Howdy, icons!
I don’t know about y’all, but my nervous system has been activated in a very 21st century kind of way since Saturday, June 7th. That was the day after I turned 31, and the day after demonstrations kicked off against violent ICE raids in LA. Those protests were met with horrific militarized violence, and since then, an almost nonstop cascade of politically shifting/shattering events unfolded. The accelerated pace of which has been an absolute mind-fuck, but one my body remembers from similarly charged seasons. And to be honest, I’ve found it challenging to remove myself from a dance I’d like to forget the choreography to. It goes a little something like this (hit it!):
There’s A Lot Going On so I’m buzzing with over-caffeination in order to compensate for lack of sleep. My sleep is messed up because when I think about the state of the world, I end up grabbing my phone more than usual and spend an alarming amount of time on it. My phone usage is characterized by alternating states of hyper-vigilance (i.e. feeling “on edge” and needing to post or share something with urgency) and dissociation (i.e. I doom-scroll into oblivion). Then comes more guilt and rage and grief. Rinse and repeat.
This is how I always find myself when there’s heightened visibility around state-enacted violence and fights against oppression. I know I want to be and feel “in it”, like I’m a part of something bigger than myself and doing something. But through my own doing, I end up feeling so out of whack, or what we in the mental health biz like to call “dysregulated.” I start to neglect what actually helps me on a self-care level and what propels me forward on a community-care level—my writing, movement practices, and relational connection all begin to suffer.
So, life has really been life-ing lately, which is why Iconic Behavior is arriving later than planned. Luckily, in between editing the umpteenth draft of what would become today’s post, I saw this sticker in my neighborhood:
“Slow is the new fast” is a lesson I’m always coming back to. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a hard time slowing down and not feeling rushed. Late-stage capitalism only heightens this neurosis/potentially undiagnosed ADHD. And because the personal is political (duh!), I’ve been thinking about how slowness and political urgency can co-exist. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how I can be “in it” and face the fights ahead without completely losing myself to brain rot and a fried nervous system.
It would be really cool if a Jenny Holzer-style installation could live somewhere in my line of vision throughout the day. Ideally it would say something like “HOW WE SPEND OUR DAYS IS OUR WE SPEND OUR LIVES,”1 or in other words, “TOUCH SOME FUCKING GRASS.”
But in the absence of such technological commitment, what helps is getting back to basics and trying to find slowness anywhere I can. Sometimes this looks like dropping everything I’m doing to just lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling in silence when I get overwhelmed. Other times, it’s resisting the urge to immediately respond on a mildly-infuriating work email thread. And, when it comes to churning out my own writing, I’m giving myself permission to take my time.
Another angle to slowness I’m relishing in these days is revisiting media from the past I either never consumed nor finished. With the exception of hate-watching And Just Like That, I’m temporarily tapped out from current TV and am experiencing both Breaking Bad and Girls2 for the first time. The rest of my media diet is satiated by getting through books that have been collecting dust on my shelves for years. My current read is INCITE!’s The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex. While all very different from one another, each carries a distinct and timeless poignancy. I enjoy pushing back against my consumerism and ever-shortening attention span by returning to art and words that have had time to breathe.
It might sound trivial, but I think rooting oneself in these kinds of practices is politically necessary—especially as the Forces That Be (AI’s ascent, deepening economic insecurity, rising fascism, etc.) need us devoid of critical thought and emotional regulation in order to proliferate.
Anyway, I’m curious to know how slowness is showing up for you right now. Please do drop me a line with your thoughts, feelings, comments, concerns, ideas…
This all brings me to July’s QTNA (Questions That Need Answers):
There are some artists I love and respect deeply, but who have come to define Slow Is The New Fast in their own way. They take their sweet time in between projects or are on an indefinite hiatus from music. I’ve been wondering lately, is Frank Ocean cooking anything new for us? Perhaps redemption from his 2023 Coachella set is in the cards. One can only hope!
The other day, I was admittedly screen-snooping at a coffee shop and witnessed someone typing a query into ChatGPT to draft a “polite email” of sorts. Are we officially cooked as a society if we need to ask a machine how to have a conversation or handle conflict? (Personally, I am not ready to face the answer to this…)
A while back I came across a fellow pop culture seeker on reddit positing an essential question: “What’s a song like Sports Car by Tate McRae?” I’m guessing they were searching for sonic siblings that could provide a similarly delicious heavy drum. I’ve spent months pondering this inquiry and I’m here to tell you that McRae’s 2024 bop has at least two spiritual predecessors: obviously Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls3, and, hear me out…London Bridge by Fergie.4 I will be adding my findings to this playlist as I continue this important anthropological research. Do you have any additions you’d suggest that expand upon this lineage? Lmk!
That’s all for now, but stay tuned for more ramblings soon.
:)
Cannot for the life of me track down where I originally saw this phrase, but it’s another affirmation/reminder that’s helped me from spiraling into 21st century dysregulation.
I have started and fallen off Girls at least twice, but this pass through feels like it will stick. Especially since Lena Dunham’s new show on Netflix, Too Much, is getting lots of buzz.
I thought I was original with this take at first, but it’s literally mentioned on the song’s Wikipedia page and seems to be a common Google search. Another important lesson: other people are probably thinking what you’re thinking. We’re all connected, and that’s beautiful. :)
I was delighted to see that a “reimagining” of the music video was released as promo for the aforementioned Too Much. Another reason to dive into that series ASAP! Will report back once I get through it.