I love your observation about rebellion and creativity, Sarah.
I've felt a huge surge of creativity over the last few years. I've started my own landscape design business, have been painting more often, am learning the violin and have just started vocal/singing classes. All the things I dreamed of spending my life doing when I was a child, but was conditioned by society to think were unproductive; a waste of time, not practical.
It does feel rebellious. Like I'm subconsciously rejecting the societal embrace of AI, big tech, oligopolies, manosphere, conservatism, and the rest.
Community building feels like an act of rebellion sometimes too. I wonder if we can convince people that making art and building community is cooler than smoking?
These days it is , especially if it is not electric. I am inheriting my parents old bikes from the nineties. Going to go on bike rides with my daughter on them 👌🏼
Love this , I have been sucked deep into an algorithmic miasma the past year. I have been feeling sorry for my soul and my turntables, my books and keyboard and records and my easel 😭
I absolutely love a durry every now and then. Probably once a month, with a drink, usually wine. And it has to be a rollie, only Dr Pats or Champion Ruby with NO filter. And I wish I was clever enough to make my own ecstasy, like the good ol’ days. The crap that’s out now is …. Crap. And I love that feeling of fuck it, could kill me, but so can running. I have no addiction, just pleasure and that’s the way I like it. It is rebellious and it feels good. Especially since I can control it. I can’t control DOOM scrolling though!!!
I started to smoke at 18 out of rebelliousness, and smoked for 22 years. I longed to be free of smoking for at least half that era. I empathize with smokers who are addicted, but see smoking for what it is: just an addiction (and a very severe one)
First of all - that's Kylie Jenner? I don't follow any of that celeb bruh-ha-hah but I feel like every time she wanders into my line of sight she looks completely different from the last time.
Jessica DeFino talked about cigarettes in one of her anti-beauty columns (do give her a quick read - she's fabulous and comes from a very qualified background) several months ago so it's been on the horizon but apparently Vanity Fair signals that it's actually here. I think the same could be applied to tanning and sun beds which also seem to be making a comeback despite years of campaigns to get people to see the danger.
Love Ted - he's got some great insights on the decline of culture . . . but also what might evolve from that decline.
Interesting to watch . . . . but maybe also even more interesting to find our way through it with our own creativity and rebellion?
I have had 5 teens on rotation in my house the past fortnight so I can give an eye witness account of the new generation.
There is definitely still a strong rebellion against everything a parent hypocritically tries to encourage a child to do and be.
That is just a genetically driven system of learning and fucking up under the supervision of nervous wreck parents 🤣
Cigarettes are BACK!! And yes, driven via the influx of vapes and then the banning of vapes and the magical appearance of Double Happiness darts from the deep east
These days kids can research their dumbfuckery (which is good and bad). Which has resulted in the snorting of Valium and experimenting with mystical herbs.
EVERYTHING is the market Sarah
Big Tobacco never went away
We bought TVs , Black Mirrors and LED masks , the East bought Winnie Blues and Jack Daniel’s. It was a cultural exchange of the worst of us.
Government gave up on us and became so limp dick impotent. Look at the UN, look at Albanese and Chalmers. And the rotten opposition.
This in itself is part of the problem , the people we are supposed to rebel against are so pathetic and these days transparent in their evil.
That rebelling against them feels boring , so we have instead rebelled against ourselves and entered nihilism.
I am considering starting Fuck up Fridays into my family. Clean all week and Fridays are for dancing, fucking, and fun.
Or it is a molach thing , the baddies are no longer pretending to be angelic. So we are stuck in a moment of confusion. What is rebellion when the system is now obviously bad. What is the opposite to evil ? So does that mean to rebel is to be caring and kind and take responsibility? 🤔🤔🤦🏻♂️🤣
Gosh. The NYT digest, which also landed in my inbox this morning, added another layer to this. There's a piece about how health influencers, many aligned with the MAHA movement, are promoting nicotine as a health product that can help you live longer, increase focus, prevent dementia..."like caffeine, only better". And that apparently medical professionals are "concerned" about its promotion when "there's a lot that we still don't know about what the harms of nicotine might be down the line." There is? We don't know what the harms might be? Did I climb into a Hot Tub Time Machine?!
