If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Barbara Ellen McMahon, author of the novella, Mrs. Rochester. It’s a sequel to Jane Eyre. This time, it’s Jane who’s locked in the attic and there’s a new governess. It’s available on Kobo, where it’s been getting rave reviews. If you enjoy my writing here, chances are you’ll love Mrs. Rochester.
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When I was going through my cancer treatment, friends would send me messages: No need to respond if you don’t feel up to it, I just wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you. And it was so lovely to get these messages of love and care and not feel any pressure.
Thank you to those of you who did respond to last week’s post. I really appreciate your thoughts and kind words. What I’m hearing is that we have a community here. We’re all just shy and exhausted. I totally get that. Life has been a lot for the last…. six years. Often, I read someone’s post and move on. It’s all I have in me to do, so I’m not surprised that many of you do the same.
Now that I know you’re there, I’ll keep writing, sending my messages out into the world. No need to respond if you don’t feel up to it. I just want to let you know I’m thinking of you.
Amie McNee says “We need your art,” which I’m behind 100%. I also believe (and she has said), “You need your art.” You need to art, whatever form that might take. Just do it. Just art. Start with a few minutes a day and after a while, it gets into your system and you find yourself turning to it in all the quiet moments of your day. It can easily replace your screen time, until you realize it’s been days since you checked in on your socials.
And then you find yourself getting a little evangelical about it and you start giving junk journals to every one you know, and sketch books for shitty little drawings. You encourage everyone to try it, to try something and see how it makes them feel. And you applaud every attempt you come across, because that person is arting and you know how hard that is and you also know that the world needs all the art we can give it.
Is it really a coincidence that fascism is rising in the age of generative AI? I don’t think so. What anti-art forces were at work the last time fascism took off? It was during the Great Depression, when people were scrambling just to put food on the table. Not many people had the time or the strength for art. And along comes fascism to further squash it, just when it was needed most.
There have always been voices in the wilderness. Some people will art no matter what their circumstances. I’m hoping I’ll still be making collages and writing essays on my death bed, that I’ll die with a pen in my hand, covered in little bits of paper. But most of us need a safer environment — a bit of time and space and safety to be able to get down to arting. Fascism takes all of that away, as does capitalism, and this makes art, any art, a radical act of resistance. Can’t get to the protests? Make some art. Show it to people. Share it generously. Embody the warm, welcoming stance the capital-fascists are trying to do away with. Let that spread and spread. We need to push back against fascism, scary though that can be, but capitalism can come crashing down if we simply refuse to participate. If we stop shopping for every solution, start making things instead, capitalism falters. It needs every single one of us participating every single day.
Fascism, sadly, only requires us to look away. It works by making us so afraid we think we can’t stand up to it. But we can. And one way or another, we really have to. And for people like me, creativity, arting is the way forward.
However.
I was having a conversation with some friends and waxing enthusiastic about journaling and its benefits and creativity in general and one of the women sighed deeply and said, “ I don’t want to be creative!!!” Which stopped me cold, because, what? But digging a little deeper, she already has so much on her plate. She’s a mother of two with a full-time job, a partner and a house. Add in her very active volunteer life and I can see why she doesn’t want to add another thing. She enjoys cooking, which totally counts as a creative pursuit and she reads prodigiously, which, as far as I’m concerned, also counts. She’s got the creativity thing well-covered.
I can see I need to temper my evangelical zeal where creativity is concerned. Yes, I totally believe in it. Yes, I believe it can help you. But I forget sometimes that not everyone lives like I do. My days are my own, to do with as I please, while factoring in the pain and exhaustion that come with autoimmune disease. Most people are far busier than me. And me telling them about the joys of journaling starts to sound a lot like the people who ask if I’ve tried yoga. Not helpful. Not kind.
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Don’t forget, my book, Mrs. Rochester, is available on Kobo. Your purchase helps to support an independent author.
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