Welcome to our third issue of Quaranzeen!
Thanks to everyone who has stuck with us, shared our posts, spread the love, and signed up for memberships. We couldn’t be more excited to grow this project together with you.
While creating this month’s issue, a widespread theme emerged:
Fatigue.
Collectively and individually, many of us are feeling fatigue from our current circumstances. Political and social unrest is exhausting. Grief is exhausting. Loss of our former lifestyles is leading to mental and physical atrophy. We have screen time burnout, and we’re sick and tired of being isolated from our loved ones and the activities we used to rely on to bring us joy. No one seems to know how to plan an un-plannable future. It is no surprise then to find out that everyone, including us, needs more time.
Be careful what you wish for, right? Prior to this pandemic, how many times did we beg in vain for just a little more time? For better or for worse, many of us are now facing an abundance of time (big love and ups to those facing an abundance of work: stay safe, stay hydrated, get rest!). One of our values at Quaranzeen, a publication designed with community care in mind, is to respond to what’s needed. So we’re gonna give our contributors more time to submit pieces that they’re excited to make and proud to contribute. We’re gonna give ourselves more time to curate material and seek out voices with diverse points of view. The world is hard, so we’re gonna rest, heal, and offer each other compassionate support in response to, “I’m so sorry, this is going to be late.” This act of resistance is crucial right now.
That all being said, we’ve decided that the best way to honor this reality and continue to deliver you regular high-quality content is to change over to bi-monthly issue releases. Memberships will be adjusted accordingly, and we will be reaching out to all of our subscribers with details. To all our Quaranzeen member-subscribers: thank you! Your participation is what will pay your contributors. We are so grateful to have you as our partners in envisioning new and tangible ways to hold each other up in times of need and digital reliance.
Togetherness is very important to us, especially now, so we strive to find interesting ways to engage our audience. This month, we’re experimenting with a new submission theme we’re calling Bold Ideas.
Bold Ideas is a call for submissions of any genre which explore possible answers to the question on everyone’s mind:
“What’s next?”
Quaranzeen seeks to instigate change. We want to hear your 4:00 a.m. brainstorms about saving the world. We want you to get way the hell out of the box on this one. Go big or go home. Send us your proposals for that new school system or community agriculture. Let’s reimagine everything. For more inspiration and details, check out our Bold Ideas article in this issue.
We hope you’ll join us on this journey and help us grow. We’re confident we have a good thing going here, and we hope you’ll think so too.
Thanks again for your support! We look forward to publishing YOUR work someday!
Stay safe. Stay well. Wash your hands (and face).
Big love,
Sam & Vanessa
QUARANZEEN MISSION STATEMENT:
To bring together creatives and visionaries to provide a rolling resource for sustainable living.
QUARANZEEN VISION STATEMENT:
We seek to encourage, amplify, support, and fairly compensate diverse voices, sharing their wisdom and skills in an accessible and sustainable publication.