💌 I'm obsessed
This photo was taken after I was having one of those DAYS and my body was like, nope, we're done here. We need to rest our soft animal bodies. It's like nap time for your creativity.Â
Dearest camerados,
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I started working on this newsletter to share all my recent obsessions and realized they all come from dear friends, women who are such a big part of my life and who support my creativity and inspire me every day. It's so nice to accidentally remember how freaking awesome your pack is. May each of you have friends that hold you up when life tries to bowl you over.Â
Three fun / big bits of news to share with you all:
1. I am now the Executive Director of my Zen Center! What?! I had to go out and buy boss lady pants. This is a full-time position squished into a part-time position and, whoa, is non-profit management no joke, but I'm here for it. I am so proud to be part of a Zen community that gently and firmly turns its back on patriarchy, the heteronormative, and white dominance - which is NO JOKE in American Zen. Our Guiding Teacher, Board Chair, and Executive Director are all women. Don't even get me started on our teachers and priests and how queer our little family is. It is the coolest thing to be able to work where you practice, especially when beautiful terrible things are happening more and more in a world that feels like it's spinning way out to no man's land. I basically feel like I'm now in charge of the safe zone in the childhood lava playground game. #nopressure
2. My book about war correspondents is slowly moving forward in Hollywood! I got to see a really cool pitch that the screenwriter and producers put together to send out to INCREDIBLY FANCY PEOPLE. (I'm dying). They basically narrated my book over a killer montage of film cuts from other movies that give the feel of my book. I know many of you have been checking in to see how that's going, so...pretty cool, right?!Â
3. I cancelled the Self-Compassion Intensive and it felt really....self-compassionate! I quickly realized that people's January slots were already filled and, rather than push myself to stick to what I'd committed to, I gave myself permission to pull the plug. Who cares if it looks like I didn't time it right? I think it was all those naps I've been taking! When you take care of yourself, it's easier to recognize when you're in over your head. The good news is: we're still doing the Cozy Mini Writing Retreat, back by popular demand, in February. Price is sliding scale. I hope to see your lovely faces there, with your hot mugs of yummy, your notebooks, your blankets, and your imaginations.Â
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Y'all.Â
My bestie, who has known what I need since high school, is a devotee of the podcast Armchair Expert. I admit, I was skeptical because the episodes are loooooong, but after her playing it as we drove around Prince Edward Island last summer, I'm now a big fan.Â
I just listened to the interview with Jon Batiste and - WHOA. If you only listen one podcast episode in the near future, this is it! I already found it for you!
No one else in this country gives me hope like Jon Batiste. And few people make me more delighted. I adore this man. What was particularly special is that I rarely encounter creatives like me who are doing a million different things but all with one single thread: do right by the miracle and help people discover their worthiness of this life. For me, that's all about helping people dig past the muck of this culture to find their shining, glorious Purpose, whatever that is.
This man is all about it! I felt such kinship, such gratitude. And I haven't smiled or laughed out loud that much in a long time.Â
If you haven't yet seen his documentary, American Symphony, I'll just say it the way he would: Ohhhhh Lawd! I'm also now obsessed with his wife, the writer Suleika Jaouad, who is doing incredible work for writers who are in life seasons that are painful and isolating. I know some of you will love her good medicine. (Also, they met at band camp when they were kids, how cute is that??).Â
#obsessed
Another shoutout to my bestie, the self-proclaimed Jesus Feminist who bought me this book because she said Kate Bowler is the most Buddhist Christian she knows. (So far: truth). I'd been following Bowler's work a bit and this gem is already such a balm to me in these times. The preface is, honestly, some of the best writing about what it feels like to be human right now.Â
A little note of caution: Many of us have backgrounds of spiritual harm in religious spaces. For some of you, her being a Christian might be triggering. For me, I'm having a delicious interfaith experience. She's the real-deal: a cancer survivor who isn't afraid to talk about how hard life is, who refuses to buy into toxic positivity, and who holds space for it all. (A theme we have here, it seems, because this is what Suleika Jaouad does, too).Â
This quote was one of my favorites:
"We might feel awful or wonderful, but we are running out of those middle-of-the-road feelings...the more boring, humdrum feelings of being unfazed by the world around us. We are no longer able to be carried along by the momentum of ordinary days unfolding into other ordinary days. Instead, we are lifted and carried by currents larger than we are, taking us further and faster than we wanted to go. There are highs and lows, soaring views and stomach-clenching drops.Â
This is the new way of being in the world, the sense of unpredictability and precipitously rising and falling. We are made of feathers. We are made of stone."Â
Mic drop, right? #obsessed
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My dear friend, who I often share with you all about, the writer Camille DeAngelis, is on fire with her blog these days! She just dropped one about writer's block and it's fantastic. When I read her posts, I always send her an email back with running commentary on my impressions - they are that good.Â
The pic above is of her holding a print I got her from Little Witch Hazel - the book that inspired the Cozy Mini Writing Retreat last autumn!Â
This line is just wisdom up the wazoo: "Creative discipline arises naturally out of one’s deepest preferences."
#obsessed
THIS WOMAN! I met Liza Kindred when we were going through meditation teacher training in New York City. Her personal story is endlessly inspiring to me (yes, she's writing it and, yes, it would make a great movie) and the way she turns lemons into lemonade puts Hotdog on a Stick to shame. (Maybe you'll only get that if you're from Cali).Â
For those of you who are teachers in the wellness space - I know many on this list are - Liza has started a community called Holy Shift, just for us. (Also, that name is the best). She's opening the doors to founding members and, just a little plug here: best swag ever. See below.Â
I don't do duck face for just anyone! 😂
Liza is the only person I know who talks openly and frequently about spiritual abuse. She is the real deal when it comes to teaching with integrity, and she's brought loads of amazing teachers onto the platform to share their wisdom. If you're in the wellness space, Holy Shift might be a great place of community for you. More here!
(Also, you KNOW when Liza has a retreat in Miami, I'm on the first plane out of Minnesota!) Who's with me?!
Isn't it nice when you friends make things you can be #obsessed about?Â
(I just keep using this hashtag because it feels like a vibe. Ha!)
If you're feeling like your new year is already off the rails or you're feeling the pressure to keep up your good work, just remember:
This world is beautiful. This world is terrible. You are doing your best. I know you are, because this newsletter is usually opened by people who are trying to do right by the miracle.
I'm so glad to be on this planet with each of you,Â
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