Involution

Definition:

1. an act or instance of involving or entangling; involvement.the state of being involved.something complicated.
2. the state of being involved
3. something complicated

Earlier this year, I set up another set of social media accounts under the name of The Art of Involution. Initially I set them up with the idea of building custom vape coils (another hobby of mine) but in the back of my mind I was open to the idea of using those accounts for other artistic ventures. I think, perhaps, that time has come. 3 separate events within 24 hours have gotten my brain churning in a possible new direction. It may not go anywhere at all, but I think it’s time I started using my personal accounts for personal use, and move a lot of my photography and creative writing over to the Involution accounts. I may cross-post between them to some degree, but I think having a separate place for my creative work and mental health advocacy will be beneficial – despite it being a bit more of a headache to keep them separated as such!

So the first question that may be on people’s minds is what kind of name is Involution Arts, and why that particular word? Well, initially I was thinking about building custom vape coils and selling them. There was some interest, and my designs (completely unique to me) are very intricate and complex. I thought the idea of twisting wire in on itself into complicated yet functional wire art was neat – but almost all the other coil builders had variations on the word “twisted” or some sort of edgy name. I wanted something different, so I pulled up an online thesaurus, plugged in the word “twisted” and decided this was pretty accurate, and still different enough to (hopefully) stand out.

So what else happened that has woken up the blog and these new thoughts? Well, as I mentioned, three separate events within 24 hours. 2 happened earlier today, one will be occurring in a couple of hours.

1. A photo and brief article I wrote for another online community has been selected for a project they’re collaborating on. This isn’t the first time they’ve used my work in a larger project, but this is the first time I’m getting paid for it. I will clarify, I have submitted my stuff and allowed them to use it freely, because I believe it will help the community. This time, the compensation is just a nice bonus.
2. Earlier this summer I attended a funeral of an older an that I knew – the connection isn’t important, but at work today, one of the gentlemen who officiated at the funeral asked me if that was something I did regularly. I just said I had only recently gotten into photography, but he encouraged me to keep in touch with him. I had never considered funeral photography could be a “thing” but my brain is definitely thinking about it now!
3. This evening, I will be interviewed for another podcast (this is #2). I’m pretty excited to be able to share a bit about my experiences and my journey. And again, its not about “hey, people are interviewing me!” it’s about connecting with others who deal with mental illness. If I can help one or two people feel a little more understood, and feel like someone else has had similar experiences, that’s all I really want. And if this keeps happening, I’ll keep taking opportunities when I can. Because I know how brutal it is to feel so completely isolated and misunderstood.

So that’s really about it. I’ve had so much going on since mid-August, and I’m not in the clear just yet – but I really hope a bit of the chaos settles down in the next few weeks.

Much love to you all,
Andrew aka Phoenix