A Musing #78
Let’s get right to the point and ask how are the extroverts doing? I know it’s all of you crashing that House Party app every single night. Self reflection and not sharing an opinion in the physical presence of another human every nanosecond is tough, so I’m sending you all my thoughts and prayers. I do hope everyone is taking this time to rest and enjoy some forgotten joys in life. There’s no guilt in being not productive especially when there’s a global pandemic going on.
I’ve been painting away while also catching up on Netflix these days. My pro tip to you all is to take weekends off because how else are you going to have any concept of time? Personally, I make it my life goal to do as little as possible on Saturday and Sunday. You don’t need to be working 24/7 as our society has made us feel that productivity equals value. Rest is super important. I can tell you that oil paints make you stop since it will literally look like shit if you push them too hard. I’m also really happy people have been responding to my art tips on Instagram. Words can’t describe how inspiring it’s been seeing all your projects at home coming to life. If you ever need feedback, my inbox is always open.
With this quarantine, I’m hoping how people view the arts is going to change for the better. It’s been us you’ve been looking to during these very uncertain times, so you can’t say we don’t matter. I’m really excited seeing more people sharing art and discussing it more. Despite the global pandemic, we’re still creating. There’s so much more engagement and people are treating fine art with a lot more respect than before this mess. My concern is that it remains that way once this is done. A bad habit we have as a society is asking what people do for a living and then deciding how much respect we should give them depending on that answer. The amount of times I’ve received backhanded compliments for being an artist is a lot higher than the amount of self portraits I’ve made. This also goes to all underpaid/minimum workers who have become the true heroes right now keeping everyone going. You’re all the MVPs. There needs to be a change.
So please support your local creatives. Watch their movies, stream their music, listen to their podcasts, like and share their posts, etc. Shoot them a message and ask what their prices are or how you can support them more if you can. We’re here, we’ve always been here, and we are still going to be here when this is done. Make sure the same thing can be said about your respect.
