How we goin'?, and a little movement workshop for patrons in MAY. (Patreon)

Hello my loves.

Happy springing.

I'm checkin' in, and flash-announcing a yoga/movement/meditation afternoon workshop on May 4th (in Woodstock, see way below) with me, Coco, and Manta.

..........

Greetings from Bearsville, NY, where I float along in deeply confused ecstasy as usual.

How are you all ... really doing? 

How's the change of seasons feeling, how's the post-Covid vibe in your town, country, how's the inner weather?

It's been a while since I asked. 

I'd like to know.

I'll start.

I posted this little reflection on FaceBorg the other day, after my littel ramble about the chronogram piece (which I posted to the patreon, and FB):

“Are you okay?”

“Your posts seem very dark, are you in danger?”

“Have you been tested for Autism? You seem to often be saying that you’re overwhelmed, and…”

A sampling of comments after my post yesterday

I am now tempted to write a longer piece about this and make that piece my patreon offering for the month.

But of course, I’m overwhelmed; I may not write it, so allow me to just take 7 minutes and summarize what I imagine the takeaway would be:

Yes, I am okay.

And yes, I am overwhelmed.

And from the perch where I am sitting, this is not that odd.

Almost every parent of young children I have met since returning to America appears - to me - to be pretty overwhelmed.

I cannot speak for all. But I can speak for a handful of parents I know right now.

We parents - scared and confused ourselves - just carried our scared and confused kids through Covid-times while many of our childless counterparts dealt with the very different plagues of boredom and isolation.

We have all suffered with different flavors of overwhelm.

Or as my friend Jack once succinctly put it in 2021: we are all eating our own individual bowls of shit.

I currently know a half dozen people from both camps (with and without children) on the edge of mental health breakdowns so fierce they wonder if they should be hospitalized.

I do not remember things being like this three years ago, before Covid.

I’m also going through a divorce. I’m also going through culture shock having come back from New Zealand after three years accidentally abroad.

And I am also an Artist of the Feels: I am a memoirist who has spent the better part of the last 25 years talking about how I am really doing, and have never sugarcoated my struggles.

But as the Backstreet Boys once sagely said: I want it that way.

I have found strength, for decades, in being honest about what I feel and what I perceive going on around me in the Zeitgeist.

Yes - I am definitely having my own moments of reckoning. And I am a particular demographic: Self-employed white American mother of a seven-year-old living in Upstate New York.

But if I am reporting from the emotional front on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people who trust me with their feelings and comments and information, I can assure you:

People - especially parents - are feeling pretty overwhelmed right now.

If you are feeling overwhelmed in the face of everything that is happening on the planet, in America, with gun violence, with the climate crisis, the global slide towards facism, with the algorithms taking over the public forum, and with the seemingly endless poetry of mundane and catastrophic moments of This Modern Life:

You are not alone.

I am with you, and so are a lot of other people.

So if people come to you - as they come to me - with worried brow or helpful diagnoses when you express your overwhelm in the face of all of the above, just tell them what I will tell them:

Feeling overwhelmed seems like a pretty reasonable feeling nowadays.

If you’re not overwhelmed, maybe you’re not paying attention.

I love you all.

Can I get an amen??

-Written after a quick phone-scroll on the third floor of the Museum of Science, Boston, gazing at the giant Van Der Graff generator while Ash experiments with lying on a bed of nails several feet away.

....

I'll take the Amen over here, Hallelujah.

And really...tell me how you are.

.....

Meanwhile....

I've been with family for the past couple days, in my old hometown, and posting little snippets of life and piano to IG lately, and now I'm home and trying to just hunker and prevail as I juggle the next four days: I have to rehearse my two-hour solo set for Tacoma (and Poughkeepsie, and Boston), finish writing new songs, work on the new covers about which I am extremely passionate, get the house in order, pack for tour, try to figure out what I'm ding with my life for the next five years, and of course, try to Thing Something. Possibly riffing on the....

