My washing machine stopped working this morning. Mid-cycle, full of stuff, just—kaput. I was trying to check off a bunch of boxes before starting my workday, to maximize the time I had in the early morning before people started asking me for things. But then, staring at the machine that had just become a hunk of junk, mentally spiraling, feeling the edges of stress punch into my temples, I realized two things:
1. I have become my mother, and
2. It’s not really about the washing machine.
It’s strange to be writing when the world outside my window feels so chaotic—as due process is thrown out the window by people with unchecked power, as fascism threatens to become the new normal, as protesters are shot and maced and beaten for exercising their rights. I’ve spoken with a lot of creatives who feel like they’re perpetually in a low-grade sense of fight-or-flight, trying to Be a Person and buy groceries and pay bills, and all the while, we’re all just one minor inconvenience away from a major breakdown.
And then, in the middle of this: New Year, New You. Fresh start. Ignore the news. Focus on your goals.
Ugh.
I was so curious about what pieces we’d receive for this challenge. Would people even want to write about work and resolutions and productivity? Would people even want to write? But every time I opened my reading queue, I was reminded of why we’re here at Glossy Planet—to promote writing that leans into the headlines, not away from them. And, accordingly, the pieces we received were full of rage and grief, irony and ennui, humor and pain, all grounded in explorations of the Cult of Productivity.
Here are some of the themes from the pieces we read:
- The juxtaposition of cancer and beauty
- Apps and technology optimizing our time and health at the expense of our identities
- Rest as its own form of resistance and productivity
“There were a few pieces that challenged the cult-like hold trendy health advice can have on people. Social media is flooded with life hacks, proselytized by underqualified, self-touted experts promising enviable results. One writer describes applying castor oil to her navel at the advice of friends. This trendy, anecdotally effective health remedy is found all over the internet as part of a well rounded self-care practice, but the writer considers this practice as the possible solution to all her problems. Hyperbole aside, it highlights the weight we put on alternative practices when their popularity outweighs their efficacy.” – Ashley Huyge
“Given this month’s theme, I expected a lot of submissions that mirrored how most of us live and work in the modern world—frantically and anxiously. Instead, I found a more quiet and tender thread woven through many pieces, writing that focused on simple pleasure and rest as forms of resistance in our frenetic environment. It was a pleasant surprise to have my expectations subverted, and I’m so looking forward to reading everyone’s radical and thoughtful work again next month.” – Hayley Clin
Being creative right now is a radical move. We’re constantly facing a barrage of conflicting messages that tell us to keep our heads down, ignore our eyes and ears, be better, be quiet, accept everything—but writing what we truly feel? That’s essential. I’m so excited to publish our winners at the end of February, and I’m even more excited to see what you write next month. As a preview: it’s our most intense topic yet. It’s about systems and what happens when those systems break.
Even when it feels like the world is ending and the washing machine breaks and every day is just another game of “which headline will break me today”—your voice matters. Keep writing, keep reading, and keep going.
Rebecca Paredes
Editor, Glossy Planet
