Stop Generating
Making art to break out of paralysis
Last year when I launched this newsletter my plan was to maintain a weekly cadence, though I was secretly hoping to eventually double my output and send it twice-weekly. I took what I thought would be a short break for the holidays, which extended into the beginning of the year as I focused my efforts on completing my grad school application.
And then my motivation hit rock bottom.
Since the second inauguration of Trump, there’s been a relentless onslaught of bad news. So much bad news that it’s hard to keep up. I found myself stuck in a paralyzing loop of doomscrolling and consuming information, afraid that if I stopped paying attention I would miss something crucial.
Two things finally helped me snap out of it.
The first is an article by Janus Rose published on 404 Media and titled “You can’t post your way out of fascism.” One quote from the article in particular became a sort of mantra for me: “There is such a thing as having enough information.” I decided to cut down on the number of podcasts I listen to and I started scheduling short blocks of time dedicated to scanning social media and news sites. It’s hard not to cheat on that last one, but making a conscious effort to limit my media consumption has been a tremendous help. (And I don’t feel any less informed than I was before.)
The second thing was to actually do something. I have always found that a good way to break out of paralysis is to make art. A small art project is not going to change the world, but it’s usually a good way to move into action, and once you’ve done that the momentum can carry you into other actions.
So I made a small art book about hope, creativity and being human in a world governed by algorithms. It’s called Stop Generating and you can read it on my website.
If, like me, you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world and finding it difficult to break out of passively consuming bad news, I encourage you to do something creative and share it with the world. It doesn’t matter how small it is. Chances are it will feel good and motivate you to keep going.