Yeah, I've seen social media stuff on this. That looksmaxxer dude Brendan takes it (along with Ketamine, which I think some in the Trump administration are taking...good lord).
Is 'freedom?' at the centre? As an apparent reaction to the so-called 'woke' overreach - don't tell us how to speak with whatever pronoun, or we can't say or do this or that - we'll smoke in public if we want to. My big concern about this is that it is in the vein of a f-you to our civic duty. We've disallowed smoking in shared public places because it's dangerous and those of us who don't want to smoke shouldn't be exposed to health dangers by those that do - so yes, you can smoke, but in a designated smoking area. The overall disintegration of civic duty and doing what's best for our society and community is what worries me and I wonder if this is more of that.
I 100% believe the Big Tobacco lobby is behind this. They're seeing things starting to fall apart, people throwing their hands up at how screwed everything is and going - now! Now's our chance, when people are overwhelmed and fried, now we can swing them back to us. And really - that's where the conversation should be. On the corporate power and influence, not, oh, they're telling us to talk and think about smoking now - let's do that!
As for the youth - I was just remarking on this the other day with friends. How wild we all went in our 20's, we travelled, we dated, we experimented. Whereas now the youth these days seem to just want to copy and do exactly what everyone else is doing, they're too afraid to be different. It all seems to be very conventional, 'wholesome' stuff. I hear how much they like going to church. The big influencers are sharing their knitting and needlepoint!
I’m glad that some of the youngsters are getting naughty again. People in power banning shit never works, just drives it into the hands of the criminal underground. Intelligent people realise this, shame none of them work for us in governments around the world :-(
Was thinking on my walk, is smoking really THAT bad. Grandma smoked until her late 70s. She lived to 94. Also better times w homegrown food and love and marriagea that saw it through...
Mum smoked through a rough 34 yr marriage and dad was a better human when he smoked in the 80s
Theres something to be said for the STOP and PAUSE, that can be a goos thing..
But the governmwnt again doing its rip off thing.
Smoking can save marriages. Throat chakra. Stops one speaking up and exploding. Mum was calm usually, i saw her smoke after a rift w dad or aomething where she needed to speak her mind and truth, and it prevented her from losing her sh..t
She doesnt smoke now. Im surprised to see many still smoking given the COST
If you can afford a pack of darts or alcohol, then surely you can afford a massage or bodywork from someon like myself, whos art is dying . And i get it. People cant afford it
But. If your body doesnt work. You cant.
Nicotine is difficult.
But yeah throat chakra
Power of will
Colour blue
And Our connection to GOD
Needed now more than ever.
I lose mine often.
Bring back touch, nature, simplicity. Less fkn screens.
yeah, the relative risks have certainly shifted. and I'm not sure governments, or humans generally, will ever be good at forethought. Australia, in particular, is spectacular at knee-jerk, blunt instrument measures
I love your observation about rebellion and creativity, Sarah.
I've felt a huge surge of creativity over the last few years. I've started my own landscape design business, have been painting more often, am learning the violin and have just started vocal/singing classes. All the things I dreamed of spending my life doing when I was a child, but was conditioned by society to think were unproductive; a waste of time, not practical.
It does feel rebellious. Like I'm subconsciously rejecting the societal embrace of AI, big tech, oligopolies, manosphere, conservatism, and the rest.
Community building feels like an act of rebellion sometimes too. I wonder if we can convince people that making art and building community is cooler than smoking?
In one of my books I write that riding a bike is an act of deviance
These days it is , especially if it is not electric. I am inheriting my parents old bikes from the nineties. Going to go on bike rides with my daughter on them 👌🏼
It is rebellion...
Don't you think that community building is art? Delicate and wonderful ...
yes it is. it's deviant, it expresses, it connects
Love this , I have been sucked deep into an algorithmic miasma the past year. I have been feeling sorry for my soul and my turntables, my books and keyboard and records and my easel 😭
Disengaging and disappearing is the new black
Taking the risk to make art that no one sees
"recession of mischief" is such a delicious little phrase.
