Whimsy is healing
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Hello friends, While walking to meet some other writers in a café for our usual co-working date, I saw a piece of standard 8.5x11 inch paper stapled to a utility pole. It was one of those “rip off the tab at the bottom” fliers. I haven’t seen one of those in years, it seems. You may remember them. The “I walk dogs” or “yard work available” ads, with a fringe cut at the bottom, so a passerby could easily rip off the salient information, tuck it into a pocket, and then forget about it until bits of soggy paper ended up in the washing machine. This one was different enough that I smiled and snapped a photo. The body of the flier read, “I’m bored. I’ll send you a collage for no reason. With one easy step. DM me your address.” Totally whimsical, which is why I smiled. Best thing? All the little tabs were gone but one, with an Instagram handle on it. I looked it up later—@mailordercollagepdx—and it’s a tiny account filled with…bright paper collages. Pretty neat. There’s a lot of talk about whimsy these days, for good reason. Most of us are exhausted, sad, angry, and suspicious. We need a little whimsy to remind us that life is not just a tired, oppressive grind under dangerously escalating fascism and climate crisis. There is Black Boy Joy. There are people dressed as fairies having tea. Burly adults are painting their fingernails and gathering flowers. There’s a surge in cozy books. And, who here is as excited to watch Sheep Detectives as I am? Anyone? Some of you might still be suspicious of whimsy. First of all, why would I send a stranger my address so they could mail me art? What if they want to rob me? Besides being a ridiculously convoluted plan for smash and grab, I think that suspicion points to an underlying question: What right do we have to spontaneous joy in the midst of suffering? Every right. We are human. We can be serious and sorrowful, angry and helpful, as well as playful. We can embrace the totality of the human condition, and live to dance another day. As a matter of fact, if we are able to, we must. Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, I was recently interviewed by Jamie Ferguson of Blackbird Press about my new essay collection: Let Your Life Be Lighting - Creativity in Times of Strife. She posed several questions, asking whether I ever feel discouraged, what to say to people who feel like giving up, and how I create during difficult times. In my answer to that last question, I called up inspiration from human history, and I think this might help you, too: “Think of the poems written, songs sung, clothing...
Hello friends, Happy May! May Day was on Friday. I love this holiday, because it rejoices in two things close to my heart: May Day celebrates the burgeoning growth of spring and sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere. People dance around poles with bright ribbons, and leap fires, and share food, laughter, and song. May Day also honors the Haymarket activists and martyrs who fought for worker’s rights, fair pay, and that little thing we call the weekend. May Day honors the human labor that grows...
Hello friends, “One of the keys of fascism is control of the nation’s narrative…” Social philosopher Kimberlé Crenshaw said that in this recent Guardian article. I’ve long admired Crenshaw’s work, and when I read those words this morning, I thought, “this is why I write.” I write to switch the narrative to something that feels healthier, kinder, and more beautiful. Every creative impulse can be anti-fascist. Every creative act can help heal us, body, heart, mind, and soul. Each creative work...