Maybe Art Only Needs to Be
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2023
- In which John makes some pottery--specifically a secret keeper for a p4a donor. You can donate and get great perks until midnight tonight: projectforawesome.com/donate
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"i used to think art had to be great to be worthwhile; now, i only think it has to /be/ to be worthwhile." good reminder for my frequent bouts of unwieldy perfectionism 💜
If you want a podcast about the brain (and today's being especially about perfectionism), check out What The Hell Is My Brain Doing? by Julie Lamb. She's a practicing therapist and a number of other things and I edit the podcast and... like... it's really actually pretty great...
Make Bad Art has become a mantra of mine in recent years for much this same reason
That really spoke to me too. Just what I needed to hear at this point in my life.
+1 I was moping today because for the first time in a long time I sat down to write something, and I did not think it turned out very good. But I really want my little story to exist in the world because I think it is worthwhile. But even if I don't think my skill is worthy of my worthwhile story, that doesn't change the fact the story is worthwhile.
I think someone noted once said "Visual arts are how we decorate space. Music is how we decorate time". Else you can head off into various routes from there, Animism, Shinto, Daoism, other 'Pagan' related religions. Me? I go to Alan Watts on this one. "The meaning of life is to just be, alive". A fabulous fellow who was half Green Punk before it existed, half church sermon. Sometimes he is credited, somewhat inaccurately as: The first British Zen Master.
“Please don’t correct my pottery technique. I’m not trying to be good…” serves as a reminder to me as a ballet teacher. I teach a lot of adult recreational dancers, and am so inspired by their passion. I think amateur artists deserve the respect of being taught good technique and belief in their ability to achieve big goals. However, sometimes I forget to step back and just let them dance.
I only learned this last year in which I don't give art critique unless someone asks specifically for art critique. Sometimes people need to just express or destress.
Only a little related... I recently started taking a swing-dancing class with a few friends. It's been years since I felt good about moving my body in front of other people, and last night I went to a dance social after the class with a bunch of more advanced dancers and professionals and got to dance with them and it was so fun, I felt graceful (until I trod on someones toes!)
@@seekittycat Express or destress is such a good way of putting it!
@@franzferdinand1782 That’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed yourself and hope you’ll get to go out dancing again soon :)
@@natashacoolen4022 Next Monday! It's a weekly class :D
I like how the semi-hidden spiral can be the secret-keeper's own little secret
It's a lot like secrets, because you can feel the secrets you can't see.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 but I don't feel not see the secrets I'm confused
"Hope is the correct response to consciousness" I didn't know I woke up needing to here this until I did. Thank you John.
*hear
@@debrachambers1304 Thank you ever so much for your thoughtful and insightful response to my call into the void. I appreciate it. It really made my day.
@@taylormeaney6638 I'm glad! 😊
@@taylormeaney6638 I hope that today is a bright day, whatever that means for you. Nothing ever changes the same, and that can be a comfort when things are hard. Chin up and DFTBA!
@@taylormeaney6638 man, I'm sorry you had someone respond to this like that, usually this community is more friendly than that. But I'm glad the video helped you anyway and I hope you're doing well.
As much as I love “the format”™️ I love this calm reflective art session so much and would love to see something like this again
Me too
Same!
I just wrote something similar. Agreed!
It was so peaceful. Exactly the right video to watch before bed.
I love the camera just staying set on one thing. It's very serene.
I would like to better understand secret storage techniques and best practices. Are the vessels secret-neutral, or bespoke per secret, or do heavier secrets need a secret keeper with a higher strength rating or something like that?
It's a common mistake to not pressure-test your secret keeper before use. 30-50 PSI works well for most secrets, but the heavy duty ones need to be made of something other than clay
@@niceguy191 This is the expertise I am looking for, thank you. If the weight of the secret includes both trauma and shame, do you need to pressure test against the total weight additively, or do you just need to be robust against the higher of the two values?
@@Vihart The pressure of a secret is actually the weight times the trauma and shame squared. W(T+S)²
It's really easy to get high pressures with relatively low-weight secrets once you factor in the trauma or shame and overburden your vessel if you're not careful.
