WEEK 26 - Imagine a better future, then create it. 🎨

Hey there, thanks for joining us for Week 26 of HOMwork 2020!

Hello friends! This week we are going to create both a crystal ball AND the future we see inside it. How’s that for some badass creative goal setting?!

I came up with this prompt because I was listening to a podcast called Planet Money, produced by NPR. The episode I was listening to, called “Money and Justice,” included some great insights about the ways we think about money and who “deserves” it. One idea that really stuck with me was introduced by economist William A. Darity, while discussing reparations.

Darity explained that you shouldn’t avoid pursuing social change just because you don’t think it’s likely to happen. For example, if you had been living in the U.S. in 1817 you probably would NOT think that slavery was likely to (ever) come to an end.

But whether it was likely to end wasn’t (and shouldn’t have been) the deciding factor in whether people opposed slavery. Darity uses a similar line of reasoning for reparations: even though - he believes - reparations are unlikely, he’s still going to advocate for them. He’s imagining a future where appropriate reparations exist and then figuring out what he can do on his end of history to make that future a reality.

This is such an important lesson! We are conditioned to believe that our hopes for a bright future are improbable or impossible. But even if it’s super unlikely that the kind of futures we dream about will become a reality we should still advocate for those futures! We should still take steps to make those “impossible” futures a possibility. Because even if we don’t see it happen in our lifetime, we can still lay the groundwork for it to happen eventually.

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It’s going to look different for everyone, right? For me, I often dream about a future where creative work is well-compensated, not just admired. I think a lot of creatives feel this way - that a world where their work is truly valued (with appropriate compensation!) is both a deep desire and an almost impossible dream. But if people like Darity are right (and I think they are) then I should be doing work that makes that “future” a possibility.

We may not see the change in our lifetime. It might take generations! But a long timeline shouldn’t stop us from 1) dreaming about a future that is much better than our current state and 2) doing the work we can do now to set ourselves on the path to that future.

Which brings me to this week’s assignment….

Your assignment: Design or illustrate a crystal ball containing a future event you’d like to come true.

Examples to get you started:

• In the future I will own a successful creative business.

• Someday cash bail will be eliminated.

• Someday every eligible US citizen will turn up to vote.

• In the future, women won’t have to decide between family and career.

• In the future, allergies won’t keep me from having some adorable puppers or kittehs.

Caption thoughts: The caption is where you’re going to do the work! Tell us at least one action you are taking towards making that future in your crystal ball a reality. In a recent episode of Queer Eye, Bobby says “sentiment turns to sediment.” Meaning thoughts and dreams are nice, but without action they sink to the bottom and become pretty much useless.

My dream is that kids who tell their parents they want to do Art as a career are met with so much excitement and enthusiasm. That there will be no way a parent would be able to say “oh gosh, you should really consider something more realistic” because Art 🏼 will 🏼 be 🏼 a 🏼 well-compensated 🏼 profession.

And the way I’m working to make that dream a reality is by:

• Continuing to grow my own art-centered business so that I can share the knowledge with others AND

• Creating free resources to help creatives grow their own businesses.

In other words, the way for MY crystal-ball future to become a reality is for artists to be educated about how to run their businesses successfully, so that they can create financially successful businesses. My dad - who wasn’t entirely jazzed about my decision to pursue art haha - now LOVES to tell people that they should encourage their kids‘ creative careers because his daughter is a successful artist. I love that! If I can get more people to change their minds like that then I’m that much close to my crystal-ball future.

Make sure to use the hashtag #HOMwork2020 and tag me @homsweethom when you share your crystal ball futures  on Instagram. I’ll be posting some of my favorites on my Stories!

x Lauren

P.S. That whole episode of Planet Money I mentioned earlier in this email is educational and challenging and fascinating and you should definitely give it a listen!