The world will forgive you for taking care of yourself. Or the world that matters.
A friend wrote that to me recently. They were helping me to relax about feeling bad. Why was I feeling bad? I was planning on completing a zine project and releasing it on the 17th. It didn’t matter that Wanderer had an MRI scheduled that day (he’s okay) and that I had to travel to Melbourne to see a neurologist the next day (I’m not awesome, but I can get better).
I hold myself to task for these things and get very disappointed when I don’t live up to my expectations.
The thing is that I am stressed. I am a little overwhelmed right now, and even though I certainly have the time to sit down with a zine and review it, I’m concerned that my exhaustion, my mood, and my stress may make that review less than that zine – or any zine – deserves from me. I respect that people are paying their hard-earned money to send me their zines, and I never want to give anything other than the best.
So I need to take this week off reviews. Just today and tomorrow. I’ll still be posting International Zine Month stuff. I’ll still have calls for submissions going up this weekend. But I can’t give zines the attention they deserve for a proper review this week. I will be right back to it next week with bells on.
I’m probably making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. I mean, what’s two days? Two reviews that will happen later instead of today and tomorrow? It almost feels egotistical to assume people would care to the extent that I need to put up this announcement.
I hope that my stress about it just goes to show how much I care about this blog, about zines, and about every one of you who reads this blog. That I respect and love what I do. Feel fortunate that I can do this and bring people some happiness on occasion.
So I do hope you’ll forgive me. It’s hard to lose my ‘winning’ streak of not missing a review day this year. But I won’t sacrifice quality for quantity. (Or self-competition.) Not in this.
Big hugs and loves of love from Oz,
Nyx
