Consider Your Anger, Managed
Zine, Rebecca Casalino, 10 pgs, rebeccacasalino.com
When was the last time you received a postcard? I doubt it was recently, and if it was, I’ll assume the sender was either under 10 or over 60. In spite of their continued presence in the finest hotel gift shops and truck stops across North America and beyond, their use is something of a lost art.
The 10-postcard set that makes up the entirety of this zine are more function than fashion, however. Consider them in the same genus as the brutalist reminder card your dentist sends you about your next appointment. No beach fronts or tacky fonts, just hard facts, presented in the absence of artistry or pretense. Functional can be sexy and it appears to be the intent of this zine to be ripped apart into 10 stand-alone postcards. Each one bears an instruction for something of a coping mechanism or other calming antidote to a bout of rage. Some are rooted in precision (“Eat an entire row of cookies. Leave the rest for later.”) Others are more open-ended (“Let go of something you’ve held onto for a long time.”) Whatever the intent, obeying (or sending) a postcard might be an apt alternative to popping a pill or chancing a free trial for a mindfulness app. If nothing else, it’s a chance to dust off your cursive skills and dig around for some stamps. Give it a shot.