💧 lean into weepiness

My Winter Solstice Bandana! Only five left in the shop at the moment I'm typing this, so if you want one before the holidays snag it here.

Hi friends,

What a nutty week.

I thought people would like my bandana project, but I didn't think I'd sell out of my first run in one day.

This contributed to me being thoroughly, happily, messily in my feels this week.

I'm feeling weepy and excited to keep making things. Thank you for your support!

I lean into weepiness, so this week I'm sharing three things that made me cry:

 

1. 30/90 I watched Tick Tick... Boom and bawled my eyes out.

This led to a deep dive into Jonathan Larson's life and a rewatch of Rent the movie, the soundtrack for which I listened to obsessively in 2005, just after I got my license. I screamed the songs as I drove aimlessly (ugh) around the sleepy streets of my Boston suburb in my Nana's '92 Corolla,  yearning for a more interesting, colorful, bohemian life.

Learning how singularly focused Jonathan Larson was on having his art seen and experienced by people, knowing he was never able to witness the genre-defining impact of his work, and knowing that his work found its way from the peeling walls of his NYC apartment all the way to 16 year old me... man. The tears flowed.

Also, I love a movie musical and I don't care who knows it.


2. First, I Cried. Then, I Rode My Bike. The title says it all. Thanks to Andy for sharing this!


3. In my Futurist Feels. In the summer of 2020 my friend Trish created and directed Retro Spec, a "pandemic-era experiment by musicians, theater artists, dancers, visual artists, and filmmaker... with an emphasis on community building, public safety, and the power of allyship during times of crisis."

I missed the in-person performance, a "socially-distanced spectacle projected on the side of a waterfront warehouse," but watching the recording of the event still reoriented me in the best way. What is the future I want to see? How am I showing up to get us there?

This is hands down the most compelling example I've witnessed of artists using the insane constraints of these times to inform the form and content of their work. I'm writing this at 4pm on a Friday–if you don't have plans tonight, mixing yourself a cocktail and watching this feels like a good move.
 

Red Clover Comic Tote Bag available here.

Thanks for reading!

Stay tender, y'all.

(Christine Tyler Hill is the human behind Tender Warrior Co.)