Relate/Create
welcome to my new-unfolding-something of a project!
Introducing a little change around here: “everything is a newsletter” is evolving into: Relate/Create, and I am so excited to tell you about it!
It’s not just for the nice way the two words sound together: Relate. Create.
It’s for the realization that these are THE two things that most frequently echo in my mindbody.
They are present with me when I make decisions, when I engage with art, when I’m in a room with someone, when I interface with the world. Relationality and Creativity are my Big Two™. They are also, from where I stand, two things the world needs more of; two things that quite dramatically challenge the status quo of capitalism; two vantage points from which we can make meaningful shifts. What’s more - the two are not distinct, not even a little.
My Substack has historically been a collection of whatever pours out of me, which I then only post if I feel brave enough to share (I have 20+ unpublished drafts…). This process has made things quite sporadic. In contrast, my vision for this Relate/Create scaffolding feels like a welcome writing playspace - it feels like a claiming of expertise which, though I cringe a bit to say it, I do have. Relational theories and the arts are the bedrock of my work - I have not only studied it in depth at a theory level - but I practice relational caring in my creative work with older adults living with dementia. Relationality & creativity are praxis in my life.
Parallel to my more specific work with people living with dementia, the urgent need to examine our relations, our style(s) of relating, and even our understanding of what it means to relate, has accelerated amidst a global rise in violent bullshit *cough* authoritarianism. I learned that authoritarianism is, in part, described by ‘Oxford Languages’ as “lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others.” This definition surprised me, as I always thought of authoritarianism purely within the scope of a political/governmental definition. And yet even in definition, it includes a specific way we do (or do not) care and relate with one another. (And isn’t it true anyway that the political/governmental is also all about the ways in which we do, or do not, care and relate with one another?)
The need to cultivate radical imagination and critical/divergent thinking through creativity has also become clearer and clearer to many of us. It is through imagination and creativity that we can push against the capitalist realism we’re drenched in, and see that an alternative is possible. It is through pushing the boundaries of our imaginations (and fostering it in others) that we can tap into collective dreaming & hope & action, instead of collective… Complacency? Despondency? Apathy? However you want to describe the inaction/delusion of the masses. Imagination and creativity are a human superpower that too many of us have forgotten about. I often return to this amazing quote from Grace Lee Boggs which I find grounding and motivating:
“A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of humankind.”
- Grace Lee Boggs
All that said, it is so easy to get lost in the: What can I do right now? What can I contribute to help the hurting of this world? Who am I to contribute anything? Who am I if I don’t contribute? I spiral in these questions often. Relate/Create is part of my response to that inner questioning.
In my head, relating and creating are two welcoming energies holding hands, ready for us to hop in to the juicy, expansive, affirming, delicious milieu they make space for. They want us, desperately, to be with them. So let’s accept their invitation, and in turn, invite them in to our lives more intentionally, with more awareness, more curiosity, more care.
To put it more simply:
I want to write about relating and the myriad ways we perceive relating. I want to write about moments of relating that we might otherwise, too-often overlook.
I want to write about the exceptional and beautiful moments of relating I have the privilege of experiencing in my work with people living with dementia.
I want to write about art and creativity.
I want to write about how each of us might access our creativity more.
I want to write about how relationality and creativity can and ARE shaping our world, and how beautiful that can be.
I want to write about how others are thinking about and acting upon these things.
I want to write about the intersections of it all.
I hope you’ll stick around for this Relate/Create journey! I hope to weave story telling, beautiful moments, poetry, art, and a sprinkling of theory together into some meaningful shares here.
Thank you thank you for giving me your time & brainspace today.
xx katia
ps. I will also be posting relate/create snippets and quotes and images on a fresh Instagram page for it - give it a follow HERE if you’re on there!
Here’s for this!
This is such good news! Excited to follow along 🎨🖌️👵🏼💖🌎👩🏼🤝👩🏻🪢