RMiddleton

October 2024 Updates

I have learned to see that my life's work is healing. My career is self improvement, emotional growth. That is my life's focus. Creative projects can be the means to & a by-product of the healing process. I heal myself so that what I put into the world is healing.

I hope to breathe life into the following and project them into the world: ⚬ Streaming ⚬ Art ⚬ Correspondence ⚬ Residencies ⚬ Planet Be: Writing Positive, Inspiring Science Fiction ⚬ How To Be: A Self-Help Memoir ⚬ White People Problems: Overcoming Racism To Build Democracy ⚬ Humanissome ⚬ Tend Her Bot: sharing Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons with the Fediverse   On hiatus

All of the above represent the work that a fully-funded and pain-free Rob would like to do. Most Many days I just manage to get myself fed, do a little tidying, and enjoy the breezes (while I can). I will say more about each of the projects listed.

 

Streaming

I stream often, to twitch.tv/humanissome & archived at youtube.com/@humanissome · I may stream very long live videos. I may stream short. I may point the camera at the projector screen and watch tv. I might never look at the camera. I might walk around with no shirt. I might talk a lot or very little. My goal is to promote humanism, slowing down, being human, appreciating being human & the lives of other humans. Just being is enough. I hope to be a pleasant companion on the internet. I call it “Mister Rogers for Grown-Ups.” The essence of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is not the puppets, videos on Picture Picture, any particular guest or episode. I think of a gentle, caring man modeling communication and emotional expression directly to the viewers. That's all I try to do. I offer an antidote to most other content. Last fall I was streaming mostly early mornings. I have left the camera aimed at the sunrise, walked away, made tea and ate breakfast. I might do chores while I talk. I've napped! I might read aloud. I like to read in the mornings. I have read poetry from You Better Believe It: Black Verse in English from Africa, the West Indies, and the United States. I have read essays from This Arab Is Queer, an ebook from online lender the Queer Liberation Library. I read a short story by Yiyun Li from a New Yorker magazine. So far my 2025 programming has been lower energy while I am feeling bad. But when I stream it's a good sign. It’s motivating for me; and it's therapy.

 

Art

Art is always ongoing. Abstract expressionist art is foundational to my psychology and philosophy. That does not change. Logistics change. Supply outweighs demand. Storage, transportation, and materials all consume resources. As I come to embrace degrowth and a simpler life with little income I choose to reuse materials. And for inexpensive relaxation I am enjoying coloring with crayons on paper. That leads to...

 

Correspondence

If you would like to receive mail from me, please let me know. Pain, covid, and lack of funds sure has diminished my socializing; but boy do I love letters! I'm in the process of sending out very many letters. One thing I've learned in the past, though, is that folks are bizzy. If I write long treatises to everyone I know it would be a bit of a burden for them and for myself. Not to mention that I could easily feel crummy if I do not receive many letters in return. Yet, as I said already, folks b bizzy. So, I'm sending out the crayon drawings I mentioned above, with very few words, and a QR code or link for those who want to know what I'm up to. I'm using up old cards printed with the Linktree QR (because I hate waste); so for a time my old Linktree is now a “choose your own letter” menu. Here's the current selection:

1000 words (estimated): Current Projects & Aspirations (this page!)

500 words: Being Careful Amidst Carelessness

350 words: What Pain Prevents

650 words: “I sort of only feel good when I'm creating...”

26 words: Appreciating The Destroyers

250 words: Planet Be, the positive science fiction story I aspire to create

That leads to...

 

Planet B(e)

Read the story's first (short) scene. The simplest explanation of the story I want to write is the one from the choose-your-own-letter section above:

250 words: Planet Be, the positive science fiction story I aspire to create

There's also a Planet B blog where I intend to collect and piece together the story, I think. Keep in mind I've never completed a good story before! Trying to write it online might be a terrible idea. I make all these sites, and share all these aspirations, for two main reasons: to encourage myself onward, and also in the likely event I never finish. No reason to keep ideas hidden. If I can't make progress, perhaps somebody else will. I don't even know if I'd mind that!

 

How To Be: A Self-Help Memoir

Another incomplete project with its own blog!

 

White People Problems

Here's a really tough one! That's enough for now. I'm sleep deprived, you know? I work on this in little ways all the time. I speak to a mostly white audience on social media. I speak plainly about the white people problems that I see. All my projects are entwined. On my streams I happen to feature mostly non-white artists and writers because I share what I'm enjoying. The way to improvement is humanism. That means humanizing all people. White people have a long way to go. During the Black Lives Matter protests of June 2020 many Black voices on social media asked bluntly: Where will you be next month? Will you be with us next year? I took the criticism. I began my own program of self education that will never stop. The more I learn the better I'm able to respond whenever I'm in one of those “white people situations” where someone is spouting entrenched bigoted nonsense. I will keep working as much as I can.

 

Humanissome

Another incomplete project with its own blog! And a second blog! And a YouTube channel! And a Twitch stream! · When I created this page, by the time I got to this point it's clear I was out of energy. It's unfair to say humanissome is an incomplete project. It is my value system & way of life. The stream is the manifestation of humanissome work at the moment.

 

Residencies

Unfortunately I have not been able to work towards these goals yet. ➾ Summer in Maine ➾ Christmas (or January) in Mexico Residency periods would enable me to focus on the incomplete projects above, while enriching my life greatly. I do not like Florida in July and August. And I always get sad around Christmas.