one, fearplant

take a piece of paper and list your fears. leave a little room between each frightword of fearphrase. rip out your fears one by one holding them in your passive palm. while in your palm, envision the thing as a bounded object. imagine confining the fear to the slip of paper. notice how delicate it is next to your skin.

when done with each frightword of fearphrase you wrote down, take the slips of paper and put them in a small glass jar. fill the jar with dirt and plant an herb in it. watch your fearplant grow, use it in your cooking. hold the leaves under your tongue.

—madisun hames

two, jingle

attach small bells to everything you use often—your phone, the refrigerator door, a broom, a book, a medicine cabinet, a french press, a light switch. note the melody of life.

—madisun hames

three, hope braids

find three strands of spare cloth or paper. write down your hopes and wishes for the remainder of the month. words or phrases are welcome. if using cloth, braid the strands together. if using paper, cut into smaller strips (by word or phrase) and make chain links. hang next to your bedside. each night and every morning, regard your hope braid.

—madisun hames

love the other side

— depolarize —

realize there is another side
and the people over there are not evil
(the other side is just the other side)
they’re as afraid of you as you are of them

— seek understanding —

ask a lot of questions
listen intently
withhold judgment
keep asking questions

— empathize —

learn how if you don’t know already
picture an imaginary button
push it every time you catch yourself
getting angry or bitter or mean

—farmhouse art collective

heal

make your own confetti

find a place close to home 
where the tall buildings are

find a way to the top or
as close as you can be

release it into the wind

—farmhouse art collective

household performance for colored yarn

have each person choose a different color of yarn and acquire several skeins. the yarn will be used to track their movement through the house.

have everyone spool the yarn out behind them as they go about their day, using various objects to anchor it. for example, the yarn could be tied to or wound around chairs, door knobs, faucets, or other pieces of yarn.

the performance ends when it is no longer possible to maneuver through the space without becoming entangled.

—farmhouse art collective

RE.FUSE

Refuse something.

Re-fuse some things.

—chun wang

Search Diary

Your internet search history is a recycling bin for traces of intellectual and emotional output from your brain. Turn this E-waste into something meaningful to you.

Visit your Google Search history online.

For each of the days after your life has changed, pick one entry that you like the most from your search history of the day, reflect on what triggered this particular search, and write down one concise sentence about why you like it. Compile into a unique diary.

Tip: use the date filter to help you navigate through your search entries.

—chun wang

Therapy

It’s the Information Age. Tech words are no longer limited to describing the functions of computers—they are also used to describe real human emotions and actions.

Go through a therapy outlined by these digital tech words IRL:

visit

browse

attach

process

layout

drop-down

network

open

delete

uncompress

archive

confirm

cancel

—chun wang

The World’s on Fire

Go on a walk. Sit in the grass. Look up at the sky. Get lost. When you return, remember that the world may be on fire but you are 60% water. 

—sean chamberlain

Time Is Not Linear

Choose something that you intended to or should have done a long time ago. Preferably it will be something that the awareness of the sense of time is present by others than yourself. Perhaps it is a promise to a friend, or a submission that has long since expired, or a text message that was never responded to, or an item borrowed with or without the owner's consent long ago. The longer "overdue" the action, the better. 

Complete said task without explanation or apology.

—broooks wenzel

Contact Acknowledgement

Before using technology for the day, each person must exchange a hug with three other people, preferably that do not reside under the same roof (exceptions made for those in remote locations). For those in situations where other people are not accessible, substitutions may be made by pets, friendly wild animals (with caution), holding a piece of rock or earth or tree close enough to your body to feel the presence and sense it's natural odor, feeling a plant with both hands and against your face.

Be sure to remain conscious in your senses in these moments. Gently steer your thoughts towards what you feel and smell and hear. Focus less on thoughts outside the moments and sight. 

Before any meeting may commence, each member of the meeting must exchange hugs.*

*Anyone that is NOT an adult male has the choice to opt out.

—broooks wenzel

The Weapon that You Are

We live in a world that manufactures weapons, which then manufacture humans to use them. 

I want you to imagine that you are a weapon—whether you are sharp or dull, you are a weapon. I want you to grab a pen and some paper and imagine what you would look like as a weapon; are you a gallant medieval sword, or are you a mighty and reliable siege trebuchet? Or, are you something modern and advanced, like a smooth and well-composed firearm? Perhaps you are an explosive warhead, ready to light up the night sky? 

