Dear Together Friends, Fans, and Family,
I descend from a long line of artists. A far back relative was a poet of distinction in Germany, all of my Heyck aunts are painters and musicians (in fact, check out my godmother’s feature in the Times), my sister – The Together Farmer – is a talented violin and fiddle player and can weave baskets from ACTUAL TREES, my mother ran a pottery studio out of our gas station home in central Maine when I was a kid (another fun fact, on the days the kiln was being fired, we had to limit our electricity use in the rest of the house). And somehow NONE OF THE ARTISTIC INCLINATIONS HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN TO ME. In fact, I was the all-time lowest scorer in our new fave family game, Six-Second Scribbles, on Saturday night. Dr. Together said, “Why did you draw three dogs?” and I was like, ONE OF THEM IS A HORSE, YOU FOOL.
But despite my demonstrated lack of artistic ability, I’ve been thinking a lot about creation and creative outputs during tumultuous times. In recent conversations with friends, one said, “I’m thinking about how I use the time from 6 – 9 PM differently now that I have teenagers. I always call myself a baker, so maybe I should bake again,” and another said, “I want to write more because this world we are currently in. . . “
Admittedly, when my brain needs a break, my instinct is to consume media rather than create anything. At my worst, it is the all-too-familiar doomscroll of headlines and social media. At medium times, my beloved fashion, cooking and reading blogs, a whole set of Substacks, fast twisty thrillers, and New England crime dramas. My high-brow consumption is cookbooks (I can literally sit and look at them for hours), good television, useful podcasts, and immersive novels.
But, I have personally hit a consumption overload, and my brain is yearning to create a bit more. Maybe this started on a recent date night with Dr. Together, which I’m not saying was a contest, but my painting wins, right?!
But the thing is, at least for me, creating is HARD, and I have a mental block about needing large chunks of time to create things. But it turns out that is lies, my friends.
Creation takes all forms, and I realize I was being a bit tough on myself. I create two newsletters a month that take a ton of time (my own and my team’s), I plan and cook dinner for a family of six multiple nights a week, and I create a lot of carpool spreadsheets (that one counts, right?). In my desire to create more, and consume less, I wanted to think about how we can all create a little more right now – especially to build caring communities.
For me, this creation looks like:
- A homemade soup delivery (kale, sausage, and white bean) to some friends who are federal workers, and are under extreme amounts of stress here in the DC area
- Purchasing some paint by number kits (for me) and blank canvases (for our tweens) for a Saturday night spent painting together
- Cards and stickers to send notes, birthday cards, and other bits of encouragement via the US Postal Service
- Creation and launch of our third Together Community Pop-Up: Together Your Summer! Registration is live, no-cost, and please join us!
I’m also inspired by Garrett’s run of resistance stickers, by my friend Heather’s strong statement, by countless others who have been creators and / or are turning to creation to either make sense of the world, advocate for others, or steady themselves. Tell me, what are you creating?
#clogsandclipboards #togetherforever
MHM
PS I’m also reading this for book club, watching this on Hulu, and baking this for our upcoming St. Paddy’s blowout.
PPS Steve Carell has offered to pay for prom tickets for students affected by the California wildfires. It definitely makes up for the Scott’s Tots episode of The Office.
- Is there such a thing as too many parties? I think not! Creating fun for others counts as creation, yes? Maybe the cure for our current isolation is to throw more parties? I mean, our annual St. Paddy’s day party aims to cram dozens of people in our home, and it is a blast. Thanks for sending this, MaryKate!
- Make plans ahead of time to ensure you’re carving out space for what matters. Yup, we are in! Sometimes we have to find ways to cultivate hope, no matter what season we’re in. Building a community often takes some advance planning – oh, and summer concerts are coming up! Paul Simon lawn seats are secured for June!
- Risky Recess? Is your school in or out?As someone whose entire childhood in the woods of Maine likely qualifies as a risky recess (seriously, ask me about the lake of man-eating watermelons behind my best friend’s geodome), I’m a personal fan of fewer playground rules. But, I’m curious, is anyone’s school adjusting their procedures on recess nowaways?
