Q & A with Indhira Rojas, Founder of Anxy Magazine
A bold new publication opens the door to discussing the full range of our thoughts, emotions and experiences
Written by Jessica Carew Kraft
Re-published and slightly edited from The Battery SF
Q: We’re anxious to hear more about this magazine!
A: Anxy will be a biennial, beautifully designed publication, focused on mental health. It’s intended to be vulnerable, artful and intimate. It is a very personal project for me, and everyone involved. No one gets interested in mental health issues without dealing with them themselves, so we all have a personal stake in it. The concept of the magazine came together during my last gig at Medium. I was doing a lot of my own personal work, and was having a tough time figuring out the right spaces to talk about what I was going through. I found that even with good friends, it’s hard to know when to open the door to some of your darker sides. I’m a big fan of Mark Maron, who is always working through his stuff on his podcast. Lena Dunham, too. I like the notion that through listening to other people’s stories of mental struggles, we get valuable insight to apply to our lives.
Q: Yes, it seems like the only mental health publications are shills for pharmaceuticals and offer very superficial tips for dealing with symptoms.
A: We want to have authentic and revealing conversations about our inner experience, without pathologizing. For us is about opening up, whether you are recovering from addiction, are bipolar, survived sexual abuse or assault, are suffering from severe or mild depression, or are just dealing with some anxiety.
Q: Is this like a literary version of self help?
A: It’s more like a therapy group in print. You are there, observing other people’s experiences, empathizing with them. Sometimes their journey will be completely different than yours, and it will open your mind to what other journeys look like. It’s not about “5 tips for healing fast.” Anxy is about getting us to come together and acknowledge and normalize our anxiety, depression — the tougher experiences in life. Maybe you read a really compelling story that helps you understand how you are feeling, or that same article helps you connect with a friend better because you understand more what they’re going through. The goal is to create a space where these conversations are possible.
Q: What’s your plan for the launch?
A: We launched our Kickstarter campaign Sept. 19 and are hoping to raise enough money to pay for the production and content development of the magazine. If that’s successful, we’ll dive into brainstorming the theme of the first issue (every issue will be centered around one them, like “loneliness” or “boundaries”) and will invite contributors to create content based on these themes. We won’t be constrained by having to release an issue every month. A bi-annual publication gives us time to make a really thoughtful printed magazine that will also have a digital component. May is mental health awareness month, so that’s our target publish date for the first issue.
Q: What’s going to happen at “Sharing vs. Oversharing,” your event with The Battery (and for Kickstarter backers) on Oct. 13?
A: It’s actually a fun and lighthearted event, inspired by Pop-Up Magazine and the live storytelling format. We’re talking about “Sharing vs. Oversharing.” As we navigate these mental health conversations, it’s important to explore this notion of, when am I sharing too much — or not sharing enough? When am I receiving too much info and when is it safe enough?
We have some really talented people representing different mediums and industries: Bobby Johnson (Medium), Zahra Noorbakhsh (comedian, #GoodMuslimBadMuslim), photographers Molly Matalon and Damien Maloney, filmmaker Tim Hussin (America Recycled, Last Men Standing), journalistAnna Pulley, and interdisciplinary artist & filmmaker Christy Chan (The Moth), among others. At the end we’ll do a panel discussion about crossing that oversharing line.
Join the discussion! Anxy Magazine invites you to attend the upcoming Battery event on Thursday October 13 at 7:30 pm by backing their campaign at the $100 level, check out their kickstarter campaign, and contribute to their inaugural issue.
