#social activities are hard

[frizzyanya]

Me to my friend: I hope we can do the thing together, that would be so fun

Me internally: PLEASE COME OR I'LL DIE THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS TO ME WHY AREN'T YOU FERAL OVER THIS IT MIGHT KILL ME

[rusticfurnace]

GHOSTSOAP // "you sweet fucker" MINICOMIC!!!

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[thepeacefulgarden]

Stay informed, but resist the urge to doomscroll, or to stay glued to the news all day/night long. Get your news from actual news sources, not social media. (This is an important strategy to prevent misinformation and disinformation.) It's okay to take a step back from the news, turn off the push notifications, etc. It doesn't mean you don't care, or that you're callous/selfish/a bad person/etc. Your brain was simply not meant to handle everything, everywhere, all at once. (And that's true no matter how privileged you are or aren't.) It's okay to use Tumblr for fun, or for other non-activism-related things. (Same with any other social media site you use.) It's okay to not devote every waking minute to activism. In fact, it's good to take a break every now and then, for the sake of your mental and emotional well-being. And with that...

Please, please, please take care of yourself. Make sure you're eating and drinking water, getting rest and sleep, showering, taking your meds, checking in with your support system, etc. etc. etc. The causes you're fighting for need the best of you, not the rest of you...and more importantly, you need the best of you. You are your most important ally. Rest and self-care are not rewards for success, and they are not selfish, or frivolous indulgences. They are absolute necessities, and they are part of the work. Think of them as an act of defiance against the people, the forces, and the systems that want you to disappear, or to burn out and give up.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 EVEN MORE DAY 4 SNEAK PEEKS! 💖

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Thank you. I'm sorry.

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[devilatelier]

happy holidays mi gente, i love you, i hope that you guys have been holding up okay

i am aliveeee, but surviving, i'm doing my very best to hold on w everything i got but man it got grim for a while

[axl-awesome]

sniffles….dose anybody know if there’s any like pmtok discords out there or just somewhere to hang out even if it doesn’t last a very long time…i just wanna talk to ppl again and yap abt headcanons or smth…im so loanly i feel like i havent properly hung out with anyone in months i need social interaction so badly my heart hurts!!

[honourablepranksinatra]

Maple Leafs discourse on their team social medias makes me lose brain cells because wdym they're first in their division and coming off a 5 game win streak & people are commenting that the top players are only in it for the money and have no drive, that particular players are useless and need to be traded asap, that they're a garbage team, that they'll never make it past the first round just because they lost one game.

Apparently because they are being payed handsomely the players must be mindless automatons who perform perfectly every night. It drives me absolutely nuts how quickly alleged fans will completely turn on their own team.

[flamboyant-king]

I like Tumblr, it feels more like a community on here than the other sites. I love y'all.

[zibvoid]

his dumb jacket

[hibiscera]

Okay, making a proper posy for it, I made a bluesky and have been very active there as i've been posting old art and such. I really like it there so far!

I'm @ hibiscera as always!! :D

[cosmic-ships]

Today is a great day for me to get some love from my f/o.

[kameyyy]

"a masterpiece" I WILL KISS YOU ON THE MOUTH RIGHT NOW

[sword93]

This was the final push to make me actually look into and consider Anarchism as a legitimate ideology to adopt, that it might be what is actually needed in the world.

The reading I’ve done on it so far really aligns with my values. Autonomy, Consent, actual freedom, responsibility, mutual aid, ect.

I’ve always thought some form of democratic state is necessary but now I’m not so sure. It clearly doesn’t work, after all.

[cinnamoncianna]

This is what making plans w someone older and more normal looks like btw