...We Interrupt Our Regular Programming For This Important Message...

By débora Ewing
Last year was a crazy-productive one for me and also one of my all-time lows. I found inspiration in the words of Peter Kidd when he sent them to me priority mail. 
"See what happens," he said. 
A lot happened. And I kept going. I started a series of sunflower paintings, and started a series of crows. I mailed art to an exhibit at Woman Made Gallery (both the exhibit and mailing art were firsts for me) and had a solo exhibit at Beanetics Coffee Roasters near my home-base.

At the same time as all this awesomeness, and perhaps exacerbated by it, I smashed head-on into a couple of my strongest demons - accepting too much workload from others and bullying - and gained assistance from my doctor instead of self-medicating. We put me on SSRIs for a few months.
"See what happens," she said, not verbatim.
I stopped taking the meds when my bloodwork showed stress on my liver, and I've kept working. I compiled two chapbooks of poetry and submitted individual pieces everywhere. Plainsongs by Hastings College Press accepted my piece Dead Language - one of my favorites. I'll have poetry published in Dodging the Rain later this year, and that artwork inspired by Pete will find its way to you via Sonder Midwest. I chose to submit there because their motto is "Strive for Unity Through Obscurity." Great, right?
I'm realising that now is about the same time my cycle started last year.

This time the demons aren't internal. Our country is facing science denial, systemic racism, viral pandemic. COVID-19 is forcing us to reshape our routines, no matter what worlds we'd built for ourselves in defiance of the betterment of society. We're forced to recognise we are part of a global society, and then to withdraw. Social Distancing is the prescription.

I've been training for this my whole life.

It is really hard to keep working toward goals you've set for yourself with a crisis in your face. It's not possible to plan for all possible scenarios - I have a really active imagination. My workplace understands I'm high-risk for catching this virus and arranged for me to work from home. Our business is impacted by other businesses impacted by this global crisis. So I'm in here safe in the moment, and completely unsure of the future. Just like the rest of us. I'm still pushing.
Keep doing what you've been doing, keep pushing - the most impossible scenario is still possible: you may succeed. Be ready for that. 

Further Reading: 

Igneus Press - See what the old hippies have been telling us all along. 
COVID-19 - See what the CDC says.
Get Brave and submit your own work! You won't die, not from rejection letters. Start collecting them now, if not yesterday.
Sonder Midwest
Plainsongs Poetry Magazine by Hastings College Press 
Dodging the Rain
Jerry Jazz Musician


Comments

  1. MariSunday, 15 March, 2020

    This last year has been the most creative and the most productive one I have ever seen for you, Sweet Kid. Hang in there. On this front it is horrific for me and MSOM to see the ravings of our not normal minds emerge from the safe refuge of our skulls to a world canvas. First satire died, then dystopia flings itself onto a world canvas. All the while, the haze of unreality mists our normal, recused lives. :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. débora EwingMonday, 16 March, 2020

      Recused, not reclused. This is accurate for y'all. Hang in there, too.

      Delete
    2. MariThursday, 19 March, 2020

      {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Deb}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

      Delete

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