creating together

on bubbles and collaborations and spaces

, and

Jan 21, 2024

Bubbles

We had a really fascinating editors' meeting yesterday. Somehow we stumbled upon the metaphor of bubbles, to describe the wellsprings of creativity we are witnessing in the wake of last week's creators' workshops.

There are those large bubbles that come gurgling up from deep within, and those fizzy little bubbles that come whizzing up in a flash. There are light, airy bubbles that float around, and bubbles that land on a surface and stick there in a wobbly way.

Sometimes bubbles connect and form pairs, or even groups, sharing their edges and moving along together.

Bubbles usually burst. Either instantly, or eventually. This is their nature.

The same happens to all those wonderful, buzzing ideas and thrilling collaborations. They collapse into the stuff of reality: the time invested, the energy used, the resources squeezed, and the relationship tested. Bubbles burst because they meet the edges of a project or a person.

Bubbles of creativity may burst, but they don't disappear: they collapse into something more sturdy, more do-able. They become a drawing board full of colours, or a page full of words, or the notes of a song, or a conversation worth having, or even a friendship.

We've already had messages from potential contributors to the magazine, suggesting wonderful possibilities for collaboration. It's tempting to create some kind of central hub to "manage" collaboration but we're imagining something more wild and alive.

It can be a little scary — a bit edge-y even — to approach others directly with an idea. Yet that process could be an intrinsic part of a creative project. Creators may need to adapt or grow an idea, or trim it back, or reshape it entirely, depending on who one finds (or doesn't find) in collaboration.

The deadline for submissions to issue 10 is just over a month away: Thursday 29 February. There's still time to connect with others and develop something on the theme of EDGES.

Collaborations

Here's a few ways you could collaborate with others:

Email list
We can set up a shared group email list. If you're OK with your email being included, let us know by Friday 26 January. We will distribute the list among those who want to participate. You can use this list to tell others about your ideas, or hear about projects you could participate in. To be included, please email julia@unpsychology.org and if you have an idea to share, please explain it in no more than 3 lines.
Discord online space
Discord is a free online collaboration space. Julia has set up a Discord community for unpsychology and you are welcome to join in (see the invitation here.) Be forewarned: Discord was developed as a gamer's platform and its design appears quite dark and bitty. Steve described Discord as a bit like being inside a gamer's head! Having said that, it is an edgy and flexible space where you can post ideas and make connections. There is even a video facility, so we have set up a drop-in space where you can meet with others for live chat. You may be able to make sense of and use it. We won't be moderating this space as such (though you may find us there now and again!) but please read the guidelines and behave courteously.
Contact someone directly
You can get in touch with someone who was at one of the workshops, or contributors to previous issues of the magazine, or just anyone you know. Someone you resonate with or someone different to you or from a different part of your life.

After the submission deadline, we're hoping to hold some more workshops. We'd love you to come and explore with us. If some creative expressions emerge from these workshops, we could find a way to do something with these. We have this Substack space of course, together with our Medium publication and Facebook profile. And there is the potential to produce some kind of companion to the magazine (what that might look like we don't know); or indeed they could simply be released, like bubbles, out beyond the edge and into space.

We want to encourage you to let your bubbles of creativity fly free, to dance through the air, to be chased by laughter and glee, until they finally burst into something real.

A guest post by