As the days roll on by, the planet is slowly growing more and more dystopian with people walking around like zombies, eyes glued to a screen while the world burns down around them. One of the best ways to fight against the mass desensitization happening around the world is to simply disengage.
Still fight back against evil and speak out for what is right and good, but don’t become consumed. Take a step back for a set time every day to engage with something that won’t drive an existential crisis.
There are a number of games that can be played with just a simple deck of cards, some of which don’t even require more than one person. For example, Solitaire is played by laying out seven columns of cards from 1 card to 7 cards and then using strategy to sort them in order by their suit. The game can be played alone leisurely, timed or with a second deck and a friend to compete against.
Yahtzee is another beloved game using five dice and a sheet of paper that can be played alone to relax or competitively against a friend. Simply list out the categories and start strategically matching patterns.
Both of the above games can also be found free to play online without download, but that defeats the purpose of putting down the tech for a little while.
Those who have picked up a physical copy of this newspaper know that print certainly isn’t a dead art form (and yes, journalism is an art). Perhaps those same souls might enjoy making a zine: a small, 8-page magazine used for a number of different outlets. Some artists chose to make them bigger or more professionally, but this is focused on the easily accessible.
Zines can be literally anything the artist can think of: A collage work/mini scrapbook, a political statement, a comic book, a story book, an artbook, anything. There was even a collaborative zine circulating Varner Hall just last year that asked students to leave a nice comment for the next one to read.
Zines in particular have a number of different subcultures that accompany the art-form, from activism and education to relaxation and comedy. Detroit hosts a large community of zine makers and has become home to the annual “Detroit Zine Fest” in April each year.
There’s something magical about working on a project that leaves a tangible product that can be held in one’s own hands. Pick up a new hobby! Make friendship bracelets, learn to sew, make the little DIY projects that have been sitting forgotten in a Pinterest board for the last decade.
Visit the local library and read a physical book, breathe in the smell of well-read pages. The library is a great service that gains more funding to be even greater each time it is used. There is camaraderie to be found within fellow library-goers or another activity that can be done in the comfort of one’s own home after checking out a book, boardgame or other rentable media.
This article merely scratches the surface of the world of analog media and entertainment. Last October, a similar article was published by arts reporter Sarah Wasielewski highlighting more analog sources with growing popularity among Generation Z to engage with.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source oaklandpostonline.com ’
