Hi, it’s July (WHAT?). (Now July 9th as I finish this newsletter I’ve been struggling to write)
How did June pass so quickly?
Today feels like a very anxious day in the middle of an anxious time. I don’t want to try to convince anyone that there aren’t real threats causing these anxieties. I feel more and more that it is a privilege to find yourself un-anxious. And yet…
I’m holding onto this idea that art can save me. It can save us. When I say “save” I think I mean it can make our temporal existence a little more bearable, and even move the needle of our collective experience as humans towards goodness. It can make us want to be alive even in the bleakest situations. It has absolutely done that for me.
Lately it has felt like everyone is clenched in fear and anger…myself included. There are so many broken things. And the things getting worse are weighing heavily on our collective psyche. I’m worried about being able to keep my health insurance, worried about my neighbors getting deported without due process, worried about the planet as it clearly shows us what it needs and we do the opposite. Worried about hate and fear spreading rapidly.
Maybe art could be how we imagine what’s next. Art is how we create the world we want. Art is how we can keep our muscles of imagination and hope strong. Working artists have a practice of imagination, it’s impossible to create without it. But I think this potential resides in us all, it just needs to be fostered. Fear shuts down our imagination, creativity opens it.
In mental health work there’s this idea of a “container” for your experience and feelings. How can you create a space where you can care for yourself and give room for all of who you are that is ebbing and flowing? Sometimes I think about art and creativity as the container for the collective “us”. It’s the space I need to process the highs and lows, the confusion, the pain.
So, today, in between staying informed, I hope you are running fast into your favorite pictures, films, poems and songs right now. I hope you are taking photos of pretty things you see. Even if those photos just take up space in the cloud, the sheer act of capturing beauty might just add to our collective stockpiling of goodness and light in the midst of the dark. I hope you go to an art opening. I hope you come to my show Friday. ;) I hope you find a rudder in art.
My album comes out Friday (technically Thursday at 9pm.) I’m really proud of it and hope you find a moment to give it a listen. It is absolutely, one hundred percent, a result of me finding solace and hope through creating while my life fell apart.
Friday we celebrate the album with a big show at my friend Justin’s video studio downtown. I have a 7 piece band put together and lots of special things in order. I hope you can join us. Below is a link to tickets with more info and all the other events coming up this month!
Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting those of us who have chosen a life path of creativity not just as a calling but as a livelihood. It’s an honor to make things and have those things be witnessed and enjoyed.
Sending you my love,
Karli
Ps. I saw a monarch butterfly in my garden for the first time. If that isn’t good news I don’t know what is.
Events
July 20 - my first Seattle show since before the pandemic! @ Sunset Tavern
