What are the first thoughts or emotions that come up when it’s time to turn to one of those tasks? What is it about those tasks that makes them especially difficult right now?
Prompt: Jot down your three least favorite everyday tasks. Reach out to someone in your life and ask them how they feel about one (or more) of them. Do they feel the same way you do? Do they actually love this task that you hate? Is there a task that they hate that you love? How can you make those tasks easier on each other — side-by-side, or from a distance? (Think: a video or phone date to go through the mail, a shared playlist for doing the dishes, a long-distance movie night while you fold the laundry.) What did that feel like? Create about it.
Juggling is so fun. Isn’t juggling fun? It’s so fun.
How are you balancing — or not balancing — your needs, your responsibilities, your community, and your creativity? In the pie chart of your life, where are you noticing a shrinking of slices? What is taking up more time than it should…or less? What does it feel like when you think about the pieces of your life that are growing in weight, to the point of forcing you to put other pieces down? What pieces are you struggling to hold? How are you managing that struggle?
Prompt: Draw a line on a piece of paper. Set a timer for five minutes, and on one side, write down everything currently weighing you down, taking up resources, emptying your cup. Reset the timer, and on the other side, write down everything lifting you up, giving you strength, or filling your well (or your metaphor of choice). Which list was easier to make? Which is longer? Is there any overlap between the two sides? Create about it.
We don’t have time to unpack all of that.
What are the biggest things that you’re currently putting off feeling, unpacking, or processing? What is it that’s making you avoid them? Are you protecting yourself? Protecting someone else? Are you avoiding unpleasantness? Focusing on survival? What would the consequences be if you opened those doors right now? What are the consequences of keeping them closed? What would you need in order to feel safe letting yourself feel, unpack, process, explore, soften?
Prompt: Fill in the blanks: “When I finally let myself [blank], I’m going to [blank].” (For example: “When I finally let myself acknowledge how scared I’ve been, I’m going to give myself space to cry, seek comfort, and stop forcing myself to be strong.”) Repeat as many times as you feel comfortable. Create about it.
And yet, and yet, and yet.
Where, despite it all, are you still finding hope? What are the everyday moments of beauty that keep you going, the tiny delights that still make you smile, the cycles of nature that remind you that nothing — even this time of fear, and grief, and violence, and uncertainty — is permanent? Where are you finding softness? Where are you finding opportunities to reach out? What are the things that still, even now, make you turn to someone you love and say, “look, my heart, look” — and what does it feel like when they do?
Prompt: Make a list of ten things that brought you joy, peace, hope, delight, laughter, or serenity in the past week. It could be as small as seeing flowers blooming along the sidewalk, as huge as reuniting with a long-missed friend — what matters is that you remember it. Share your list with three people you love, and invite them to make their own. Create about it.
But more importantly — remember it.
All my love,
💜Shelly