I believe if you're worried about your secret being too heavy, splitting it between two secret keepers can significantly lighten the load each individual keeper needs to withstand - unfortunately i haven't refined a formula for specifics
@@niceguy191 @vihart this is the kind of discussion I am here for. Thank you for going into detail on this type of calculation
The vibes of this is so beautiful, especially after a super gross health week. As always, thanks John.
Sorry for the hard health week, Phoebe. Wishing you well. -John
Hope is the correct response to consciousness 💕
I don't know how you manage to put words to these overwhelming feelings. Thank you, John
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I would like to understand John's definition of hope.
I often feel very wierd about hope, like when the pandemic rainbows were popular they felt dissmissive of the grief many people were going through. Things did not go back to "normal", history itself changed into something else. I believe the future always ends up somewhere unexpected in between our fantasy and our fears. Hope often feel like creating an expectation that can make dissapointment more bitter (like when you don't get the job, the person doesn't feel the same, the tests don't come back negative) How do we distinguish hope from expectation?
@@gabrielamacleod5403 I think for me, hope is possibility. I feel like expectations carry much more weight but possibility just gives you more light in the darkness.
If I were expecting to get a job, I would surely be dejected on not getting it and probably internalise the rejection. However if there's hope and I enjoy the possibility of getting the job and then not get it, I would still be upset but I think I'd be more open to seeing other possibilities, because I'd not take the rejection as personally
I'm not sure if I explained it clearly enough but I tried 🙈
That move toward the end where you’re closing up the hole and everything is wobbling wildly is sort of what I see in my brain whenever I hear this community say “doobly-doo”
This comment is one of those thoughts that I didn't realize I was having as well. I love that!
All weekend long, I kept thinking, if you showed this to 15-year-old me, who just discovered Nerdfighteria, back in 2011, she would be blown away. She almost would not believe what a huge part of her personality this community was going to become, and how proud she'd feel to be part of it. How lucky am I, how lucky we all are, for this beautiful thing we direct our attention towards together.
Truly lucky indeed. May we get to grow together and keep doing awesome things for a long, long time to come. DFTBA!
I joined Nerdfighteria in 2011 too! It's so lovely to have this community be a part of our lives for all these years 💜
Same! Also a 2011 nerd fighter here. I think I was 16
Fellow nerdfighter class of 2011 here! I was 16
I feel the same, though I joined both earlier in life and later in actual years. My past 11 years with this community have shaped me in ways that I never considered and never would have considered at 13, and I am so incredibly grateful to this community and to John and Hank for showing me what it means to be a person, showing that compassion is not a weakness, but a strength and a blessing.
I didn't tune in for very much p4a this year because I was mourning a loss and while the p4a brings me hope and joy every year, I just couldn't engage with the beautiful jolly-ness of it all this time. Just needed to be quiet. But I stopped in for a couple minutes here and there to give my donations and read the chats. Thank you for those who were kind to me. We're here because we're here because we're here
May you have all the time and support you need in your time of mourning.
we're here because
@silliepixie we're here because
@@sharonoddlyenough we're here because we're here
Sorry for your loss. May you find comfort. 🙏
"How lucky we are, Hank...to still be doing this, to still feel the warmth of this community."
Thank you for your warmth, Nerdfighters ♥️
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"I used to think art had to be great to be worthwhile; now, I only think it has to BE to be worthwhile." As someone who chose to completely flip their life path for their love of art, specifically cello playing, which I began at 23 and then proceeded to give up my entire 20's to focus on and study diligently and is just this upcoming Saturday about to have my audition for admission to a graduate program for cello performance, this thought has been the theme of my last two weeks. I am constantly feeling overwhelmed by the presence of better artists, economic pressures to give up and simultaneously intrusive thoughts that my own art is not good enough to merit my change of focus and career path. This statement resonates so hard with me on this third week in which my brain is really struggling to let go of comparisons and not allow it to burgle my joy and losing focus of my own personal mantra in which each day and every time I go to play I tell myself "I am a good and capable cellist". Sometimes I am just really overwhelmed by my thoughts like yesterday when I fixated on the next set of strings I want to try for nearly 3 hours so I really needed that reminder this morning from the outside greater consciousness of the human experience. Thank you John.
The P4A was, indeed, awesome. It was truly awe inspiring to experience, and to see this community come together. This was my first time participating, but I will not be the last. Thank you all.
