Experiments, coziness, people crammed in the kitchen, hobbies, hot vs. smart
Mind Museum #1
Welcome to my mind museum. This listicle (a list so sweet it might as well be a popsicle) format is something new I’m trying. I really love a listicle and I’m drawn to blogs that do them well, such as Lev Parikian’s Six Things, where Lev simply shares interesting things, and my friend Sam’s spam, where Sam shares what she’s sipping, perusing, adorned with, and making. This format is good for the writer, taking the guesswork out of figuring out what to write about, encouraging documentation, and forcing brevity, and good for the reader, because they are delightfully digestible and digestibly delightful. I think everyone should publish a weekly listicle about what’s on their mind. Here’s mine:
1. Running experiments
Lately, I’ve been feeling a little… dare I say… afraid of failing. To counter this feeling, I’ve been trying to reframe things as experiments. Rather than thinking myself out of doing something because the possibility of failing is just too scary, I can reframe the thing as an experiment, for which I am simply gathering data! This Mind Museum format, for example. Is it a good idea or a bad one? Rather than deciding it’s a bad idea and never trying, I’ll give it a go and analyze the data!
2. Coziness as resistance
Coziness is hard to pin down and easy to write off. It’s something we care about as humans, but I’m not sure how many of us would list it in our top five values, just because it seems a bit “extra” or superficial. But coziness is nothing to scoff at. My goal as a host is for people to walk into my home and immediately exclaim “so cozy!” because that would tell me that they might feel comfortable, welcome, and safe, which is the kind of atmosphere I’d like to create. I really enjoyed this “Resisting Dystopia” talk between Becky Chambers & Annalee Newitz. Specifically, this part about Cozy Sci-Fi.
“I think just indulging in the beautiful sensory would around you is something nobody should feel guilty about ever. And I think it’s especially important in the here and now when we are all exhausted and angry and not sure what’s going to happen and not sure if it’s ever going to get any better. Just having little pieces of yourself carved away at every turn, to be able to pick up be it a book, a video game, a movie whatever, that feels like a great big hug. And we are taught that this is something childish. That you’re supposed to grow out of that. And that goes back to what we were talking about of cynicism and sophistication.” - Becky Chambers
Chambers’s wonderful Monk and Robot series falls into the cozy sci-fi genre, along with things like the recently popular book/movie Project Hail Mary. If I hadn’t recently listened to this talk, I would have watched Project Hail Mary and thought it was a bit too cheesy or positive. But people, including myself, need that. We see plennnnnnnty of disturbing things in the media. Stories don’t have to be tragic or violent or dark to be smart (looking at you A24!!!!!!). It’s very, very heathy to crave a hopeful story.
3. People crammed in the kitchen
There’s nothing cozier than people crammed in the kitchen. We used to have a tiny table in our tiny kitchen. Then we replaced it with a chaise, which served three purposes and three purposes only: a place for Phil to sit and eat his breakfast, a place for jackets to rest, and a place for one person to sit and watch us cook. Yesterday, we removed the chaise and reinstated the table to encourage further kitchen cramming and festivities. Exciting, to say the least.
4. The work and not-work binary
I’ve been thinking a lot about hobbies lately. Second to what do you do for work?, I think what are your hobbies? is a terrible question. These are sister questions, both implying a binary of work and not-work. I make work out of what might otherwise be a hobby—writing, drawing, etc.
Still, I see a flaw in this thinking, which is that I spend most of my time doing things that I am comfortable with, like writing and drawing. And maybe a really good hobby is one that takes me out of my comfort zone and expands my mind and world. So, I’ve taken three new hobbies: chess, cooking, and movies. Naturally, I am gamifying my hobbies using the apps chess.com, NYT Cooking, and Letterboxd, respectively. My thinking is that when I reach for my phone to do something silly like Instagram, I have these apps to click on instead, where I can learn chess, save recipes, and look for movies, fueling my hobbies rather than rotting my brain. I figure gamification of a healthy activity is slightly less unhealthy than scrolling Instagram. It’s going well so far!
5. A better question
If you could choose to be hot and extremely dumb or ugly and extremely smart, which would you choose? I forget where I heard this a couple of months ago, but I can’t really stop thinking about it. It’s a good reflection question for yourself, a good conversation with another person, and a fun conversation in a group. Feel free to share your answer in the comments, if you’re feeling so bold.
Thanks for reading The Museum of Small and Important Things! My name is Allie Sullberg and I’m an artist, writer, and illustrator. If you liked this post, a huge way to support my work is by liking, commenting, sharing, and of course subscribing!
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I got stuck on the cozy sci fi chat and have to bookmark the rest. I love a good set of recomendations! I used to do a roundup of all the podcasts i listened to in a week that moved me in some way for my family email chain. It was such a great reflection and aide memoire for what was good that week.
Keep 'em coming
I love this format and the way you write/think. Thank you for sharing. :(