I absolutely love a durry every now and then. Probably once a month, with a drink, usually wine. And it has to be a rollie, only Dr Pats or Champion Ruby with NO filter. And I wish I was clever enough to make my own ecstasy, like the good ol’ days. The crap that’s out now is …. Crap. And I love that feeling of fuck it, could kill me, but so can running. I have no addiction, just pleasure and that’s the way I like it. It is rebellious and it feels good. Especially since I can control it. I can’t control DOOM scrolling though!!!
I approve.
Same re doom scrolling
It is strange that doom scrolling is more powerful than pleasure 🤔
WTF 😳🤦🏻♂️
This is living , I concur
Capitalism - Tune in to what the people are feeling and find a way to sell it back to them.
...and tell us it will rise all the ships...
Spot on
I had no idea it was coming back - so interesting!
I do like the word “durry” though…it’s so quintessentially Australian. Evokes nostalgic memories from my art school years
Darts 🎯 is the cool name these days
I started to smoke at 18 out of rebelliousness, and smoked for 22 years. I longed to be free of smoking for at least half that era. I empathize with smokers who are addicted, but see smoking for what it is: just an addiction (and a very severe one)
‘Creativity is deviance put to good use’ is a phrase I will steal, respectively - thank you!
you'll have to thank Adam for that one!
First of all - that's Kylie Jenner? I don't follow any of that celeb bruh-ha-hah but I feel like every time she wanders into my line of sight she looks completely different from the last time.
Jessica DeFino talked about cigarettes in one of her anti-beauty columns (do give her a quick read - she's fabulous and comes from a very qualified background) several months ago so it's been on the horizon but apparently Vanity Fair signals that it's actually here. I think the same could be applied to tanning and sun beds which also seem to be making a comeback despite years of campaigns to get people to see the danger.
Love Ted - he's got some great insights on the decline of culture . . . but also what might evolve from that decline.
Interesting to watch . . . . but maybe also even more interesting to find our way through it with our own creativity and rebellion?
Yep, that's going to be the more interesting trend to observe - our wrangle back to our true creative spirit
Travel well on your book tour, Sar! Look out for the angels that guide your path.
Big love x
The tend to appear, don't they!
I read this quote from TS Eliot this morning, and thought of you:
"Oh my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger.
Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions."
Im now even more excited for you on these next book tour wanderings. Especially since you love chatting to strangers. Big love x
I have had 5 teens on rotation in my house the past fortnight so I can give an eye witness account of the new generation.
There is definitely still a strong rebellion against everything a parent hypocritically tries to encourage a child to do and be.
That is just a genetically driven system of learning and fucking up under the supervision of nervous wreck parents 🤣
Cigarettes are BACK!! And yes, driven via the influx of vapes and then the banning of vapes and the magical appearance of Double Happiness darts from the deep east
These days kids can research their dumbfuckery (which is good and bad). Which has resulted in the snorting of Valium and experimenting with mystical herbs.
EVERYTHING is the market Sarah
Big Tobacco never went away
We bought TVs , Black Mirrors and LED masks , the East bought Winnie Blues and Jack Daniel’s. It was a cultural exchange of the worst of us.
Government gave up on us and became so limp dick impotent. Look at the UN, look at Albanese and Chalmers. And the rotten opposition.
This in itself is part of the problem , the people we are supposed to rebel against are so pathetic and these days transparent in their evil.
That rebelling against them feels boring , so we have instead rebelled against ourselves and entered nihilism.
I am considering starting Fuck up Fridays into my family. Clean all week and Fridays are for dancing, fucking, and fun.
Interesting addition, Steve - that rebelling against such lame enemies is boring.
Or it is a molach thing , the baddies are no longer pretending to be angelic. So we are stuck in a moment of confusion. What is rebellion when the system is now obviously bad. What is the opposite to evil ? So does that mean to rebel is to be caring and kind and take responsibility? 🤔🤔🤦🏻♂️🤣
Better than Taco Tuesdays 🤣🤦🏻♂️
And yes, all of that Vanity Fair (the name speaks for itself) and Kardashian Krap is paid for. Nothing works in a vacuum unless it is true art.
Content is sucked and pulled and bought.
