“As a global community, we face a choice. Do we want migration to be a source of prosperity and international solidarity, or a byword for inhumanity and social friction?”
—Antonio Guterres
We live in a world defined by imaginary lines—dissecting not only land and sea, butour very humanity. And while our lives are expected to conform to such containers—particularly under hypernationalist, authoritarian regimes like the one unmasking itself here in the United States—more-than-human life journeys on. Each year, billions of other animals partake in epic migrations across rugged terrains, vast oceans, and undivided skies. Here are a few of them.
Every fall, hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies begin a 2,500-mile journey from breeding grounds in southern Canada and the northern United States to the forests of central Mexico for wintering. They’ve never made this trip; it takes four generations to complete the journey, meaning a butterfly’s descendants return to where their great-grandparents embarked. Instead of lived experience, they are guided by cues from their environment and an inner knowing: a combination of internal sun compasses, the Earth’s magnetic field, and biological clocks in their antennae that help them determine what time it is based on the sun’s position.
Elsewhere in the skies, an even longer journey unfolds. Every year, Arctic terns travel anywhere from 25,000 to 60,000 miles—the longest migration of any known animal. They fly from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back, gliding across the equator twice annually in pursuit of perpetual summer. These birds may witness more daylight than any other creature, which helps illuminate prey and other food below—chasing not only warmth, but light. In their 30-year lives, they may travel the equivalent distance of three or four trips to the moon and back.
Meanwhile, beneath the waves, humpback whales make their own impressive migrations. They live in seas all around the globe, and travel as far as 5,000 miles from tropical breeding grounds to polar waters more suited for feeding, and then the same distance back. Some swim through the waters of 28 countries in a single journey—and their songs travel with them. All of the males in a population of humpbacks sing the same song at their breeding grounds. The songs evolve year to year, and can be passed to other whale populations across the world.
Few migrations are as inspiring as those of Pacific salmon. They are anadromous, meaning they spend part of their lives in freshwater and part in saltwater, altering their endocrine systems to adapt from one to the other. Before leaving home, the salmon memorize the exact chemistry of the streams, rivers, and lakes they are born in. They swim as far as 600 miles from where they are born, and another 600 back to the exact spot to spawn and die. In doing so, they nourish others, sustaining more than 100 other species that rely on the nutrients they carry from the ocean.
The longest land migration belongs to caribou or reindeer. Each year, large herds trek some 1,600 miles across Arctic tundras and boreal forests in search of sustenance. They are considered keystone species not only for the food they provide to others, but for the crucial role they play in maintaining the ecosystems they travel through. As they trample and graze over wild landscapes, they help cycle nutrients in the soil and support plant and lichen communities. They are stewards of the lands they traverse, engineering the ecologies they call home, even transiently.
All across the Earth, in its seas and skies, over manmade borders, courageous crossings and voyages are underway: generations making sacrifices for the ones to follow, seeking new suns, carrying culture and songs, sustaining and shaping life along the way. From Los Angeles to Gaza, all beings should be free to roam or remain. For ferried in the refrain of every whalesong, in every breeze that monarchs float on, nature reminds us that migration is sacred.
Keeping it real—I wish I was someone who loved summer. Growing up, I vacationed in New Hampshire and looked forward to funnel cake on the boardwalk, lazy days on the lake, sugary cereal, and a late bedtime. But now? I feel pressure to pack my social calendar, live my best life (in comparison to social media), and look hot while doing it. Not in the literal sense, because there is a permanent pool of sweat on my upper lip that I just wish wasn’t there. Ugh. I never realized that seasonal depression is just as valid now as it can be in colder months.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD for short) is often associated with winter, but for many, summer seasonal depression is very real. If you find yourself not enjoying activities you normally do and in just a general crummy mood that you can’t shake once the weather heats up, you’re not alone. Ahead, I chatted with psychologist Dr. Hannah Holmes to get her take on summer SAD, plus practical advice for combatting the seasonal blues.
How do I know I have Summer SAD?
If you look around and see others enjoying the season while you’re barely making it through, you may be experiencing summer seasonal depression. “As days get warmer and longer, many people feel a renewed sense of energy and optimism,” Dr. Holmes shares. “For a person with summer SAD, this contrasts sharply with their own low mood and lack of energy.”
