Tighten The Net
/No doubt about it, these are uncertain times.
The world has been thrown for a loop - one that we had not properly prepared for - and “normal life” as we know it is going to be put on hold for some time.
Is this going to suck?
In a lot of ways, yes.
Is the mass chaos and fear warranted?
For us in the US, caution is certainly warranted, but perhaps not the extreme fear (and let’s hope it never gets to that point).
Do we know what’s going to happen moving forward? What that will look like?
No, not yet.
“So, everything’s terrible and all hope is lost???”
Not at all!
These precautions and life interruptions are necessary to prevent the wide spread of an illness that could see our entire health system overrun. That’s when the real trouble would start (look to Italy if you’re unsure what I mean).
This is going to hit a lot of people hard - not the least of which are artists, entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, and all non-salaried/non-insured employees - but we can still support each other.
As Amanda Palmer says in The Art of Asking: Tighten the net.
(Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through the link for above for The Art of Asking to that website and make a purchase. Thank you in advance if you choose to buy through my page!!)
The Financial Plight
For those of you unfamiliar with the financial plight of those types of people I listed above, just a little explanation.
Much of the workforce in the US have jobs that are on a salaried contracts, which generally come with benefits like healthcare, paid sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, paid time off, etc.
Another large portion of the workforce is entirely without these benefits:
No sick days
No PTO
No healthcare
No workman’s comp
No retirement accounts
No security of any kind
These people are often part-time employees, who are absolutely necessary to the workforce of a business and who also tend to work multiple part-time jobs to make enough money to live. But still without benefits.
These people are also artists and freelancers of all kinds.
You may not even realize it, but the shutting down of Broadway - the titan standard of theatre - for an entire month will be leaving all of the artists without work or pay during that time. Even “Broadway stars” will be out of luck financially during this period.
But money is not the only struggle right now.
The Distancing Plight
Our other main plight - which does affect everyone - is how to keep our sanity intact, our work going, and our desire to create going in a time when we are meant to engage in as much “social distancing” and “self-quarantine” as possible?
This is where Amanda Palmer’s idea of “tightening the net” comes in.
We’ve all heard the news outlets, media, and articles floating around that constantly tell us:
“Technology is ruining our lives and making us more distant than ever!”
And to an extent this can be true.
But let’s not forget that all of these wonderful creations in the social-technological sphere were built to make people more connected than ever before. And they do!
20 years ago, if you wanted to contact someone who was not in your immediate vicinity, here were your options:
Call their home phone, but this only worked if they were actually home
Call their cell phone, though most people didn’t have personal cells yet
Email them, though not everyone had email and people didn’t tend to check it regularly
AOL Instant Message them, but this also only worked if they were home (and actively online)
Page them, but generally only doctors, emergency personnel, and “VIPs” had pagers
That was pretty much it.
But today??????
We have so many ways to contact other people - in mere seconds - that it would be difficult to count them all and list them!
“So what was Amanda’s idea?”
Okay okay!
Amanda believed that all she needed in order to reach her Net was a platform - and the platforms that could reach the most people at once in real time were online. Specifically, she chose Twitter, which is still her favorite platform of choice (though she uses others as well).
“Please define the Net for us, Michael.”
The Net is the group of people to whom you are connected through any means, whether that be personal relationships (family and friends), work relationships, people you’ve met - or who know you - through your art/work/creations, friends of friends, or anyone who is interested in what you have to say.
Y’all. We each know a lot of people. Probably far more than we realize.
The Net is huge.
And we can reach almost every single person in that Net without ever leaving our PJs.
Tighten the Net
Now, not all of us are as outgoing, quirky, or famous as Amanda, but the idea still applies.
In these upcoming days/weeks of distancing and semi-isolation, if you’re feeling particularly disconnected from your people, take to technology and the internet to tighten the Net and shorten the distance.
And there are soooo many ways to do this.
I already see calls from artists online to gather virtually and create things together from remote locations through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And those are just the major platforms.
Facetime, Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangout are all great ways to gather people in real time at a distance to work, create, or just have some fun conversations.
Online work stations and document sharing allow for pretty much any type of work to be done where you need to connect with other people.
I mean, people are even discussing having Tik Tok comedy back-and-forths and dance battles.
And also, in this time of distance, perhaps you may want to take the opportunity to make something yourself at home, which you can then share across the internet to tighten the Net. And a lot of my friends who are artists have already begun this process!
Which leads me to the next point:
If you know, love, and/or keep an eye on an artist, find a way to “follow” that artist so you can keep up to date as they make things. Tightening the Net works both ways, as the creator and as the audience.
And just to put my money where my fingers type, if you enjoy reading my blogs or seeing any of the things I create, I’m now creating an email list that you can sign up for here:
Starting next week, I will email all of my blog posts through this list (so you never miss one!) and provide any creative updates I may have as well! And, of course, you may unsubscribe at any time if you so choose.
Sign up and help tighten both our Nets just a little more!
And in the meantime everyone, do what you can to keep tightening your Net however you can!
