It’s been a few weeks since the 2016 election. Our world, and social media feeds, are still upended. Many of us have had our creative momentum derailed by Real Life. New volunteering, more arguing, analyzing, checking the news every day with a stone in your gut. While it is vitally important we do not accept much of the current political atmosphere as “the new normal”, it IS important to balance that with daily functionality. We cannot live in crisis mode indefinitely. For creative people, regaining functionality includes getting back to the creative work.

Part of this is practicality. Part of it is self-care; the best artists and authors I know would quite literally lose their sanity without creative work, no hyperbole. And part of it is because WE NEED YOU. Yes, you, the guy who draws hot anime women. You, the girl writing porn about centaurs in space. You, who knit and make pottery and do crafts with your kids and write rap musicals about history. You are all creative gains for the world. You create tiny pieces of reality. We need you to WORK, to share yourself with us, to help inform us of who we are. We need ALL OF YOU, even if you don’t feel like you matter.

The resistance to bigotry, suppression and tyranny is not all politics, money and legislation. It is also art, the big pieces and the tiny pieces. So get back to work. The resistance needs you.

(You might try starting something different than what you were doing before The Election if you aren’t ready to dive back into your novel or your symphony or whatever. A blog post or a lullaby are perfectly acceptable projects to prime your creative energies back to capacity.)