Summer SAD can also be an isolated experience, which can make it even more difficult to cope. “People often discuss how important it is to make the best of cold winter days, such as leaning into winter sports or savoring cozy, indoor activities—yet we assume that this comes easily and naturally in the summer,” she explains. If you’re feeling low, the name of the game is to treat yourself with extra care, grace and kindness this summer.
Here are other symptoms of summer SAD, according to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. • Sad and low mood • Feeling anxious • Feeling agitated • Reduced appetite • Weight loss • Difficulty sleeping and insomnia
How to Combat Summer Seasonal Depression
If you find yourself feeling anxious, drained, and low this season, you’ve come to the right place. Here are Dr. Holmes’ tips for getting through the season gently.
Curate Your Social Media
As they say, comparison is the thief of joy. It can be so easy to get sucked into a social media scroll and start comparing your season to others. “Remember that you may be imagining other people’s summers to be much more blissful or exciting than they really are,” Dr. Holmes says. “When you see pictures of a friend’s vacation on social media, remember that they are sharing a curated set of images meant to show the best moments of their trip.”
It’s a timely reminder. Social media is a highlight reel, especially when it comes to travel or vacation content. “The photos don’t capture behind-the-scenes jet lag, travel hiccups, or the hundreds of emails they had to deal with after their trip,” Dr. Holmes continues. To keep comparison at bay, curate your feed so you’re only seeing content that uplifts you, and limit your scrolling time if you can. “Scrolling social media is a passive, sedentary activity. Try to replace scrolling with something tactile, like drawing, organizing a drawer, or stretching,” Dr. Holmes recommends. “Take a walk and listen to an interesting or inspiring podcast. These active, physical experiences are grounding and energizing.”
Focus on What Your Body Can Do
“Warm weather and summer activities means more skin-baring clothes, like shorts and swimsuits, which can be intimidating for anyone who already struggles with body image issues,” Dr. Holmes shares. I know for me, body shaming gremlins run rampant in my mind once it gets hot outside.
“During this vulnerable season, be especially thoughtful about the content you consume,” Dr. Holmes suggests. “Follow body-positive social media accounts, and limit exposure to content that brings up negative feelings about your body.”
Shifting your focus away from what your body looks like can also be helpful. “Focus on what your body can do and feel,” Dr. Holmes urges. “Practice gratitude for the way your body supports you.”
Dress Comfortably
If you struggle with body image, it can be a challenge getting dressed every morning when the weather is hot. Dr. Holmes suggests practicing bravery and acknowledging your courage. “If summer attire makes you want to hide your body or withdraw from social activities, make it a priority to gently challenge your fears and take small risks, so you can build your confidence over time,” Dr. Holmes suggests.
See if you can find at least one summer outfit you feel confident and comfortable in, and let that be your summer uniform. It will take the guesswork out of getting ready, and lower your stress in the process.
Stay Cool
In a season defined by heat, it’s so important to stay cool. This isn’t just for your physical health, but for your mental health as well. “We know that heat and humidity can cause irritability and frustration,” Dr. Holmes shares. “If you find yourself struggling with summer weather, be deliberate about making the best of the sunshine and heat and staying cool while you do it.”
If this means that outdoor activities make you want to run for the hills, make peace with being an indoor cat for the season. “Prioritize activities that allow you to cool off like the beach or the pool, or skip going outside altogether,” Dr. Holmes suggests. “Simply enjoy doing indoor, air-conditioned activities.”
There are plenty of indoor activities you can do this summer, and there’s no need to beat yourself up for skipping the outdoors. I’ve been loving cozy hobbies like paint by number, reading, and sewing. All in the AC!
Travel Mindfully
Even if you have a vacay in the books this summer, it’s ok (and normal!) to feel overwhelmed and anxious by it. Dr. Holmes suggests giving yourself ample time to recharge after a vacation. “Vacations are fun, but they are not necessarily stress-free; they disrupt your normal routine, which can throw off your equilibrium and affect your mood,” she says.
If you’re able, ease into your vacation, then ease out of it. “If you know your mood dips in the summer, be thoughtful about giving yourself time to adjust and recalibrate after travel or other activities that disrupt your typical routine,” Dr. Holmes says.