The best way to make art is to distract oneself from *gestures broadly* so your pottery skills are impeccable
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"It reminds me that hope is the correct response to consciousness" -John Green
I’ve been taking a pottery class and the best thing I’ve learned so far is how to accept that I don’t have to be amazing or perfect at it. I’m loving just doing it, whether I produce something I fire or not. For the first time I’m making just for the beauty of the act and the moment, not for the end goal.
(Also, that process at the end is called collaring in btw John)
I’m still not ready to move on from the P4a yet, I’m so glad I got to experience it for the first time as a nerdfighter, it was the absolute best! thank you john, I love this community
I feel that. It was my first P4a as well and it felt surreal when it was happening and after it was over I kept feeling this feeling of absolutely joy at being a part of this community. Thank you to everyone in the community for making it so welcoming.
Aw, so happy that you both experienced it! Welcome!
We're glad to have you 💕
@@livvy94 💕💕
@@2201rafaela it's was sooo much fun to attend!!
The p4a this year came at a time that I desperately needed some hope and some distraction, so its hopeful distraction was welcomed warmly.
Thank you for being here with us. May the hope and distraction carry you forward to the light soaked days. They're coming.
I love how this channel started out largely as an elaboration on Ze Frank's way of expressing his ideas about participatory, low-barrier art, and now we've seen what it means for those ideas to mature through a significant chunk of a human life.
There are a few things I think about with this video. For one, I'm basically a folklorist at this point, and as part of that I adore seeing folk art, made out of necessity or just pleasure of the craft and expression. For another, I'm learning crochet these days and so am thinking a lot about what my own metric of perfection is for any one project, and how I should really tone that down so I can make anything properly and not just worry.
Hearing you talk about a thing that I also remember being part of, with some of the same shared community feelings and emotions tied to it, might be my favourite thing about P4A and nerdfighteria in general. 48hrs of wholesome connection across the span of the internet is truly amazing to take part in, and the sense of pride and hope and other inexplainable emotions that I get from it is glorious. So thank you John, and Hank, and this whole community, for being what you are.
We are strangers on the internet, but we are strangers on the internet together.
I'm dealing with a lot of heavy stuff and couldn't make it to the p4a this year. But I am so proud to be a part of a community that does things like it.
Thank you for being a part of the community! I missed most of P4A because I had work over the weekend; life sometimes just gets in the way of things. I hope the heavy stuff passes, or at least becomes less heavy over time
I loved every second of this video, the secret keepers and how art doesn’t have to be great to be worthwhile, it simply has to be. The P4A was thoroughly awesome as it is every year, and I was in awe of how many thousands of people joined in commenting ‘we’re here because we’re here’. I love every vlogbrothers tradition, thank you John, and Hank; dftba.
I got a secret keeper perk so it's extra fun to see one getting made! Also I love the P4A so much and now that the withdrawals are over my heart is very full 💜
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The ending of the P4A was also my favorite part (and there were a lot of good parts! I watched ~20 hours of the stream). Seeing everyone in the Green families celebrating together with 6,000 people in the chat was a great feeling. 💛 (Plus the stream ending with Orin saying "I got confetti in my mouth" was very on brand.)
this video style is everything to me. i love you just talking about stuff and doing stuff and being so incredibly profound in such a casual way
As someone who produces pottery day-in and day-out, mostly mugs that are meant to be functional, I love your wobbly, closed-form secret keepers. Thanks for sharing your art, they're the antithesis of my work and I need to make one!
Hank would have definitely chosen to make a video like this before the P4A and increased the price of the pottery that I now missed.
This is a very John way of marketing and taking it down a notch, and I love it.
And, in a sense, it's a way of keeping promises, perhaps? Making good on the promise of the pottery - made all the better because everyone involved will enjoy the process: John making it, and the recipients receiving it :)
(and meanwhile we also get to enjoy watching John make it!)
The P4A was such a wonderful time, as it always is. Thanks for being so awesome Nerdfighteria
This was the first year I really participated in the chat, even though my first P4A was 2015. And it was incredible to engage in the madness and kindness displayed there. The collective excitement and joy are indescribable.