10th ANNIVERSARY OF MY TED TALK

I feel a piece of writing coming on, I'm brimming with disconnected mental wires, and I'm pondering using those wires to thread together a piece about "The Art of Asking: 10 Years Later" to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of my TED talk, which is about to hit 20 million views across TED.com and YouTube. (WTFuck!?)

I delivered this talk almost exactly 10 years ago to the month; I'm about to return to TED for the first time in six years, and I have some new hot takes and reflections to share. If you've never seen it, it's only 13 minutes, and it still makes me cry a little when I watch it.

But oh, I feel like the girl on the box on that stage was a little naive. I love her, still.

But oh.

Certainly worth a revisit at the moment, given everything going on.

https://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking

If you feel like it, I'd love to hear a little about your own reflections on the TED talk - whether you saw it live, saw it 10 years ago, or just watched it today. Maybe a few thoughts on what you might want to know from insider my head ten years on, what other questions you may have...any thoughts...any reflections. Asking in a Post-Covid world. Asking Part Deux. I'll fold them into the piece if and when I write it....talka to me.

.....

AND:

ANNOUNCING a 

AFTERNOON-LONG MOVEMENT WORKSHOP in WOODSTOCK with Me, Coco, and Manta!

I am going to keep this invite to patrons and local friends only, just because it's so small, but that doesn't mean you can't share it with others. 

May 4th, 2023

Noon -4pm

$80

Limited to 20 people, so grab a spot... literally right now.

LOCATION: Very short walking distance from the central village in Woodstock, NY (which is accessible by bus from New York City via Kingston NY).

The number of spaces is very limited and will go fast. We'll be accepting reservations here, starting NOW:

https://bodywaytogo.weebly.com/

At the link above, you can also read more about who the facilitators are and what they do and stuff....

Ages 18+, no experience necessary. Wear comfy clothes, bring your own mat if you can, but we may not need it.

It'll be me (I'll lead a meditation and practice with the group), my wonderful friend (known to many of you), Shintaido Instructor David "Manta" Franklin, and my other wonderful friend, choreographer Coco Karol.  a day of gentle body movement, fun, easy and healthy exercise for all kinds of bodies, insight, contemplation and connection -- including, but not limited to, Shintaido and MUNZ Floor Work (which is a little like long, slow yin yoga, you just kinda lie on the floor and do slow spiral stretches...it's delicious). 

After you make a reservation, we'll send you a payment link (PayPal or other debit/credit cards). After we receive your payment, your registration is confirmed and we'll send you the location and other practical details.

Greatly looking forward to seeing, moving, and contemplating with you.

Amanda (and Coco, and Manta)

......

More soon.

Reading comments.

x

A

TOUR SEASON IS UPON US!!!!!!!!!!

***AFP SOLO***

Saturday, April 15th - Tacoma, WA - The Temple Theatre

Wednesday, April 19th - Vancouver, CA - Vogue Theatre NinjaTED - BENEFIT FOR GREATER VANCOUVER FOOD BANK

Friday, April 28th - Poughkeepsie, NY - Bardavon *ALMOST SOLD OUT*

Saturday, April 29th - Boston, MA - The Wilbur Theater *ALMOST SOLD OUT*

***THE DRESDEN DOLLS***

May 19th, 20th, & 21st - Denver, CO - Ophelia's Electric Soapbox *SOLD OUT*

May 26th, 27th, & 28th - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf *SOLD OUT*

June 16th, 17th, & 18th - Orlando, FL - The Social *SOLD OUT*

June 23rd, 24th, & 25th - New Orleans, LA - Toulouse Theatre *SOLD OUT*

All tickets at: https://amandapalmer.net/events/

———THE STUFF I PASTE AT THE END OF THE POST———

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that's always nice for me to see, so i know who's reading.

3. see All the Things (over 200 of them) i've made so far on patreon:

http://amandapalmer.net/things

4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

5. are you new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

6. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net