We couldn’t resist. Enjoy these articles, our favorite discoveries from around the web this week.

13 Poems About the Experience of Chronic Illness via Bustle

I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but little infinite’s new Editor wrote this piece for Bustle. Lisa Marie Basile curates 13 poems that take you into the world of myriad chronic illnesses one verse at a time.

“As a poet living with chronic illness, I believe poetry is the perfect genre which with to translate the experience of being chronically ill; so much emotion, nuance and honesty can be expressed in such a small space.”

Lisa Marie Basile, for Bustle

Though a larger conversation about the literature of illness is long overdue, these brief, searing poems will humanize the statistics of chronic illness, something that can be all too easy to disassociate from if you haven’t experienced it. These poets don’t have that luxury, the luxury of health. And their words ensnare your empathy as they draw you in to the reality of their day to day lives.

Newspaper + Marker = Poetry via Medium

Yeah, we know that this article is five years old but it’s so cool. The choice of medium is so simple and yet so profound. Creator Austin Kleon (obsess over his work, including his forthcoming book via his Instagram) was even invited to give a TedX Talk about the practice of repurposing someone else’s writing for his art. What we can’t get over is the impact of subtraction. Flipping through the archives of Newspaper Blackout, the site where Kleon housed his poetry that has since become home to similarly created poetry from all over the world, you can’t help but itch to grab a newspaper and a marker and spend some time making a work of word-art that is your very own.

Millennials Prefer Paper Books to E-Books via Bustle

For a generation that gets dinged for being obsessed with the vintage things in life so much, it has come as a surprise to some that we millennials prefer paper books to e-readers. 

Bustle picked the story up, and it was Publisher’s Weekly that ran a survey; now we’re here to confirm it: the tactile act of reading a traditional paper-and ink book is something we’re not giving up anytime soon. If we want to get into the nitty-gritty of it (and we do, because we’re into that sort of thing) it’s specifically reading for pleasure that draws us toward physical books. All bets are off if it’s something academic or obligatory, and we slide right back to our digital-first bias. Theories as to why we like physical, analog books point mostly to the amount of time we spend on electronic devices daily (spoiler: oh, so much, roughly 9.5 hours or so). With that much time spent squinting at a screen, can you blame us for wanting to unplug and decompress with a book that won’t give us blue-light induced eye strain?

Artist Uses Her Huge Library to Imagine Visually Stunning Scenes via My Modern Met

Artist Elizabeth Sagan has discovered and mastered our second-favorite use of books (after reading them, of course): book art using her massive novel library. Using titles from her private collection like a palate of paints, Sagan imagines and then architects fantastic depictions of day-dream laden heroism in ethereal art-scapes. We love that she includes herself as the star of these fantasies, often strong or empowered in the depictions. But she’s funny and clever in her art, too. Our favorite? How she tracks her reads each year.

Fit a Year’s Worth of Trash into a Jar (Yes, Seriously) via Refinery 29

If you’ve just emerged from a haze of purging things that sap your life of joy, we know exactly how you feel. Marie Kondo sparked a movement, but Bea Johnson is starting a revolution. You think it feels great to rid your life of stuff? Johnson challenges you to rid your life (all but entirely) of trash.

“While Kondo offers little beyond an immaculate apartment, Johnson is at the forefront of an environmental movement of sorts, premised on the idea that a modern household can produce virtually no trash.”

Marie Kondo Came For Your Stuff; Bea Johnson Is Coming For Your Garbage Refinery 29

We love the idea of minimizing our footprint, and we’re awed by Johnson’s ingenuity and commitment to a zero-waste lifestyle. If we can Marie Kondo our living spaces, we can certainly endeavor to Bea Johnson our waste.

Feature image by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash