Navigating the social world can feel like being a stranger in a strange land.
Written while listening to “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, “we fell in love in October” by Girl in Red, and “Crush Culture” by Conan Gray.
Aka: I got very creative during the Polar Vortex, here’s a silent comic!
Written while listening to: Anything “Real Estate” (go listen to them!), Bombay Bicycle Club, & The Decemberists.
Aka: Sorry for being sorry!
Written while listening to: “Alison” by Swimming Tapes, “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridgers, and “Fool” by Frankie Cosmos.
Aka it’s ok to be your own companion.
Written while listening to: “Fade Out” by James Bay and “Ghost” and “Haunting” by Halsey…but “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day was stuck in my head the whole time tbh.
Aka: Sometimes, you just need to breathe (y’know, aside from the survival part).
Written while listening to “7 Years” by Lukas Graham and “Giver” by K.Flay. Drawn while listening to my fam watching sports.
A.k.a what happens when you let yourself let go a little
Aka talking anxiety, taking care of yourself, and whether or not Rob Lowe is real.
Written while listening to (or just obsessing over): “Make You Better” by the Decemberists.
Aka it’s not narcissistic if it’s self-deprecating!
Written while listening to: The new season of Twin Peaks in the background ‘til that scared me enough to switch to Blink 182.
Everyone handles embarrassing moments in different ways. Some people laugh it off. Some people need some quiet cubicle time. Others existential crisis about it years later while lying under the covers and the crushing weight of hindsight.
Personally? I deal with it by making up biography titles!
I’m not sure when I started doing this (that could be a biography title), but it’s become habit. If I trip up the stairs? …
Why we should try to embrace the process, no matter how frustrating
There’s a great episode of RadioLab where they set out to discover the secret of what goes on in a caterpillar’s cocoon while it’s transforming into a butterfly. Most of us assume that inside this chrysalis, there’s some half caterpillar, half butterfly hybrid mid-transformation, kind of like a tadpole turning into a frog.
But no. When they crack open the chrysalis? It just looks like sludge.
You’re probably reading this thinking 1: ew, and 2: what does this have anything to do with the creative process? I think more often than not, we view our own artistic process the same…
A.k.a Sometimes it’s not a person we’re holding onto — it’s “the story”
Written while listening to: “Run!” — M&O and “Hummed Low” — Odessa (Not “Let it Go” from Frozen, you destroyer of worlds.)
I never really liked Catcher in the Rye. True, I read it when I was still at an age when I thought “getting a boner” meant there was an actual bone that made the magic happen for guys. But high school sex-Ed failing me aside, the point still stands — not a fan. And yet, there’s one line in it that resonated with me deeper than any other quote from required high school reading ever had:
“Don’t ever…
Hi.Yes.Hello.
Carlyn Hill | Artist with astigmatism, extroverted introvert. | Social media at Shedd Aquarium |Slackjaw contributor | https://www.carlynhill.com/
