When was the last time you cried? This question is at the heart of Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar's illustrated anthology, Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears. With contributions from a wide range of voices, including Phoebe Bridgers, Zeba Blay, Sloane Crosley, and many more, Sad Happens is a gentle offering that reminds us to get to the heart of our own stories—and our own humanity.
Off the page, Brandon and Rose have lent this thoughtful sensibility to various endeavors. Brandon is the co-founder of The Creative Independent, "a growing resource of emotional and practical guidance for creative people." Rose is a visual artist and the founder of Cosmic Peace Studio. Together, they are friends, collaborators, and creatives who genuinely understand what it means to tell slow stories.
In this interview, Brandon and Rose shared more about Sad Happens, their collaboration and friendship, the places they've left behind, the processes they embrace in their respective work, and why slowness is a recurring thread in all they do. This episode also opens with a story from Lexi Kent-Monning.
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Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/brandon-stosuy-and-rose-lazar
Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/
Purchase Sad Happens: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sad-happens-brandon-stosuy/19726689?ean=9781668003459
Learn more about The Creative Independent: https://thecreativeindependent.com/
Learn more about Cosmic Peace Studio: https://cosmicpeacestudio.com/
Follow The Creative Independent: @thecreativeindependent
Follow Brandon: @bstosuy
Follow Rose: @cosmicpeacestudio
Follow Lexi: @lexicola
Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann
Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759
Mason Spector — "I find a lot of value in the sadness."
Chelsea Hodson — ”I’m genuinely excited about creating things.”
Katherine May — ”It’s okay to get on with the business of living.”
Tembe Denton-Hurst — ”Growing isn’t always in the big moments.”
Allie Rowbottom — ”The questions in your writing are the questions in your life.”
Ross Gay — ”There’s always a gathering inside of us.”
Tarajia Morrell — ”We imagine our future, our family, ourselves.”
Ella Frances Sanders — ”People ask questions differently, and they also answer questions differently.”
Naj Austin — ”What does it mean to put ourselves on a platform that requires less of us?”
Kayla Maiuri — ”Fiction teaches us so much about reality.”
Jon Staff — ”Our words matter, and our lack of words matter.”
Lisa Taddeo — ”I’ve been there, and you’re not alone.”
Ashley Merrill — ”Design is in service of your rest.”
Coco Mellors — ”If you create something and no one sees it, does it count? Yes.”
Hannah Traore — ”The context is always important.”
Laura Cramer and Starr Hout — ”We’re so capable of realizing dreams.”
Katie Kitamura — ”There’s also incredible power in grief.”
Grace Miceli — ”Slowing down is about trusting myself more.”
Matthew Herman — ”I hope we’re all realizing that we can live by our own rules.”
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