Thus always to tyrants

Helping Friendly Newsletter, 07.07.23

Every other Friday, I share 5 things to consider and a treasure chest of links. If you like them, please subscribe (it’s free).

A lesson on tyranny. Inspired by Timothy Snyder.

GM! ☕️

Here are this fortnight’s 5 things to consider:

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1. Julia Cameron recommends a week of reading deprivation. I struggled.

   

2. Fourth of July collection:
   • 20 lessons from the 20th century on tyranny
   • descendants of Frederick Douglass recite his “Fourth of July’ speech
   • how to be a hands-on citizen
   • locate yourself on the wheel of privilege
   • an alternative supreme

   

3. To earn a living, comedian and cartoonist Victor Varnado fashioned himself into an artistic profit-share. The model isn’t quite as ambitious as Bowie bonds, but on the upside it seems more doable for creators who haven’t reached icon status. I remain hopeful that real artists don’t starve.

   

4. I write a lot about the trouble with certainty—and the necessary, connecting, generative discomfort of uncertainty. So, I was psyched to come across a Getty interview with photographer Sally Mann, in which she invoked the angel of uncertainty as muse and collaborator. Here’s another mention from her memoir:

   I tried to remain flexible and open to the vagaries of chance; like Napoleon, I figured that luck, aesthetic luck included, is just the ability to exploit accidents. I grew to welcome the ripply flaws caused by a breeze or tiny mote of dust, which ideally would settle right where I needed a comet-like streak, or the emulsion the peeled away from the plate in the corner where I hadn’t liked that telephone line anyway. Unlike the young narrator in Swann’s Way praying for the angel of certainty to visit him in his bedroom, I found myself praying for the angel of uncertainty. And many times she visited my plates, bestowing upon them essential peculiarities, persuasive consequence, intrigue, drama, and allegory. —Sally Mann, Hold Still¹

   

5. 3 minutes of calm: Brett Foxwell’s The Book of Leaves places 2400 leaves in gorgeous, biodiverse stop-motion animation. There is also a psychedelic version.

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Bonus book love:
One of my favorite Bookstagrammers—Deedi Brown of @deedireads—suggested a shout-out swap, and I am so in: Deedi is a cheerful, down-to-earth, inclusive book lover whose posts consistently make me smile. Her account led me to two of my favorite reads in the past year (Trust and Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow) and two more authors I adore (Becky Chambers and N.K. Jemisen). Her #bookerofthemonth club looks awesome, too. Give her a follow!

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Treasure chest
I bet you find a gem 💎 ➔ KBJ’s dissent | how political rhetoric inflames anti-Asian scapegoating | how to think better | you don’t have a culture problem, you have a management problem | the tyranny of the best | philosophy could have been a lot more fun | we really are starchildren | the hilarious art of book design | problems of a crocodile | obituary for a quiet life | happy anniversary, AJ! | an excellent idea👇🏼

Poem by Kate Baer. Post by @poetryisnotaluxury on IG.

Have a great weekend! I’ll see you again soon.

Jenny

P.S. This newsletter is a labor of love. To support it, please share this post, venmo me a coffee, or engage my services. You can learn more about my work at jenniferlphillips.com. Thank you!

1. Via Austin Kleon.