desktop zines
for distraction + reflection

When you are at your desk all day working on a computer and need a break, do you (like I do) sometimes reach for your phone and scroll around or play an inane parking or merging game (like I do)?
In addition to jumping on a trampoline and rage cleaning for 10-minute bursts, I have been making quick zines that I have no desire to share or even finish to a polished state. They are extensions of journaling and scratch an itch to make something sloppy but meaningful to me.
This week, I made a catalog of the things that help me survive when I am feeling like shit. Nothing is new or groundbreaking, but the act of writing these little lists of things I KNOW work was a salve and made me feel agential.
Like, I can make beans and turn it around.
Or talk to the clerk at Aldi.
Or listen to the radio (a new/old habit that I am loving. I found an old boom box at Goodwill and discovered WPKN out of Bridgeport, a listener-supported radio station that reminds me of WMNF in Tampa. Their motto is “Our station could be your life.” I sort of agree. I cancelled Spotify and became a member.
The one-page zine works perfectly for this. You can just use printer paper, but consider lined notebook paper, magazine pages, opened envelopes, or other shipping materials. Make the zine, decide on the focus, and return to it throughout your workday. Look to it as a respite in lieu of your phone.
Possible quick zine topics:
things that make me happy, sad, wonder
things to do when I am bored, depressed, feeling out of control
people I like
a list of things noticed during the day
a tour of my desk/room/house
my pets
the pets I wish I could have (raccoon?
overheard conversations bits
the food I ate today/this week
movies to watch/movies I loved/hated
new/curious words from my reading today
a record of a daily tarot pull
poor drawings of random items lying around (a button, coffee cup, chapstick…)
a catalog of my immediate neighbors and what I know about them
smells from my childhood/teen years/early parenthood (Love’s Baby Soft, burnt popcorn, Pinesol, Lip Smackers…)
Songs
Copywork (just copy a poem, excerpt, or song lyrics that are hitting)
What else? Anything! The lower the risk, the easier.
And because this is not to copy or distribute, there is no worry about it being perfect or even clean. And the feeling it can create is richer than matching up fruit to make other fruit on your phone.




Love zines!! I love how freeing them can be. And they can be about anything! AND they’re small so when you just need to have something finished it doesn’t take long about any subject that interests you in the moment!
I love every single thing about this: the beans, the collage bits from This page Is a Portal. I have matching ones in my journal! Today I made a zine from a magazine page and bits from rejected poems. And I've been listening to WKPN all week. Thanks for the inspiration!