A Zine for Water People

It's a truth universally acknowledged that social media can be a real drag. Arguments, comparisons, bitchiness, nastiness, narcissism and more all play out across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, blogs and more. I've had my fair share of shitty social media interactions, but what I've found is that it doesn't have to be that way.

Most of my experiences on social media has been really positive, and I've made some wonderful connections over the years with wonderful people. I've met so many folk through blogging and Instagram, and are people I care about and have various relationships with. Like me, Jamie, Toddy, Mick, Sarah and Felix are people you might have come across on your digital travels, and they are people I've come to care about and to , different degrees, to know. For me, these relationships are some of the best of social media.

I love connecting with people and projects in various places around the world, and being able to watch their work develop and grow over time. It's really incredible that they can be part of my everyday life in a non-intrusive, but meaningful way. I know that not all of social media is like that, but some of it is.

My latest 'I heart social media' moment was discovering a recent project of a group of women who surf in California - Feather Weight, Margaret Seelie and Mia Bolton - who edited a zine for water people; more specifically, people who love salt and waves and surfing.

I saw their 'zine for water people' emerge through my Instagram feed in little bites that hinted at a project about surfing by women. I saw images of them hand dying the stock for the cover, advertising the launch party, and then celebrating their beautiful little love. I read the post where they revealed they were changing the name from 'Seawitches', because that name was already in use by some other women, and they didn't wish to jeopardise what those other women had been building. Their chose was an ethical one, consistent with the politics of the project they were producing.

I saw the post advertising the availability of the zine, a post I quickly replied to, wondering how I could get my hands on a copy! I was directed to a website (https://www.seawitcheszine.com/) where you can order copies. It took me a while to get organised, but after providing my address through Instagram messages, I got a reply from a sea witch who was at the post-office, and who organised for one to fly on it's way to me.

And then my copy arrived in the my pigeon hole at work, and what a beauty it is!

 (Loooooove!!!)

From Instagram and California, to a pigeon hole at a university in Queensland, Australia, this beautiful zine is a tribute to the ways we live across digital spaces.

To open the package, and to hold this labour of love - even the carefully chosen font has a story - is an absolute joy.

But the cherry on the top, was the tiny little handwritten thank-you note inside, which thoroughly made my day when I found it in the package.

(Apologies for the dodgy focus, which wouldn't leave my wrinkles alone!)

Thank you, sea witches. Thank you for being the very best of what social media can be.