Art emerges from the darkness and the silence
Gosh. The NYT digest, which also landed in my inbox this morning, added another layer to this. There's a piece about how health influencers, many aligned with the MAHA movement, are promoting nicotine as a health product that can help you live longer, increase focus, prevent dementia..."like caffeine, only better". And that apparently medical professionals are "concerned" about its promotion when "there's a lot that we still don't know about what the harms of nicotine might be down the line." There is? We don't know what the harms might be? Did I climb into a Hot Tub Time Machine?!
Yeah, I've seen social media stuff on this. That looksmaxxer dude Brendan takes it (along with Ketamine, which I think some in the Trump administration are taking...good lord).
Only stupid people smoke.
Seriously.
I would.like to see anyone who smokes denied insurance health claims for anything smoking-related, and no Medicare coverage.
If you insist on smoking, YOU carry the whole weight of what you choose, including down-the-road consequences.
Just like the consequences of firing a gun at someone.
There is no possible excuse for smoking today.
Grow up.
I do tend to think it's more complex than that
Sarah, I agree the excuses and social pressures have changed, but the science has not.
Have a great time on your book tour!
This is very interesting - so many thoughts!
Is 'freedom?' at the centre? As an apparent reaction to the so-called 'woke' overreach - don't tell us how to speak with whatever pronoun, or we can't say or do this or that - we'll smoke in public if we want to. My big concern about this is that it is in the vein of a f-you to our civic duty. We've disallowed smoking in shared public places because it's dangerous and those of us who don't want to smoke shouldn't be exposed to health dangers by those that do - so yes, you can smoke, but in a designated smoking area. The overall disintegration of civic duty and doing what's best for our society and community is what worries me and I wonder if this is more of that.
I 100% believe the Big Tobacco lobby is behind this. They're seeing things starting to fall apart, people throwing their hands up at how screwed everything is and going - now! Now's our chance, when people are overwhelmed and fried, now we can swing them back to us. And really - that's where the conversation should be. On the corporate power and influence, not, oh, they're telling us to talk and think about smoking now - let's do that!
As for the youth - I was just remarking on this the other day with friends. How wild we all went in our 20's, we travelled, we dated, we experimented. Whereas now the youth these days seem to just want to copy and do exactly what everyone else is doing, they're too afraid to be different. It all seems to be very conventional, 'wholesome' stuff. I hear how much they like going to church. The big influencers are sharing their knitting and needlepoint!
That would be 'freedumb'
Fuck!!! Now I can't even rebel properly! 🫠
yes you can...you just do it off social media, you be truely creative...AI, the system etc can't keep up with that. It can't create art.
I’m glad that some of the youngsters are getting naughty again. People in power banning shit never works, just drives it into the hands of the criminal underground. Intelligent people realise this, shame none of them work for us in governments around the world :-(
Rinse and repeat until the world blows up….
Great article.
Was thinking on my walk, is smoking really THAT bad. Grandma smoked until her late 70s. She lived to 94. Also better times w homegrown food and love and marriagea that saw it through...
Mum smoked through a rough 34 yr marriage and dad was a better human when he smoked in the 80s
Theres something to be said for the STOP and PAUSE, that can be a goos thing..
But the governmwnt again doing its rip off thing.
Smoking can save marriages. Throat chakra. Stops one speaking up and exploding. Mum was calm usually, i saw her smoke after a rift w dad or aomething where she needed to speak her mind and truth, and it prevented her from losing her sh..t
She doesnt smoke now. Im surprised to see many still smoking given the COST
If you can afford a pack of darts or alcohol, then surely you can afford a massage or bodywork from someon like myself, whos art is dying . And i get it. People cant afford it
But. If your body doesnt work. You cant.
Nicotine is difficult.
But yeah throat chakra
Power of will
Colour blue
And Our connection to GOD
Needed now more than ever.
I lose mine often.
Bring back touch, nature, simplicity. Less fkn screens.
Thanks again all here x
yeah, the relative risks have certainly shifted. and I'm not sure governments, or humans generally, will ever be good at forethought. Australia, in particular, is spectacular at knee-jerk, blunt instrument measures