While summer is often painted as a season of ease and joy, it’s important to remember that not everyone feels their best during the warmer months. If you’re struggling with summer seasonal depression, know that you’re not alone and that your experience is valid. By protecting your peace and prioritizing rest, it’s possible to find your own version of summer that feels grounded, nourishing, and true to you. Just remember to take good care—and know that fall is right around the corner.
Livia Rita is a visual artist, “mystic eco-pop” singer, choreographer, and designer. Each of her performed songs embodies a different creature identity functioning as an allegory – each with its own distinct character, formed through costume, scenography and choreography. The goal is to physicalise music and bring to life – in a contemporary Gesamtkunstwerk – the conceptual force, the feeling and the natural element symbolised by the allegory. Out of each creature came a creature gamecard, and from there, Livia created a small ArtFashion collection.
Her practice is an exploration and creation of an alternate world – one that is internal yet far removed from politics, economics, ecology and identity, and which speaks in an abstract, dreamlike language, where dreams and play, emotion, flight, fantasy, and hidden desires are made real.
The style is post-apocalyptic, chimeric, fairy-like, fantastical, thriller.
The textures are organic, earthy, soft, tactile, fleshy.
Hello again Livia, and welcome to Coeval! As I told you after the show of Saturday at ZW in Zurich, your concert was enchanting: powerful, visionary and deeply felt. I can still sense traces of the scent you and your team offered us. I picked one of the cards, and it led me to this beautiful fragrance.
To begin, I’d like to ask you a question that goes straight to the core of your being as an artist.
You’re a prolific and kaleidoscopic artist. When you close your eyes, what do you see? What’s your relationship with the act of creation, and what kind of visions guide you when designing the costumes you bring on stage?
I often feel misty in my head, so maybe what I see are more sentient collages, ambiances, rather than jumpy scenarios and textures… just all rather undefined, so it’s always a process to get specific.
Creating, for me, feels wholesome when I manage to float freely with thoughts and feelings; in visions past, present, and future. When my inner world can interact with the outside world in a fluid way, spilling over, being affected… like the skin disappears, allowing me to channel ideas, dreams, and fears into something more tangible…
For me, emotions come with materialities, wearables with a transformation, landscapes with sounds, lyrics with a story, identities with movements… It’s somehow all interwoven; one idea grows from the next, forming chain reactions… so the wearables really grow organically as part of the worldbuilding, and are very connected to the music, the choreography, the realities I’m searching for…
You’ve said you need a deep entanglement with nature. Could you share with us some of the practices you turn to in order to connect with it? And could you speak a bit about your relationship with Alpine witchery and folk magic?
I try to take the time to arrive into the day and let the natural environment and weather outside touch me. I try to feel awe at the constant change of the ecosystem around me. My main practice, though, is to go outside and sing. I write most of the vocal lines of my songs walking and wandering. Emotions bounce around and come back to me differently. I am totally hunting local tales and rituals, which often include lots of symbolism around the different elements, especially fire and water… I’m very interested in reading about the different ways of life during the different seasons. I find it fascinating how the mountains used to be a zone of danger and wilderness… I am curious to find further entanglements with the alpine surroundings and magic. I’m so attracted to sensing the land and its possibilities… How can we get together in the future? Feel the power of the mountain or landscapes in a collective way? I’ve been very inspired by two elderly local women who are such dear herbal witches and so generous in sharing their wisdom and amazement at interacting with plants… and am also very sad that a lot of these ecosystems are collapsing, not accessible, etc…
If I understood correctly, part of your mission is to step beyond the human, overburdened by the duties of being and doing, and make space for new kinds of beings: more-than-human identities, shaped by feelings and sensations like courage, or softness, or also becoming water (abandonment, fluidity, cohesion?). To sing these new creatures, and wear them, during your performances, is to bring them to life, to pass through them – is that right? Have you ever thought of exploring other formats for your practice – something even more like a ritual than a concert?
Ah, thank you for your beautiful description. Yes. I really appreciate seeing work through other people’s eyes, because I get absorbed in the state of just being in it and struggle to describe it.
Yes, very curious about different forms and spaces of anything ‘live’, for example in visual spaces we can shift focus into a much more concise, layered yet clear and simple expression. In a recorded pop song, the aim is often to be very intimate and zoomed in, or in a club or at a late-night festival, the energy can totally be thrown around and become feral…
I wonder a lot about how these concerts or IRL happenings can feel like a transformative ritual. I am on the search… A moment in time that invites us to be affected, that turns us into temporary communities, that transforms… For me, at the moment, music is the most direct way to connect, to feel together, to communicate without having to ‘translate’ a lot. It really is a fruitful setting for vulnerability.
