Hi, hi.
Yes, I’m about to complain about January. Why did it feel longer than all of 2019? I wish I could blame someone else (or the moon), but it was really me taking on more than I could handle. Whatever, I’m still reeling. January had no business being so intense.
Anyway, I’ve (yet again) neglected writing this newsletter in advance. Which means the long-ish comic I was working on for this month’s newsletter is not ready. But you’ll see it in February (if I, and this year, behave).
An upside
I’ve started reading more poetry. The state of the nation (the world!) has been messy, messy, messy and there’s only so much news I can take. So I turned to poetry, and it has been a real salve. 10/10 would recommend. Naturally, some of the good poetry feels made their way onto my Instagram:
A downside
Speaking of Instagram, I’m having a bit of a platform-crisis. Instagram insists on reminding me that it’s owned by Facebook, which makes me not want to open the app at all. This is a problem because Instagram is where I do one part of my most successful project yet: The Year of Making.
Some quick context: I started this project in November 2016. And it has lived! The “rules” are simple. I make something, anything every day. On most days, I draw. On others, I’ll work with clay, do origami, or make prints. To add a bit of accountability, I decided I would post whatever I made on Instagram. Doesn’t have to be perfect, or good even. Just needs to get made. So far, so good.
A lot has come out of these years of making. My skills have grown, comics happened, zines happened, styles changed, and I discovered just how much fun it all is. I also connected with a whole bunch of people over this work, receiving more love and support than I had ever imagined. Over time, Instagram became the centre of alllll of this. And now, it has more influence on my making than I like. Boo. Sometimes I catch myself altering the composition of a sketch because it’ll work better for Instagram that way. Gasp. On other days, I’ll pick a style I know works better on the app. And it’s really easy to get carried away by likes and shares.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Putting your work out and growing and adapting are good things, for the most part. It feels more like… a space I’d made for myself is slowly being expanded to include interests that are not my own. Like a great hamstring stretch held for a minute too long. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but it feels like the platform dictates, in many ways, how I make or present what I make, and to whom. I wish I’d taken time to write more coherently about this, but at this point, I only know what this whole platform-crisis feels like - it feels like biting into an elaichi mid-biryani.
Plus, I’m tired of scrolling.
Have you noticed this in your relationships with apps/websites? Where the platform has changed how you consume, react to, or share content? Or where you start referring to your life and its work as “content”? blech.
Anyway, the good news is that the #YearOfMaking project has gifted me with a making habit. So Instagram or not, I continue to make stuff offline. (and it’s as much fun, if not more).
The bad news is I’m going to maybe have to hunt for a new platform? Perfect platforms don’t exist, so this is not going to be fun. Or maybe these feelings will pass. Who knows.
Until then,
A dramatic swerve, I know. But I second Mary Oliver! The world is burning and some of us have platform-crises, so why not go ahead and lean into your pockets of joy, I say.
Wishing you all the joy,
Malathi