I find it so liberating to remember I am making music and doing research for the benefit of my soul and that it does not have to be grand or important for me to find joy and self growth in it. Love your secret keepers, John.
“it reminds me that hope the correct response to consciousness.”
that is a quote i have so desperately needed to hear all my life, and i’m glad that i clicked on this little video in order to hear it.
"Hope is the correct response to consciousness" is the vibe that has me coming back to Hank and John over and over again. I'm 24, which means I've been a (legal) adult for about two and a half presidencies at this point, and it's been really difficult for me to remember that just because the whole world seems to have been on fire for the last six years of my life doesn't mean everything is awful. Thank you, Hank and John, for helping me to have just a little bit easier of a time doing that.
I missed the P4A livestream this year cuz of a family emergency but was able to donate and snag the 3 pack of socks cuz the fundraiser was still up Monday. Glad you guys keep the page up for extra time after the official stream is over. Happy 3 mill!
Thank you for being where you needed to be for your loved ones this year. That, too, is a great way to spend a P4A weekend. I hope your socks are extra cozy when they get to you. Best wishes!
I got goosebumps at the end. It made me smile to think that I was just one of those voices explaining that we’re here because where here. Thank you
this year was the first P4A i’ve watched and i’m so happy i did! it was amazing and seeing all the guests and silly activities and all the donations made my heart so happy. can’t wait for next years ❤
I am so glad you joined us and that you had a good time! See you next year!
During the final hour of the P4A livestream I was cutting vegetables. When the 'here because we're here' started, I suddenly felt enormously connected to the world. I agree with you, John, it was my favourite moment of the P4A as well. It was a pleasure to be a part of this and to many more P4A's to come!
Thanks to everyone who was a part of it as well!
There's just something magical about it.
I guess you were cutting onions both literally and figuratively.
so so grateful for the p4a every year. it’s lifts my spirits and reminds me that there is action being taken to conquer the worlds problems and there is still cause for hope. this community is so special and i’m thankful every day that i get to be apart of it
I’m taking a pottery class right now as a last semester senior in college, and man do I wish it was more the vibe of this video than the somewhat stressful forced mastery it has become 😅
That seems to be experience for some reason. I took ceramics my last semster in college as well, and it honestly made me hate it. The instructor was a ridiculously bitter ceramicist, always had things to say about big names or people who he thought didn't take it seriously. No matter how much time I invested in the class, I just couldn't keep up with the pace, but I needed it for my art credit or else I wouldn't graduate on time. At the end of the semester, the class of 20 had been whittled down to only a couple people. I passed with a C, which I'm pretty sure was awarded out of mercy.
I think I have been around for most P4As. I'm always so happy to see so many people joining for the first time. It never gets old, the overall feeling is always the same each year. Any while monetary achievement is not the most important aspect, it still amazes me to see people come together to raise so much money for charity, from what I always think of a a smaller online community. I can't wait for another 16 years of the P4A.
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This was my first p4a and while tuning in on and off to see what was happening was a nice thing to do, to know it was there for me when I was ready for it, I’m so glad I was there for the ending, too. I’ve been very isolated these last few years, and something about typing “we’re here because” in a chat full of “we’re here because we’re here” was healing in a small but important way. I love how you call it a global chorus- and for those few moments of celebrating our own presence, I got to be part of something. Thank you for that. ❤ And also for the crabs I look forward to receiving 😂
The P4A helps lots of us feel less lonely - it's such a nice community to be a part of!
I am so glad you joined us this year. May the crabs serve you well until we are together again. Best wishes!
when you started the sentence “wheels weren’t originally made for transport, they were made for…” I swear I thought we were in for another unexpected tuberculosis fact.
this was so soothing, John, thank you. I picked up pottery early in the pandemic as a means of being creative and soothing my frazzled mind. I got reasonably okay at it and loved it, but keeping studio space became unsustainable so I had to drop it. watching you throw brought me back to that beautiful headspace, and I’m grateful for that.
one of the best john made vlogbrother's videos in my opinion. there's something about making a point, and then giving words to it that sets you up to feel something more than just being told the same line outright. the video was 99% explaining that art doesn't have to be for others, and 1% saying it
I'm watching this video sitting next to a little pot that I threw after not making ceramics for almost 4 years. I went to art school but was constantly surrounded by people in my life saying that art wasn't worthwhile and that I'd never be able to do anything with it as a career. I listened to those people for far too long, but I'm slowly getting back to it. The quote about art simply being to be worth while is exactly how I feel. Thank you for the lovely video and a great p4a!
