The Weekly Atticus (12/01/2018)

Take Yourself on a Date, Away From the Looming Meltdown | The Weekly Atticus

December 01, 2018

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

Dear ,

It’s no brilliant insight to say that this is a stressful time of year. Despite hopeful echoes of “Peace on Earth,” most of our brains are abuzz with to-do lists, blown budgets, travel and family chaos, and a perpetual sense of obligation to make everyone else happy. I went into the Thanksgiving holiday sensing a looming meltdown that I might hold at bay with an armor of apparent calm. But I know myself well enough by now: such armor only conceals the swirl of upset, and my loved ones still feel the frustrated, anxious, angry vibrations. I had to do something different, for them and for me. So I prioritized self-care and posted publicly how I had intentionally done something enjoyable and relaxing each day of my break. I spent half an hour reading solely for pleasure, dog and glass of wine at my side. I went to lunch with a friend. I put together a jigsaw puzzle while listening to newly purchased music. And somehow, I also knocked items off my to-do list without feeling overworked and resentful. I even worked on new writing.As I move toward the next round of holiday madness, I recall being a young, not-yet-ready-to-call-herself-a-writer writer in Tempe, Arizona and discovering Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way at Changing Hands bookstore. I read it over cups of mocha at the Coffee Plantation, motivated to write morning pages, intrigued by the idea of going on a date with my artist self. Once I got over those self-shaming ideas that it was “selfish” or “pretentious” to consider myself an artist and “cheesy” to take that self out on a date, I took a notebook and pen to an Italian restaurant, the type with white tablecloths and lit candles. I sketched ideas for writing projects between bites of pasta and sips of chianti. And I felt energized, alive, motivated. Loved.I think it’s time to start dating my artist self again, to stop taking for granted that she’ll still be waiting whenever I decide to turn my back on the crazy-making flotsam of daily life. When I truly support and celebrate that side of myself, I’m at my best. And everyone in my life benefits from that. My challenge to you as literal darkness keeps pushing deeper into the day (in the northern hemisphere anyway) is to light up the night by rekindling your romance with your inner artist. Whether you’re a traditional wine-and-dine dater or you prefer to cuddle into your reading chair with a new book of poetry, make that date. Now. Fall in love with your artist self all over again, and resolve now, even before the new year, to keep the fire burning. Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.Chauna CraigCreative Nonfiction Editor

ATTICUS NEWS

ONLY THIS WEEKEND. THREE MORE DAYS!Enter our Videopoem Contest judged by Marie Craven.

CASH PRIZES PLUS PUBLICATION! 

Deadline to Submit: Monday, December 3rd, 2018.

Atticus Review is happy to announce our 2018 Pushcart Prize Nominees. Thank you to all Atticus Review contributors for your great work. Best of luck to these six nominees.READ ON

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

BOOK REVIEW: UNDOING RELATIONSHIPS AND READER EXPECTATIONSA Review of UNDOING by Kim MagowanReview by Ashley Miller"...gorgeous prose, snappy pacing, and dynamic, three dimensional characters that make even familiar situations feel new and engaging..."READ ON

FICTION: STILL LIFEby Dustin M. Hoffman"I loved these moments, when we all bonded together to discover our state’s great plaster monuments of tourism. What a state we lived in! Only in Michigan were bucks constructed to match the size of men’s full hearts."READ ON

POETRY: ELEGY OF SIGNSby Kate Hanson Foster"Does it bother you—the way they zip by like that—that perpetual state of hurry? Or is it the endless,lugubrious freight train, dragging its worn-outthunder of metal. Does it make you brood inthe box? Make you want cancer all over again?"READ ON

CNF: SNOOPby Simone Person"As a child, determined to crack the case, I took to investigating my mother by going through her things. I didn’t think of her as a person then."READ ON

FILM REVIEW: THE ABSURD GRACE OF THE FAVOURITEA review of THE FAVOURITE from director Yorgos LanthimosReview by Alison Lanier"Absurdity like The Favourite’s can too often come off cheap or hokey or painfully artsy, with that trying-too-hard edge that shoves viewers out rather than drawing them in. The Favourite, though, does weird right. The mood and tension of the movie, along with its finely crafted shots and its masterful acting, delivers a bullseye of humor and discomfort."READ ON

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