Some creative cycles are unphased by Corona Virus—for instance, the geese are returning right on time. One of the best ways to calm yourself? Go outside. For a while.
Preview: Emergency Episode of Emerging Form
How are you coping with Corona Virus? How has it affected your creative life? This week we have an emergency episode of Emerging Form to talk about how COVID-19 is changing what and how we write and how it’s affecting all kinds of creative careers. Topics include the importance of the arts, financial insecurity, ways to adjust, online alternatives and transformation. We’ll be talking with two special guests: Rob Dozier, our fabulous audio producer, and USA Today best-selling author Sarina Bowen, who has written more than 30 contemporary novels and is cohost of the #amwriting podcast.
What We’re Reading:
Rosemerry:
· Besides CNN and NPR?? I’m reading an amazing novel by poet Ocean Vuong—On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Written as a letter to an illiterate mother, it’s a heartbreaking, heart-opening coming-of-age story of a young Vietnamese man, dipping into the story of his family’s history before coming to America and his evolution. Oh!
· And so I’m cheating, this isn’t reading, but every night this week my daughter and husband and I have been going to Broadway on our couch. Check out these great musicals and plays suggested by Playbill … So far we’ve seen Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Billy Elliot, and She Loves Me. So much fun!
· My friend Kayleen Asbo wrote this in a recent newsletter: “Therapists warn that in the face of stress and trauma, the natural responses are to ‘fight, flee or freeze.’ But there is another way. It is the way of alchemical transformation: to take suffering, pain and sorrow and turn it into creative action. This is a pathway known by artists, composers, poets and saints alike, and it is a pathway we all desperately need to reclaim at this moment in time.” Yes to that. You can find out more about her and her classes, plus lots of resources at Mythica Community.
Christie:
· I just finishes a beautiful novel that I can’t stop thinking about, Lost and Wanted, by Nell Freudenberger. It’s the story of MIT physicist Helen Clapp and how she navigates friendship, grief, motherhood and the challenges of academic life. I devoured the book in just a few days, during which I dreamed of the characters at night because they felt so vivid.
· I just picked up They They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers by Sarah Scoles and am loving the first chapters. The book is an examination of a community obsessed with UFOs and why it is we are so eager to believe.
Online Resources:
· Netflix Party is a chrome extension that allows you to watch Netflix with friends in different places — perfect for these days of social distancing. It synchs the thing you’re watching on all the screens, and you can interact with one another in real time.
· Want to write about what’s happening now, but you are stuck? Adele Kenny’s blog has an amazing post with writing prompts and encouragements.
· Need some inspiration for love, peace and happiness? Check out A First Sip, poetry curated by Claudia Cummins.
Two Questions:
(share your answers with us here on Substack)
How are you staying focused in this pandemic?
How is it changing your work and your creative process?
Can You Be Creative in the Time of Corona Virus?
More than can we be creative, I think the question is how can we NOT be creative? I feel it is of even greater necessity to BE creative right now. As an artist (self-employed) it is easy to fall into the grief of cancelled classes and shows, lost sales, etc. as the country spirals into this strange pit of anxiety and uncertainty. We, the creative, must create or we fail at our very core of being and we may lose our soul, so to speak. So, take that creative time and honor it, foster it, relish in it. Pour your heart into whatever you are painting, writing, stitching, cooking, etc. and come out with something new and exciting. Maybe you will come out with nothing stellar but you are creating and it is a process of continued learning and growing as much as coming up with an end product. As an artist, this is also a very meditative and healthy mental place to spend some time. When I am painting, the whole world and all its problems go away for that time. What a relief! And, between the creative episodes - read a book, go for a walk, watch the birds flit around, have a nice, healthy dinner (and a few bites of dark chocolate mousse!). Be kind -- to yourself and to others and make art!