Read on Twitter
You are under ZERO obligation to be creative or productive or endlessly available right now. And anyone who insists that you are – including your inner critic – can fuck right off.
1/9
1/9
As a digital guest speaker for young artists, I’ve heard a lot of “What can we be doing to advance our careers with this unexpected downtime?” in the past few weeks. My honest response – forgive me, professors – is above.
2/9
2/9
Many of us are scrambling to make ends meet – making wrenching decisions about where limited resources should go. Many of us are navigating the unemployment system for the first time and processing cancellations much further into the future than anticipated.
3/9
3/9
Many of us are tying ourselves into knots trying to absorb every scrap of news while feverishly disinfecting every surface in our homes. Daily life is *exhausting* right now, and all the exhortations I see to "stay working & stay relevant” seem to me to miss the point wildly.
4/9
4/9
If you have energy left over after taking care of what *must* be done, this is a time to do what feeds your soul. If that’s making art or trading knowledge or holding space for others, go on! If it’s taking naps or cuddling with cats or binging sci-fi? Folks, that is SO okay.
5/9
5/9
For those of us who’ve built our identities around being driven, around constantly striving and achieving, this may be an especially trying time. Try to remember: there will be days when you lead and move forward and shine your brightest light. You are still *you* in there.
6/9
6/9
But there will also be days when you need to curl around your soft underbelly and listen to atmospheric indie music and mourn what has been lost. You are allowed to feel the full range of your emotions, on whatever timeline feels right to you.
7/9
7/9
Be gentle with yourself. Be gentle with others. We are incredibly resilient, us humans. Your creativity and focus will return. You will emerge from this, back into the sunlight, perhaps with a deeper understanding of yourself or your place in this world.
8/9
8/9
Your job now is to keep the light on in your soul, to keep the home fires burning for our collective humanity. We can do this, together, even when apart.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Sparkles" aria-label="Emoji: Sparkles">
9/9
9/9
9/9" title="Your job now is to keep the light on in your soul, to keep the home fires burning for our collective humanity. We can do this, together, even when apart.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Sparkles" aria-label="Emoji: Sparkles">9/9" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
