HAPPY HUBRIS HARMS

That hour waiting on the line to chirpy music after punching in an endless series of limited choices dictated by a robot, and only to have your call dropped after another hour wait. Many more hours are taken up by anxiety as the deadline draws near.

That moment when you realized the person on the other side of the screen is wasting your time and labor with endless questions that could easily be answered by simply googling some basic key words and doing their own emotional work. They’re hiding behind strategic good intention.

Those pits of despair when you submitted all the necessary paperwork only to not see any change to your case.

Those words a parent uttered to appease all sides and sweep things under the rug with no real resolution. Those words build up a façade of a happy family but everyone is silently suffering until key events implode the nuclear family.

Those blanket statements they wrote on your performance review that could neither be proven nor disproven, but it was up to you to rebut with evidence. Then they suggested you become better at communicating without any clarification.

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In addition to wrangling with HAPPY HUBRIS HARMS, I’m reflecting on what it means to cause and fight for GOOD TROUBLE. I came across these words from a Facebook repost of Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and a reference to John Lewis as it pertains to protests and riots. I’m spending this upcoming week looking into John Lewis’s work and understanding this socio-political history of the United States. This understanding is important to see where we each fit in the current and future moments as movers and shakers. What is the role that you and I play together and separately to cause and fight for good trouble? Moreover, what can we each do with the resources that we have individually and together?

In progress stages of HAPPY HUBRIS HARMS sketch. I’m embracing mistakes and messes by not erasing them but instead layering them with ink and other marks.

Finished HAPPY HUBRIS HARMS sketch. I’m not entirely sure how this would translate into a fiber composition later. Mostly looking at shape contrast right now.

Early stages of GOOD TROUBLE. This may just remain a developed sketch after I add ink to it later this next week. This is more of an homage to MLK and John Lewis, and an opportunity to relearn and explore history rather than artmaking or creating a … — Early stages of GOOD TROUBLE. This may just remain a developed sketch after I add ink to it later this next week. This is more of an homage to MLK and John Lewis, and an opportunity to relearn and explore history rather than artmaking or creating a response.