In a time filled with so much uncertainty, restrictions, and increasing amounts of rain, I have been reminded of a zine from years past. It was very small production, and the creator’s website is now gone, but the sentiment is snug in my memories. It was about promoting methods of self care. It included examples of what works for others and sought to encourage all of us to listen to ourselves and to take care of ourselves.
I wanted to bring this back into my practice. Taking care is often easier said than done. So I reached out to the class, got a few responses, but will continue adding to this document.
One method I remember so clearly that I saw on the original zine was to drink a glass of ice water.
To this day, if I feel myself getting stressed, worked up, or tired, I’ll fix myself a tall glass of ice cubes and water, and feel the worries wash away for a while. It’s possibly not the best long term solution, and I’m not suggesting that it’s one size fits all, but it works — try it.
I wanted to make this fast, I didn’t want to overthink it. Though I did end up spending more time than I anticipated scanning sketches and notes to include on my page. I started converting images of my handwriting and sketches into vector form. Digitizing my work is new to me, but I look forward to doing more of it. The computer registers what it sees, and interprets it uniquely. It doesn’t quite look the same, but it brings smooth edges and empty spaces where they weren’t before. It took ink from my pen and morphed it into pixels. I’m just used to doing things the other way around.
I do consider this a living document, please send me more if you feel so inclined and I will update the document.
cclay@ecuad.ca
And thank you to all contributors and collaborators 🙂