On Scribing
or On un/sub/scribing
I’ve been unsubscribing from a lot of things lately—listservs, promotional campaigns, pre-conceived ideas…. In fact, I love to smash that unsubscribe button. And yet, here I am, hoping you might do the opposite and join my online communication experiment. There will be some promotion involved, too, since I am an artist seeking ways to reach you. It will be unshrouded and thus a little vulnerable; look, here I am, here’s what I’m doing! I’ve been subscribing to things, too—newsletters, news podcasts, home improvement channels so that I might finally learn how to smoothly mud an outside corner of drywall. People know things and I want to know what they know. I will try to implement said knowledge in my own life/old farmhouse. It’s challenging, though, to parse through the glut of information, the opinions, expertise, and advertisements. Who should I listen to? Who can offer me a slice of enjoyment? I watch online tutorials at 1.5 x speed. I’m busy (impatient) and I don’t really care about the drywall installer’s backstory. Luckily, drywallers don’t often give a detailed account; in this way, they differ greatly from recipe bloggers. I’ve been scribing when I can and never enough. Writing as the world dictates. Observing and reporting back. I value this work and I question it. Is scribing worthwhile? Words are limited, after all. Speaking of words, “scribing” is also a technique to fit countertops, moldings, or almost anything to a crooked surface. It helps one plumb. It would behoove me (great word, underused) to learn this type of scribing, since I live in a house full of crooked surfaces. Could I be a multi-faceted scribe? Time will tell, and then I will tell you. Here, in this newsletter.
Coming up…
Celebrate poetry month with me!
On Words, Wars, and Wonder: how poetry can help us navigate the world.
If language is a tool, then how do we use it? What happens if the tools are broken, or stolen, or lost? Can we build a better world with words, and can we make it beautiful? Join PEI Poet Laureate Tanya Davis at select libraries this poetry month as she pursues these questions through poetry and in conversation.
Everyone is welcome at these community lectures & discussions! Hope to see you there.
I've been unsubscribing from a lot of things too while subscribing more to Substackers. Pleased to be getting your posts Tanya, as I love the work you've created in the past.
I will be looking forward to emails and more ways to experience your creative skills of communicating the essence of experiences and ideas into words, songs, and more. Your work has touched my life and inspired me for over a decade.