Having lots of fun in occupational therapy class

You can do it. I can do it. We all can do it. Let’s heal and move and improve together. Pray for peace and joy and strength.

It’s National Rehabilitation Awareness Week (Sept. 18-24). At least I got the timing right. STAY POSITIVE. I love you.

Quick glimpse of hospital swag. And weird shit people send me. Wet wipes and pee bucket are indispensable BFFs. Water in, urine out is key to healthy kidneys. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. And GBS merch is apparently a thing (go get some!). Unfortunately, child abuse is also a thing. Jesus says suffer the children and forbid them not to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven.

Whitney says I believe the children are our future, treat them well and let them lead the way…. Etc.

Get it together people.

I’ll post more later when I’m not so enraged by humanity. I’m on steroids so bear with me.

Sending you peace comfort and joy.

Much love from the wheelchair Xoxoxo Sufjan

Hi Friends. Quick update on my life. I’m very excited about having new music to share, but I just wanted to let you know that one of the reasons why I haven’t been able to participate in the press and promotion leading up to the release of Javelin is bc I am in the hospital. Last month I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk. My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility. My brother drove me to the ER and after a series of tests—MRIs, EMGs, cat scans, X-rays, spinal taps (!), echo-cardiograms, etc.—the neurologists diagnosed me with an auto immune disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Luckily there’s treatment for this — they administer immuno-hemoglobin infusions for five days and pray that the disease doesn’t spread to the lungs, heart and brain. Very scary, but it worked. I spent about two weeks in Med/Surg, stuck in a bed, while my doctors did all the things to keep me alive and stabilize my condition. I owe them my life.

On September 8, I was transferred to acute rehab, where I am now undergoing intensive physical therapy/occupational therapy, strength building etc. to get my body back in shape and to learn to walk again. It’s a slow process, but they say I will “recover,” it just takes a lot of time, patience, and hard work. Most people who have GBS learn to walk again on their own within a year, so I am hopeful. I’m only in my second week of rehab but it is going really well and I am working really hard to get back on my feet. I’m committed to getting better, I’m in good spirits, and I’m surrounded by a really great team. I want to be well!

I’ll keep you posted as I progress. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. And a huge shout out to all the incredible caretakers of the world working night and day to help us heal. They are living saints.

Be well, be joyful, stay sane, stay safe. I love you.

yours truly from a wheelchair XOXOXO Sufjan Stevens

Here’s the new single from my album Javelin. Video animated by Stephen Halker. “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” More info here.

THANK YOU.

Quick background about the video: my friend Stephen Halker took elements from the album art that I made (collage, paper arts, paintings etc.) and incorporated them into these really wild CGI fantasy landscapes that he created. He sent me some notes about his process and approach that I thought were really cool, if you’re interested.

From Stephen:

“This is what I was really thinking about when i made this video:

It’s like walking into someone’s soul. First they put up these facades that look normal, but then you find out how messy they are.

  I wanted it to start out super normal and cultivated. a landscape made flat by the machinations of an agrarian society.

  Then a nice walk through a forest. nothing special. but more wild

  Then the expanse of a grand canyon…. but you go, "hey what’s that thing on the ground? Is that supposed to be there?

  The grasslands are when you start to see curated memories. clean circles of thoughts.  Everything is still manageable, manicured, controlled.  but what’s that on the horizon.  looks like there’s some bigger thoughts buried in those grassy north dakotan buttes.

  Then comes the chorus.  You gotta mix it up for the chorus.  This scene is called darklands in my computer.  I made the hexagons to reference Carrie and Lowell.  i thought of this structure as if it was the longings of the heart. this sort of plinth of idols. Starting with the starlet from the "Will anybody ever love me” page of the booklet.  Then transferring that longing to archetype…. then parents, family, friends,  the love of the masses…

Once you know this much about someone, the rest of it is just is just a continuation of craziness. I wanted to morph from contained circles toward individual cut out shapes.

  moving through different corridors and memories.

  Obsessing over one memory.

  Building towers of meaning, trying to make sense of moments events through repetition and fortification.

Second chorus was supposed to recall some of the previous scenes.  the wheat, the Planet, travelling through the same hexagons, but this time they aren’t filled with icons. just patterns.

  you travel through the puffy paint wormhole into a less tethered version of the self.

  No more landscape. just a repetition of memories.  The world has fallen away.

 I’ve always loved phyllotaxis and golden sections. they feel very…. “this goes on forever”-y.

  The image of your face split in half, thrown into this fibonacci sequence reminded me of your “perpetual self” song from avalanche (which has always stuck with me)

  There’s a floor again. but now it’s just the triangle and tape patterns. illuminated.

 Flip to the image of Katrina under the owl was giving off a strong “athena” vibe.  Goddess of wisdom, craft, warfare.  She could make sense of my warring emotions.

End scene.“

Some additional Javelin listening events have been added.

Chattanooga, TN - Yellow Racket Records
Toledo, OH - Culture Clash Records
Seattle, WA - Easy Street Records
Indianapolis, IN - LUNA music
Halifax, NS - Obsolete Records
Orlando, FL - Park Ave CDs

You can see more info here.

THANK YOU.

You can listen to my new album early.  Javelin listening events are happening on Tuesday September 19th, 2023 and Tuesday October 3, 2023. You can read all the details here. All the news about Javelin can be found here.

THANK YOU.

I have a new album, Javelin, coming out on Oct. 6.

New single “So You Are Tired.”

More info here:
https://sufjanstevens.lnk.to/javelin

THANK YOU. I love you. Peace to you.

Pray for peace and love and healing, a beacon of light in the darkness.

The world is abundant

The world is abundant