I completely agree with you about art. I think that’s one of the reasons why I keep making it in many different forms even when the end result isn’t what I was aiming for or I’m frustrated with its reach or I’m burnt out. I really, really liked this video and your secret keepers are wonderful! The whole idea of them makes me happy.
Bringing the clay inwards is called collaring! Thank you for this deeply peaceful video, and for all that you do.
Started watching in 2011, followed closely, took a break. Coming back feels like coming in from the cold where there's a cozy fire waiting to welcome me. How lucky we are that you both are still doing this
This was lovely and calm, John. Thank you!
I've been keeping tabs on P4A, so I had already noticed that we'd passed $3M, and while I know the number itself isn't that important, it does make me very happy that enough of us have had 1. the ability and 2. the desire to contribute to it :)
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This was excellent. I need that reminder sometimes, that art doesn't have to be amazing and perfect to be a worthwhile pursuit.
It was so wonderful to celebrate the P4A with all of you, nerdfighteria! What an amazing, magical, awesome thing we get to do together. I hope we get to do it for a long, long time. Same time next year?
DFTBA!
Thanks for all your hard work during the livestream! Here's to next year 💜
@@okayheykae Thank you! and thank you for being here with us! See you next year!
Indeed, thanks for your part in the P4A year after year. Always see your name in the chat any time the brothers are live.
@@bluetoes591 It's my honor. I hope to be doing this for as long as they let me. ^^
I hope you got some good rest, food, and hydration after working so hard all weekend!
Thank you Nerdfighteria for a truly awesome weekend ❤️
Nerdfighteria had a large impact on me in my developmental years, and I am so Profoundly grateful.
Nerdfighteria is definitely part of who I am as a person, and dammit the brothers need to come to Canada!
This video is an instant favourite that I will try and come back to regularly. I have always had this desire to do things "right" or attempt to do them well. This year I've tried to get more into art because I realized I lacked a creative outlet but I struggle with wanting it to look good rather than just letting it be what it is.
I love your Secret Keepers! What a wonderful and healing idea. P for A was fabulous, as always and every year I get a little misty eyed at how awesome humans can be when we come together for others.
The P4A will never stop amazing me. This year I was going through some things and I wasn’t able to donate as much as in the past. I’m just so grateful to get to do this every year. Thanks for making this community.
Though I've been fans of both John and Hank's books for awhile now, this was the first time I knew about the P4A, and as I was sick in bed with COVID (my second time, ugh), it was so lovely to feel part of something, to have the stream on my laptop on the table next to me, to zone in and out and always feel not only entertained, but like I got to be a tiny part of doing something good. Who knew there were others out there who enjoy nerding out about TB? My 2nd book of poetry deals a lot with a TB epidemic in a small WI town where my ancestors grew up, so I enjoyed all of the TB facts. And just when I was starting to feel sad about the P4A ending, my library hold for Turtles All the Way Down came in to keep me company the rest of my COVID convalescence. Thank you.
Please never stop making these these simple, quiet, introspective, and profound videos. They stick with me deeply and I often ponder your little mantras throughout the day "Huh, hope really *is* the best response to to consciousness"
I do something similar when I knit, especially if I'm making something for someone. Less secrets and more wishes. As I knit I think about all the things I wish for this person, or what I hope the piece will do, as if by thinking it into each stitch then it will become tangible.
That's so lovely! (also thank you for all your hard work during the livestream!)
Same! I think about how so many times bakers and cooks will say that the secret ingredient is love, and when I'm crafting (whether its crochet or cross stitch or knitting or what have you), I try to pour all of the feelings into it--so that they're woven in. It works. I know it does.
So this is what it's like to be early for a vlogbrother's video! For all u early people: my honours thesis proposal just got accepted and I am excited lol
Great job!
Congrats! You definitely didn’t forget to be awesome
Congrats!
