I certainly embodied the seven stages of grief when I realised that in my making media subject, I would in fact be making media. Who’d have thought? My ego flew into action at being asked to do something it hadn’t previously and I stone walled myself. I’m not to sure why I was erecting a flimsy fortress of excuses in my mind. But after writhing around in creative despair for a day or two in my lockdown chamber for one, I started to relish being pushed to do the exact thing I had been skirting around for sometime now. To direct my creative mojo into a tangible project with a real audience.

My covid brain (yes I can say that because I had it) has clicked back into gear and whilst no one likes to hear the word fail, I am prepared to do that early and often as is advised when creating our own digital artifact. Our project buzzwords include not making something that you, ‘fire and forget’ and that we should, ‘work in the future, not in a defunct past.’ Upon ruminating on a freeform ideology that is meaningful and has a clear utility and audience, here are my digital artifact ideas.

• I realise not everyone is in lockdown but my current peer group are all uni students spending much of their day seated at a desk. It’s not that we can’t get up and move about but sometimes motivation can wane or we aren’t entirely sure how to move our body. So as someone who has practiced and taught yoga, I’d love to make a mini series of yoga vids that are approachable for everyone, leave your yoga pants at the door thanks. A simple and short class structure that has a nod to the fundamental parts of yoga and gets your body moving and diverts attention away from your mind centre. Heck we might even listen to some System of a Down, while we make shapes on study breaks. I’d assume Youtube would be a good platform but I have been peeking at Tik Tok to see if that might also work.

• The above could also lend itself to a broader concept of self nourishment by also posting quick, delectable plant based comfort food recipes on Insta so you can OM your way to NOM. As I have followed both of these paths for years the content won’t be the tricky part for me, it’ll be the form. How the F do you edit things ? Cue the #FEFO and Youtube tutes on how to curate.

• Surprisingly for someone with such a horrendous voice, yeah I know everyone says that but mine sounds like someone ran over a duck. I digress, I have always wanted to craft a podcast but haven’t been able to settle on a theme or discussion idea. This era and our seemingly endless lockdowns have birthed the phrase, ‘back to normal’. And to be honest I can’t quite swallow it, this is humanity’s opportunity to change course and ‘break normal’ because let’s be frank, the old ways have expired.

• Thus I propose a podcast where I explore parts of society that are examples of breaking normal or emergent culture or ideas. Key ideas include the discussion of plant based diets have a positive effect on global emissions and postulations on how to continue this movement. Decentralised or interrupter culture such as Crypto currency, potentially interview my friends who trade in this area to give a knowledge drop for the audience. Other ideas include the tiny home movement, foraging for food and self sustainability. I’d love to reimagine our holidays and traditions, could we replace christmas and include first nations in our yearly calendar. Other areas would include the emergence of psychedelic treatments in an age drenched in pharmaceutical remedies. And perhaps a dive into expansive concepts such as fate V free will, the fifth dimension and other not so obscure topics. Wink.

Essentially these are just two core ideas that seem centralised around bending the mind and body. Let the prototyping begin.