chaos theory

with Antonina Mamzenko

Hi friend,

In a new Green Party ad, Zack Polanski captures the feeling that many of us have felt for a long while now. We are always running, we can’t stop, there’s always something we need to do. Whether you have to work two jobs to make ends meet, or the social pressure makes it so that you need to shuttle your kids from one after school club to another and neither they nor you ever get a break, we are all exhausted.

But what if we stopped running?

Philosopher Bayo Akomolafe writes: “The times are urgent, we must slow down”.​

I felt annoyed by this sentiment when I first came across it.

What do you MEAN?!

Times are URGENT! We MUST DO THINGS NOW!

But if you slow down for just one second (huh…) things become much more self-evident.

Who does the urgency serve? Who does having us in the constant state of crisis serve? Who does the convenience culture serve? Who does the relational void serve?

If everything is urgent, if we are constantly fighting fires, nothing of real, long-term, of deep importance ever gets done.

Slowing down, Bayo writes, is about asking new questions. Looking around at what resources you already have. It's " taking care of ghosts, hugging monsters, sharing silence, embracing the weird."

That's all for today. Let us slow down and embrace the weird.

Antonina x

Things you may be interested in:

​The Soup: A small group mentoring programme without a curriculum, but with spacious structure and accountability, starting 13th February. Two out of six spaces have been spoken for, four remaining. Hit reply if you'd like to chat and see if it's the right fit for you.

​Creative Anarchy: Save the date, the next Creative Anarchy session will be Friday 6th February at 2pm GMT / 9am EST. RSVP to get the link.

​1:1 Mentoring: If you need help with a specific question, be it your pricing structure, feedback on your brand new website or portfolio, or need some thought partnership, 90 minute mentoring slots are available. There's also a solidarity rate for those who would not be able to access mentoring otherwise.

​Family Photography: This year might be the last I'm offering my signature Adventure Sessions, and my availability is limited. If you're overdue one for your family, it may be a good idea to pencil in a date now. Hit reply to this email and let's chat. Unconventional Family Portraits are also available for those local(ish) to me.