Did you experience any particular feelings or insights during your latest performance in Zurich that you’d like to share with us?
It was very intense, and I really had to give my full being to it for quite a period of time – properly diving in – and then I came out somewhere else, and my body and mind felt so different. I really enjoyed re-emerging back into the world after. After shows, I often feel both really naked/exposed and empowered. The feedback I receive, alongside how the people involved feel afterwards, really means a lot to me. Moments of community. If it goes beautifully, it gives me the energy to step into the next idea.
In a way, this project, as with many others, tries to do a lot with the resources at hand. It’s a challenge in many ways one shares with people. In Zurich, I really enjoyed the space and the people who came together. I worked with precious dancers, band, creatures, crafters, production team… I really care a lot about these work accomplices.
What’s your typical day and your ideal one – hopefully they overlap as much as possible?
An ideal day starts with a soft wake-up, taking time to arrive in my body. Having the space to react to how I feel, to go with moods, to be honest and be present… to not get stuck, to not have to push… to feel the fire in me… to get surprised or challenged in a good way by my collaborators… So overall, it’s moving in an organic way through different states.
A typical day often includes a bit too much of the following: time passing too fast, feeling behind with things, challenging health, feeling overwhelmed at times, some heartaches and headaches. And – very important – I wish reading the news would not be so heavy for this world like it currently is…
Which books or films have most opened your mind, inspired your thinking and your being who you are today?
Generally, inspiration comes more from the direction of music, people, and my environment: places, cities, relationships. I get crazily hooked on (fiction) books… they just take me in so fully! So I tend to avoid them to not get absorbed crazily much in other worlds… but I would like to get into the habit of reading a couple of pages every day, to get new perspectives.
Films: I watched all the music biopics I could find, and get input from everything that’s to do with the future (most of them are pretty dark and apocalyptic…)
I loooooove Studio Ghibli… how the films open up unexpected narratives through a respect for nature, society, and the unusual.
I’d love to come to one of your events when it happens in the Alps or anyway in deep Nature. Do you have anything like that scheduled?
Yes! Preparing for a remix EP with songs from FUGA FUTURA, and we will go further with the idea to perform on a chairlift… where creatures, sounds, and visuals fly through the skies onto peaks, over rocks, rivers, and through forests – alongside the audience. It will happen later this summer, in the Alps!
The Mexican state of Guerrero lies on the southern Pacific coast and is home to the popular tourist destination of Acapulco. It’s also one of the nation’s most violent areas due to drug trafficking and cartel presence, and is one of six states that account for nearly half of the country’s total homicides.
For artist and photographer Yael Martínez, the reality of organized crime became more pronounced when, in 2013, three of his family members disappeared. He began to speak with others in his community who had experienced similar traumas and to connect threads across the borders of Mexico to Honduras, Brazil, and the United States.
“Itzel at home,” Guerrero, Mexico
Luciérnagas, which translates to fireflies, comes from Martínez’s meditation on this extreme brutality that “infiltrates daily life and transforms the spirit of a place,” a statement says. Now published in a volume by This Book Is True, the poetic series punctures dark, nighttime photographs with minuscule holes. When backlit, the images bear a dazzling constellation of light that distorts the images in which violence isn’t depicted but rather felt.
In one work, for example, a man holding a firework stands in a poppy field, a perforated cloud of smoke enveloping his figure. He’s performing an annual ritual on the sacred hill of La Garza, and the setting exemplifies a poignant contradiction between ancestral cultures and a crop that has been subsumed by capitalism and is essential to cartel power. A statement elaborates:
We don’t see death in Luciérnaga, but its omnipresence is felt throughout, lingering in the shadows of each photograph. Each image painfully underwritten by the result of a calculated violence that visited unseen and undetected, leaving behind the immense void of a vanished loved one. And yet there is always a sense of hope that informs the making of this work.
“Toro” (2018), Guerrero, Mexico “Abuelo-Estrella” (December 21, 2020), Cochoapa El Grande, Guerrero, Mexico“Levantada de Cruz” (2021)“El Río de la Memoria y Mis Hijas” (2022)
