From alternatives for impacted creatives to reminders about self-care
Look, we can all admit we had no idea what 2020 would hold. Man, though, this is a LOT. Cancelled events, while good for public health, mean huge losses of income for many, many creatives. Even those with day jobs are suddenly finding workplaces cutting hours, shutting down, and some shifting to remote work. We’re all facing panic in the media, toilet paper shortages, and isolation from our communities.
In these trying times, I wanted to put together in one place some links & resources for those of us with cancelled events, reminders on how to support each other and ourselves, facts about COVID-19 as well as the mental and financial toll, and more.
Cancelled events?
Alternatives to promote your work (and/or support other creatives if you have the resources!)
- Convention Prime: Find your favorite indie artists, creators, and fandoms and support their work. Created by Adron Buske to help the #ECCC artist community. On Twitter and on the web
- Iron Circus Comics is hosting #pajamacon on Twitch
- Very Very Shopping Network for ECCC vendors is going through tomorrow on Twitch
- Artist Alley Online – also follow #artistalleyonline on twitter
- Other Hashtags on Twitter:
- #CoronaCon – Comic Creators sharing free tastes of their comics for everyone stuck at home.
- #ECCConline – lots of the creators/vendors/artists who were going to be vending at Emerald City Comic Con sharing their web stores.
Suddenly working from home more than usual or for the first time?
Working from home can be awesome but can also be stressful in different ways, and lonely.
- Here’s a post I recently did about working from home.
- Also, a good Twitter thread on “So you’re working from home now”
- Another stellar twitter thread – no work tips here, just people sharing the pets that are “helping” them work from home.
Feeling a lot of feelings and spiraling?
In the last week especially, I’ve seen people talking about everything from just general malaise/funk feelings to full-blown panic attacks. It’s important to remember that your mental health and general self-care need to stay priorities, though I know it can be hard.
- Be gentle on yourself. If you need to scream, stress-eat some cookies, hide in your room, turn off the computer/phone, don’t feel guilty. We all need releases and coping mechanisms and we are all handling SO MUCH right now.
- Don’t forget self-care. Routines will help you feel better and help maintain some sense of normalcy while nothing is normal.
- Taking Care of Your Mental Health in the Face of Uncertainty – article from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- Reminder that media fatigue is absolutely a thing.
- If you’re feeling isolated without events and community and that’s contributing, here’s a reminder/suggestion about ways to visually connect even if you’re quarantined or far away from others – set up Zoom video calls with your friends and tabletop gaming groups, use Facetime or other video based apps like Marco Polo instead of texting. Find Twitch channels that you enjoy.
Want some actual facts & applicable resources about COVID-19?
The news and social media have been a deluge – it’s hard to weed out fact from opinion, accurate from overblown. Not sure how this really affects you or what to do about how it’s affecting your income? Here’s some good places to start.
- Coronavirus facts – Data and infographics from Information is Beautiful
- An ongoing list of resources specifically for freelancers & creatives in the wake of COVID-19
Most importantly, if you’re struggling in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out and get support. We’re all in this together.