Congrats! 🎉
Congrats!!! Thank you for sharing with us.
we’re here because we’re here. and I love being *here* with this community. especially during p4a. much love and thanks to all of nerdfighteria.
Something about this video made me realize that one day, one of the Green brothers will die, leaving us collectively bereft of one of the most amazing fraternal relationships ever shared with the wider world. As I was contemplating that sad eventuality and reflecting on the relationships that I fear losing in my own life, I heard John remind me that hope is the correct response to consciousness, and that often things that cannot be seen can nevertheless still be felt. Now I'm crying and I miss throwing pottery on a wheel.
Thanks, John. You are a great human and you make me feel things.
I'm an artist (kinda) and I haven't worked with pottery in nearly 13 years and my 3D modeling skills are limited. however, John has inspired me here to work with clay again because I'd like to make my own secret keepers.
Update: I made my own secret keepers, waiting for them to come out of the kiln now
thank you. i needed this. ive been in a serious depression for the last few weeks and it's been difficult for me to care about anything while also caring about so many things so much and thinking that im stupid caring about things and this video helped. ive been thinking about what you said in the anthroposcene reviewed foreward, about letting the world crack you open. i think i let it crack me open too much sometimes, and then i close up because why would i want that but i always end up letting it, maybe in a perfect world i could let it crack me open but i think closing myself off a little is just harm reduction at this point, but i still yearn so desperately to be known. to write my feelings in the comments of a RUclips video, to talk to someone, anyone but i can't talk to the people in my life who care about me because what if they leave me?
much that you wrote also describes my current state, and I want you to know I hear you and know it’s hard. hang on and keep reaching for things like John and Hanks videos, which help me remember there’s light in the world. that’s what I’m trying to do.
art doesn't need to be perfect to be enjoyed, it just needs meaning and i love that so much
Some things that are not seen are nonetheless felt. Oh John, you wordsmith you. Congrats on another successful P4A! I’m already excited for next year.
I had to stop and cry at the end of this video because I experienced a deep catharsis from seeing your art that I always try and feel from my own art. I have wanted to be a writer for forever, and just hearing that "art just has to BE to be worthwhile" helped me further break down my internal editor. Thank you John. Thank you
I love this style of vlogbrothers videos recently. I'm in the middle of a very anxious week, moving out of an apartment and roommate situation that's become hostile and bad for my mental health. and this video really calmed me down in the midst of stress packing. than you for that
I made a playlist of your videos to listen to while I'm depressed or anxious. I find your voice incredibly soothing, and your words, extremely heartwarming. I wish there were more of these videos.
John: so we're just gonna do some chill pottery today, nothing too special
also John: *writes a beautiful piece about humanity and history and art and unity and hope and community*
i have an art degree and i've been struggling to get back into art without feeling like it has to Be Something. your secret keepers remind me of a summer where I visited my friend on her college campus. We had the whole ceramics studio to ourselves (plus a trapped bird). I hadn't thrown a pot before, but I had a grand time learning the basics and working with the clay. it was nice to work with something physical. To make a thing.
As an artist i must say you have indeed stumbled upon what art is. A manifestation of something inside. Not to be loved by all but loved by someones who relate to that particular manifestation. Please sell these ❤
Thoughts from Places has always been such a soothing, hopeful and encouraging force in my life, and I must assume many others. Thank you from the bottom of my consciousness
"now I only think it has to be to be worthwhile". I feel called out for all the creative ideas I have that have not become.
I love the idea of you speaking your anxieties into these and a stranger somewhere out in the world guarding that for you, keeping it contained and far away.
i recently came to this same conclusion regarding art as well, and its made creating art fun for me again. its a difficult hurdle to cross but once you do its so liberating! love your little guys, may you create many more
Thank you for casting your warmth and light on all of us.
My favorite technique when I'd work on the wheel was always chattering, where you'd let a bit of metal bump across the semi-dry surface creating thousands of shallow divots. Not only is it fun and a little noisy but the resulting textures just make a piece that is so tactile and beautiful to hold.
Pottery was always meditative for me as well, in fact I think it helped me learn to let go of the perfection of things, so this is actually a nice Tuesday treat.
Thanks John!
Dude....this is so relaxing to watch. John please do more of these kinds of videos sometimes. They're almost meditative...for you and for us. Thank you for the "brain break".