I want you to draw your weapon, and to take time to reflect on how this reflects on yourself; it is okay if you are dull or rusty with what you’re good at, so long as you look and accept yourself as who you are.  

Ask yourself—how many uses does a weapon like you have? Are you a weapon built for peace, or a weapon built for war?  

—teiguen walsh

Now and Next

Make two lists: one called “today” and the other called “tomorrow.”  

Under the “today” list, write everything and anything that makes today good. 

Under the “tomorrow” list, write everything that would make tomorrow just as good, if not better. 

Contemplate the overlap between the two lists. 

Enjoy the things that can only be enjoyed today. 

Work to make tomorrow better. 

—sarah wong

The Butterfly Effect 

We’ve all heard some version of this theory—a butterfly beating its wings can set in motion a chain of events that can lead to a hurricane somewhere else, the phrase goes. Small changes in the present can completely alter the future, and this presents a space to explore through all forms of art. 

Write a short story about what the world could have been, if a small thing about either the virus itself or the world’s response had been different. This can range from the practical to the wild—isolating earlier, dealing with a more lethal virus, running out of an essential resource, declaring martial law, the President getting infected, you name it. The world is your oyster. 

—ryan beaumont

Weight of History 

Search your library for all the books that have the word "history" in their titles.

Remove them from the shelf and place them on your personal weight scale.

Consider the weight of history stored in your library.

—vladimír havlík

Clear Space

Find a distraught space somewhere in your home or community. Next, stare at the space for ten minutes. Contemplate why or what about the space upsets you the most, followed by imagining what the exact opposite of that would be. Then do it to the space. Once you have finished, stare anew at the rejuvenated space and enjoy. Repeat. 

—didi taylor

Someone Else's Shoes

Go through the act of figuratively trying on someone else’s shoes. Begin by imagining the feeling on your feet if the shoes are too big or too small. After you have slipped on the shoes, imagine a day in the shoes' life. Think about the daily journeys the shoes go on, experiences the shoes might witness, and how those experiences might feel. Then imagine what it might be like to have your shoes walked next to you, filled by someone else. Try looking at yourself from someone else’s shoes. 

—didi taylor

Grow I

Go outside. 

Sit next to something that is growing. 

Think of every adversity that growing thing had to overcome just to be existing beside you. 

Sit next to something that is growing. 

Do the same. 

—mary ade 

Grow II

Find a seed. 

Find some dirt. 

Find a suitable vessel for your seedling, preferably something recycled (i.e. an empty bucket, a plastic cup or bottle with the top removed, an old shoe).

Plant your seed in the soil. 

Give your seedling water and light. 

Wait for something to grow. 

—mary ade 

P.S. Make sure your vessel has proper drainage.

Preserve: Scallions

Save the roots of your scallions, preserving at least an inch of white above them. 

Place the scallion ends in a jar or cup of water, keeping the roots submerged. Set your vessel of scallions near a sunny window. Change the water every day or so. 

Watch the scallions regrow themselves after being chopped down to the roots. 

Ask yourself if you can do the same. 

—mary ade 

Living Within Systems, Together

Lie down on the lowest floor of your home. Imagine the ecosystem beneath you—the unseen apartment dweller, the decaying plant matter, the water table. Imagine the infrastructure underneath you—the foundation, transportation tunnels, electric/water/gas/telecommunication lines. Imagine how they flow around you, to the street, to other buildings, to central processing facilities. Imagine how they will continue to flow as you wake, sleep, eat. Listen for your heartbeat and think about how it continues as you wake, sleep, eat. Breath deeply.

—tiffany funk

Tech Stacking

Engage in conscious and conscientious tech usage. Stack your smart devices and portable electronics, one on top of the other. See how long you can allow them to remain in that tower formation. See if you are able/allowed to forget about them for five minutes. An hour. A whole day. When you do have to retrieve a device, take a moment to think about how the tool allows you to connect with others, complete tasks, engage with your work, or relax. After you are done, return the device to the stack. Repeat this whole process.

—tiffany funk

Celebration

If you have a stash of holiday decorations, bring them out. Decorate one window in your home, preferably one that faces a street or another building's window. Celebrate each of those holidays for five minutes each day. Change the holiday and decorations as much as you like. Combine holidays. Make up your own.

