do art > do magic
do magic > do art ?
Well, shit. I am once again “rebranding.” I hate that term. I used it when I went from atenderwitch on social media to my childhood nickname, Liah Bean. And it felt yucky, like I was announcing the end of a movie franchise and then a reboot aimed towards more mature audiences. I hate how “rebranding” ties your identity, especially virtually, to capitalism. It’s one of those words that has made its way from business settings to social ones. Initially, it was used to show ownership of livestock. We know where it went from there.
Ownership>Business>Social
Holding myself to Sundays, though, just isn’t working. I can plan on each Sunday, but honestly, I have ADHD. I am much more likely to get it done “at least every week” than I am “every Sunday.” I’m not rebranding. I’m re-evaluating and then re-evaluating again. I am listening to the new space in my mind that homework used to consume, and it is yelling: “DO ART.”
That’s what I’m doing here. I am treating my newsletter, which will soon be one of my primary digital communication modes, as if I am doing art. I think so many things become art when you give them headspace. I think wiping the counter down with a sponge, wringing it out, and then wiping it again is an art. Rolling over in bed without elbowing your partner is an art.
Many of these things are also rituals, right? Do art, and you are doing a ritual. Do a ritual, and you are doing art. While witchcraft never took (r.i.p atenderwitch). I am also constantly thinking on the concept of magic, and where it fits into these rituals; to this art. These things shift, switch places, and change my thinking as I move through my days.
I see it today like this:
“Do art” is something I said once half-drunk, floating in a lake, as I planned the rest of my day. Someone responded, “Oh yeah, sure, Liah, dO ARt” (like that SpongeBob meme). At first, I was embarrassed, but now I’m stunned, a) because the person responding that way is a trained opera singer (they trained their voice to do art!!) and b) sitting down in my chair and pulling it into the drafting table is an art. Setting up my oils or wires or notebooks is an art. Doing the damn thing is an art. Doing all of that together is DOING ART.
What do you think?
1. Put “do magic, do art, do a ritual” in an order that makes sense.
(___________>___________>__________)
2. Create a list of five things under each that match that label.
3. Cut them out. Rearrange them under the labels and see how it makes that action or phrase feel different.
June 03: The community group I co-organize is holding our third Big Free Queer Bookfair. Books for all ages! Free! Gay! Art workshops! And I’ll be doing storytime!
June 11: Qns Collab’s Maker’s Market on 31st Avenue Open Streets.
June 17: Scranton Punk Rock Flea Market at NEPA Horrorfest
Marlee Grace's new podcast, Creating Common Shapes. I especially love the framing of Mar's definition of practice as devotion.
I landed in Nashville this morning and accidently sat down to a family style breakfast (i.e. me and a ton of strangers passing big bowls of cheesy grits and fried chicken around a table and chatting like old friends). One of the locals at the table paid for my meal.
I'm in Nashville to celebrate my first ever nanny charge’s seventh birthday! I worked with her from 3 months to six years and I'm so proud of her and of myself for helping to shape her. Just all around good vibes.
The aforementioned nanny charge has free range Guinea pigs.
DID YOU ENJOY THIS NEWSLETTER? CONSIDER FORWARDING IT TO A FRIEND OR SENDING A REPLY.
xoxo Liah