It’s nice to share

This collection of links I’ve curated is deeply fascinating and dense. You should probably save them for a moment when you’re most lucid and cradling a cup of tea. I’m glad I started posting links to share on this blog, because up until now I didn’t really appreciate the incredible variety of discussions I observe and participate in!

Making a living as an artist
Marcus Westbury writes about how artists are representing and marketing themselves online, and it’s something I’ve noticed Hazel Dooney talking about as well. Often I feel self conscious and a little embarrassed about promoting myself so much but then I realise it’s what I must do as an artist these days! I can’t lounge around until I’m discovered, I’ve got to be proactive.

What it feels like to hate feeling famous
I adore Sia, and I think it’s so awful that people feel like they can intrude on her life in such a persistent and damaging way. While I get that it’s thrilling to meet someone whose work you’re really into, when’s the point where you leave that person alone to enjoy a quiet moment? They could be having a coffee catchup with a friend, or a special night with someone they really like! Lots of people claim that celebrities are to blame for being hounded to hell, but I think that’s a pile of crap most of the time. If you really admire someone’s talent, don’t pester them. (Can you tell I’m a RAGING introvert yet?)

Body Image is a Furphy
Last week was Body Image Fail week, and I’m not sure if a lot of international size activists caught the story, but it centred around blogger and spokesperson for body image in Australia, Mia Freedman, and language she used in a blog post that mocked and humiliated fat people (since edited, re-edited and then edited to death to remove most of the negative tone). Jackie rightly points out that in discussions about body image in Australia, and by the highest authority, healthy body image is denied to fat people. And that’s, pardon me, fucked up.

What If Black Women Were White Women?
This article is nearly a year old but it’s new to me, and hugely MASSIVELY powerful. Alienati0n challenges the power skew that favours white women, and flips the power balance so that black women are favoured and protected. This article blew my mind and unpacked a lot of the privilege that I as a white woman have, even after reading Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack a few times!

And Another Thing… The Black Dog
Much much love for Jordan, who discusses mental health issues (and being an artist!) on this post. I really think we all suffer for not talking about mental health more. This quote from panicattacks.com.au really speaks to me:

As children many people learnt from a very early age that they needed to become, ‘a good nice person’. To become the ‘good nice person’ they needed to stop the development of who they could be, and became who they thought they should be.

The end result of this is low self esteem, fear of being abandoned/rejected, that people won’t love or like us, and feelings of intense loneliness and helplessness. Being who we think we should be, creates enormous personal stress as we try to be perfect in every area of our life, including our inability to say ‘no’ even when we want and need to. Over time ‘something’ has to give and the development of an anxiety disorder begins.

As Fat As I Wanna Be
Tasha Fierce writes so many amazing posts, you should probably subscribe to her blog already. This was republished on Jezebel, but read the piece on her blog because the comments on Jez will make you want to facedesk enthusiastically. If people REALLY cared about a fat person’s health they would quit haranguing them about their weight.