—tiffany funk

Interspecies Vulnerability Part 1

Find a non-humyn being that belongs to your home ecology. Share your insecurities of these unnerving times—with the frog on your front steps, the cardinal that sits in the tree outside of your bedroom window, the moths that hover around the flood light by the back door, or the cactus you have been sharing your space with for years. Maybe these beings can help us unload our burdens, just maybe they will empathize with this vulnerability. Don’t forget to ask them about theirs—maybe we can empathize with their concerns as well. 

—matthew anthony batty 

Interspecies Vulnerability Part 2

Now that you have unburdened yourself on your chosen non-humyn neighbor, offer them a tale of kindness that you have witnessed through these new times. May it offer some shared hope for a new order to things. 

—matthew anthony batty 

We All Need Time to Unwind

Find that house plant that may need some extra love. Sit on a comfy chair together—maybe your love seat—and put on a romantic comedy and enjoy each other’s company in these secluded times. Remember, non-humyns are also attempting to make sense of this world. 

—matthew anthony batty 

Sparrowgrass

Eat a whole bundle of asparagus.

The relationship between you and the plant has a genealogy that predates you, and will exist long after.

—matthew anthony batty 

P.S. Can you smell your ancestors?

Room to Room

Investigate the room that you spend most time in your home. It can be any room, even the bathroom or the kitchen. Look for oddities—cracks on the walls, bumps on the ceiling, creaks under the floor, marks on the door, smudges on the windows, etc. Find out where the light falls and where the paint is peeling. See how many of the same qualities you can discover in a room you spend less time.

—zachary carlisle davidson

Nice to Meet You

Can you remember the last stranger you met? Was it before or after your life may have changed? What can you recall of this encounter, and how can you record it? If it’s their looks, can you draw it? If it’s their voice, can you imitate it? If it’s something they said, can you share it?

—zachary carlisle davidson

Object of Uncertainty 

Think of one object that used to feel so predictable, defined, fixed, or dependable—in other words, certain—but now feels so uncertain. It can be anything from a roll of toilet paper to a soap bar. Write about how your (and our collective) understanding of the object (and thus of the world) has changed thus far.

—yunjin la-mei woo

Scenes of Recovery

Set five alarms for five random times of a day. When an alarm goes off, run to a window of your choice and look outside. Observe and listen to any signs of nonhuman life returning, recovering, or regrowing in the absence of human activities. Draw your observations in squares or rectangles on a large piece of paper in a sequence, as if they are five adjacent windows showing five different scenes of the day.

—yunjin la-mei woo

Window Conversation

Choose a window—preferably one that faces a street or another house/building’s window(s). Write a note large enough for anyone to see from afar and post it on the window towards the outside. Change your note each day for a week. If someone responds to your notes with their own notes, have a nice window-to-window conversation.

—yunjin la-mei woo

Instruction for leaving the familiar ground

Discard all.

When you are ready, stride into a new place.

Be flabbergasted, feel the excitement.

Ask yourself: what do I feel?

Log into your emotions and ask them—one by one—where do you come from?

Ask yourself: what do I need those emotions for?

Do not fear the fear in you—the kindling ancient fear of the unknown within you. You are bonding with the wild.

Mark my words! This is your first experience of not a place but yourself in that place.

You have come to embrace the essential loneliness without which we could never become part of this world.

Count up to three and begin the solitude dance amongst other solitudes.

Avoid the familiar—forever.

—ela wysakowska-walters

Alphabet Solo

Write down 5 one-word prompts with the first letter of your name.

Select a space in your house or surroundings as your environment that starts with the first letter of your name. No need to always be literal. If your name is Bill, it can be a bed or a blue sky.

Improvise movement with your prompts in this space to a piece of classical music that also starts with the first letter of your name.

Tape yourself horizontally and have fun.

How do we go deeper into ourselves by relating the most important parts of our identity to that which moves us?

—fernando ramos cintron 

Wonk Knee

Stand on one leg.

Extend your raised leg til the knee is at a comfortable dancing position.

Allow the knee to have the autonomy of a dancing partner.

Dance the 'Wonk Knee'.

—nathaniel kochan

Fold/Unfold

In the morning, draw a dot, with a pencil, on a small piece of paper.

Take ten slow breaths and concentrate on the dot. Allow your thoughts to come and go.

Fold the paper and keep it with you for the rest of the day.

At the end of the day, unfold the paper.

Take ten slow breaths and concentrate on the dot. Allow your thoughts to come and go.

Erase the dot.

—edward ramsay-morin

Share Shade

If you tend a tree where people walk,

place two chairs beneath it. 

Add a sign that says

“Please enjoy this shade.”

—anne thulson