I hope your summer is treating you well so far. Over here in Portugal, I’m getting a crash course in air circulation maximization via natural wind flow plus multiple fans pointed in different directions. It is hot in the middle of this country!
I’m taking a break this week. I’m not going anywhere besides the depths of my imagination (and perhaps a day or two of camping on the coast) and to prepare for the creative reset, I’ve ordered the latest issues of Apartamento, Kinfolk, The European Review of Books, Backstage Talks, Nomad, Milk Deco, Frieze, and Portico. There’s a great indie magazine store in Lisbon called Under the Cover, if you’re in Portugal I highly recommend—they’ll ship anywhere in the country! If you’re outside of Portugal, I recommend MagCulture. They have a monthly subscription that sends one magazine of their choice each month to your mailbox. Dale Zine, in Miami, is another great spot.
If you’re also taking some time off in the coming weeks and want to tap into creativity, here are some recommendations:
Write a song
Sit down, pick a topic (the endless weeks of rain? oppressive heat?) and try to turn it into a metaphor or analogy for a major life event (heartbreak, new relationship, child being born). Or think of a random person you observed in the last few days and write a song that tells the story of the life you envision they’ve lived.
Dive into a new philosophy or belief system
Regardless of how cemented your existing belief system is, study a new one. Maybe it’s ayurveda, maybe Buddhism, maybe stoicism. Read a book, listen to a podcast, watch a documentary, whatever—just try to absorb as much as you can about these beliefs, how they came into existence, and how they’re practiced today. The point isn’t to find a new way of living, just to gain some perspective that might bring unpredictable benefits.
Learn to paint an eye really well
I’m terrible at drawing or painting things that are intended to look like real people/places/objects, but I always seem to go through painting phases. A good friend who happens to be a talented painter spent a few hours with me teaching me how to draw and paint an eye. She used it as an example of how what you’re painting isn’t actually a “thing”, it’s all just a combination of light and shadow that bring dimension and shape. This exercise changed the way I look at paintings and faces, removing judgment and welcoming curiosity.
Create your own magic garden
Spending time in nature is one of the best ways to reinvigorate creativity, as it is a massive, teeming ecosystem that’s beautiful and endlessly fascinating. If you live in a rural area, spend more time than usual in your backyard. Study a small subsection of land. Which trees are there? Plants? Animals? Why? Does one of the plants help sustain the life of an animal? Why did that particular tree grow where it did? Dream about your own magic garden—what do you plant and why? How does everything work together? Write about it, paint it, compose a song for it.
And of course, I can’t talk about a vacation and creativity without talking about the books I’m reading…currently finishing Biography of X, eager to dive into Time Shelter and The Wager.
See you next week!
wowwww MagCulture looks INCREDIBLE