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This made me feel better after a slightly less wonderful day. Thank you everyone for an amazing p4a!
This channel has aged quite gracefully. I think back to high school freshman me watching one of those 42 Jokes videos, then delving into Thoughts From Places, seeing the Carnegie Hall and TFIOS stuff, and now I'm loving the slow camera asmr john and hank.
You've never given up on your core of deep thought and attention to the world around you, you've never taken a hard swerve into conspiracy or trolling. Thats pretty impressive for a channel of what, 16 years, and all of the life changes that you both have made along the way.
Thanks for that. Genuinely. Your relative stability has been incredible for me numerous times when I need excitement or grounding, or just another excuse to wake up tomorrow when most of my others have failed.
There's a lot of reasons I'm alive today, but your careful attention to the world and your radical hope and empathy and thoughtfullness has almost certainly been one of them.
During those last minutes, I started singing the song on my own in my room, and that lent a really special soundtrack to the entire experience. 💕 There's something about feeling your chest vibrate and hearing a song and seeing happy people in words and in images that made that a really nice ending. Thanks for this poetic round-up.
I love being and I'm here every time for P4A and all Nerdfighter things. Thank you so much.
I love this community and I love you and Hank. Thank you for keeping this community alive.
This video has good vibes. It's a nice throwback to why we're all here in the first place. How lucky we are to have found such a community of brilliant, thoughtful, creative people. It's a joy to get together virtually every year. Til next P4A. ❤️
"Hope is the correct response to consciousness" is beautiful thank you
Done is better than perfect. Thank you for these 4 lovely minutes.
I've always felt that if I could afford a comfortable space with a small pottery wheel kiln setup, I could finally feel a bit of human peace. I hear it in your voice often, but I cannot find it in my own. Thanks for sharing your secret keeper peaceful moment with us, and all the other things over the years.
The P4A was indeed awesome! I had such a fun time; thanks to everyone who made it possible and everyone in the chat!
Thank you for all the love and hope that you and Hank put out into the world, John. I'm so glad to have this little corner of the Internet to help get me through the dark times.
I always stay up weird hours for P4A but make sure I am up in time for the last hour. This year, I woke up but somehow fell back asleep. I know it is probably good that I rested if I needed rest, but I love that last hour and am sad I missed it.
But I did buy the “we’re hummus because we’re hummus because” coaster which fills me with that ridiculous and joyful togetherness just thinking about it. It was a very good weekend.
A beautiful pot! And a p4a that was, indeed, awesome in every possible sense.
+++
Honestly, I could listen forever to John talking while making pottery. So peaceful 😌
Oh yeah ... Definitely need to make a quote wall for my school library, because this needs to go on there. Thanks for calming down this racing mind, John. Needed it so badly.
I been part of P4A since the beginning, I agree seeing your families with you as we celebrated the brought a tear to my eye. It's crazy how times moves forward yet the comfort of the weekend is the same! Thank you, Hank and your team for keeping this beautiful weekend alive and growing. 🥰
I’ve been here since the beginning as well, and this year as I was watching the shenanigans and learning about tuberculosis and co-creating this experience with thousands of others I remembered that none of this is inevitable- P4A is what it is because every year, people make a choice to be there, to engage and connect, to donate money and give attention, and I just love us!
“Hope is the correct response to consciousness.” 💛💛💛
As someone who teaches pottery- you throw with beautiful technique and instinct!
I’ve only been potting for 4/5 years but i have been watching you and your brother for way longer and it is emmensly pleasing to see the art i love being peacefully enjoyed by someone who has bought me so much joy with theirs.
And as a lover of words the missing term for coaxing the clay in to close the form is called “collaring” I’m not sure where it comes from!
The secret spiral of the secret keeper! As someone who uses drawing as a meditative get-away-from *gestures broadly* I can totally agree, art just needs to be (and my own is mostly just for me)
I think the goal of "taking it down a notch" this year with the videos and life is going to lend to some very tranquil videos and I'm all for it.
Because art doesn't have to be great to be worthwhile. Art can be taken down a notch.
Thank you both so much for creating this community and continuing to share small parts of your lives with us. The P4A has boyed me along though bad times and good times, and it's always incredible to be a part of.