The Time Is Now

In a recent New York Times Magazine interview, Dr. Anna Lembke, a Stanford psychiatrist who studies a variety of addictions from substance abuse to social media, talks about her speculative theory about contemporary society and narcissism. “Our culture is demanding that we focus on ourselves so much that what it’s creating is this deep need to escape ourselves,” she says. Take a break from self-actualization and write an essay that focuses on a close friend or loved one to create a lyrical profile of sorts. If you instinctively relate your observations and memories back to yourself, correct course and try to place the focus as much as possible on someone else. What emerges as a result?

“I don’t like you, but I love you / Seems that I’m always thinking of you” begins the 1962 hit song “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” written by Smokey Robinson and performed by The Miracles. What does the speaker mean by this seemingly contradictory sentiment of loving, but not liking? Write a short story in which the narrative revolves around a character who feels similarly—loving, but not liking another character. It may be a childhood friend with a deep, lifelong bond whom the protagonist is on the outs with or a romantic interest who isn’t measuring up in some way. Depending on the story’s point of view, you might experiment with inner monologue, dialogue, or pay close attention to the physical communication between your characters to gesture toward the emotions at play.

Did you know that the word robust comes from the Latin word robur meaning “oak tree?” Merriam-Webster’s “12 Words Whose History Will Surprise You” provides the fascinating etymological history of words such as boudoir, phlegm, amethyst, and assassin, essentially mini lessons demonstrating an English word’s linguistic origins from an assortment of languages, including Medieval Latin, Greek, Arabic, French, and Middle English. Jot down a list of some of your favorite nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and look up their origin stories. (Tip: Merriam-Webster often lists a word’s etymology in the “Word History” section.) Write a poem inspired by this newly discovered and intriguing story behind the language, incorporating past iterations of the word into your verse.

Written around 2000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia, “The Love Song of Shu-Sin” holds the record as the oldest known love poem. Forty centuries later, love poetry continues to be written, in times of joy and sorrow, for all different types of occasions in as many different styles as there are writers. Choose a favorite love poem and spend some time considering the people and things you’ve loved. Write a personal essay that reflects on the elements of the poem that most deeply resonate with you, whether it be the diction, imagery, or sentiments expressed. In what ways does this poem remind you of meaningful relationships in your life? How do these words reflect a message about love?

Luca Guadagnino’s 2015 drama film A Bigger Splash follows a couple vacationing on an Italian island whose peace is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of an ex-lover with his daughter in tow. Marianne, a world-renowned rock star, has just had a surgical operation leaving her unable to speak throughout the film, with the exception of occasional whispers. This week write a short story that builds a sense of tension by having a typically expected mode of communication temporarily shut down. What misunderstandings occur? While one means of communication is hindered, is there another method that compensates for the loss?

Edges of Ailey is an immersive exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art centered around the twentieth-century choreographer, dancer, and artist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The show spotlights multimedia presentations of Ailey’s work, recorded footage, notebooks and drawings, as well as works that inspired Ailey and have been inspired by him in the forms of literature, music, and visual art. Write a poem centered on movements of the body, whether a creative motion like a dance move or the everyday, repetitive motion of carrying out a task. Allow yourself the freedom to experiment with page space—choosing different sizes or styles of script, incorporating small drawings or cutouts—to create a collage-like piece.

The science fiction thriller television series Severance, created by Dan Erickson, is centered around a group of characters who work on a classified project at a corporation and undergo a “severance” procedure, in which their nine-to-five workday selves have compartmentalized memories, separate from their outside-world selves, in effect creating two entirely differentiated lived experiences. In the pilot episode, it’s revealed that the main character Mark underwent the procedure after he lost his wife to a car accident, and in his grief was unable to continue with his job as a college history professor. Write a nonfiction piece that explores this idea of severance, speculating on a certain portion or element of your life that you would consider “severing” from your day-to-day consciousness. Though there might be gains, would they outweigh the losses?

“Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær” is a rhyming proverb in Norwegian that means there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. This sentiment points not just to a high value of functional comfort, but to the cultural importance of time spent outdoors—especially in a country whose inland regions see considerably cold temperatures and snowfall. Write a short story in which the main action is set in motion by a discrepancy between a character’s choice of clothing and the weather, such as light clothing on a frigid day, too many layers that prove to be too hot, or delicate clothing that encounters splattered mud or dust storms. What are the circumstances that lead your character to don an inappropriate ensemble? Consider what the initial decision, the response, and the ultimate conclusion reveal about your character’s personality and motivations.

In a Sight and Sound magazine interview from last November, filmmaker David Lynch, who passed away earlier this month, was asked about the inspiration for his latest album with longtime collaborator Chrystabell. Publicity materials for the album described how Lynch experienced a mysterious, revelatory vision while out for a nighttime walk in the woods. In the interview, Lynch admits this revelation isn’t quite what happened, but that he does “walk in the woods in my mind.” Jot down notes about the type of atmosphere, shape, mystery, or emotions you associate with a walk in the woods, and how might you “walk in your mind.” Allow your imagination to wander freely into any shadowy corners. Then, compose a poem that results from this creative exercise.

Mati Diop’s 2024 hybrid documentary, Dahomey, chronicles the repatriation of twenty-six cultural treasures—including sculptures and a throne plundered during France’s colonial rule over the Kingdom of Dahomey—following them from the Musée du quai Branly in Paris back to the present-day Republic of Benin. Diop intersperses her footage with poetic voice-over narration representing the sentiments of a statue of a king, and uses cameras placed in the perspective of the looted artifacts while they’re in transit, the screen going dark when the crates are sealed and shipped. Think of an artwork, artifact, or other personally significant object that, due to its location in time or geography, has existed during a tumultuous period. Write a lyrical essay that gives the item voice and expression, using imaginative language to animate the inanimate with the capability of experience or witnessing.