“Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”
Happy 2023, camerados!
I've been thinking so much about what might be most supportive to those of you reading this post. It feels important, the first one of the year. I always have so many ideas, but I didn't want a * thing * to say or a concept to teach...I just wanted to connect.
I was wandering around the house, musing on this and other topics, when I noticed a constant thin stream of water pouring outside an upstairs window. It faces south, and today there is FINALLY some sun. The icicles were melting!
I didn't know that watching icicles melt was just what my heart needed - a reminder that no state, however cold or uncomfortable, is constant. We freeze, we melt, and then we flow.
Are you in a freeze, melt, or flow state right now?
I'm in a melting state. I wrote a post from the writing trenches at the end of last year, right after I turned in my most recent revision of my WIP to my agent. In this liminal time of waiting for notes from her, I've found myself re-reading old, shelved projects and falling in love with them again. My frozen feelings about them - giving up, frustration, despair - are melting away and I can suddenly see my joy in the books again - it had just been hiding under all that ice. I hadn't expected that - staying up late reading my own rejected books. Nor had I expected to want to give them a fighting chance again.
I chose the quote from Howard's End above because that's where I'm at right now - I want to continue to connect my writing to my passions, including my passion to be transported and to highlight love in all its forms. I've been working hard to "live in fragments no longer" through aligning all the work I do through the singular wish to do right by the miracle.
Are you living your life in fragments? What would it look like to "live in fragments no longer"?
Doing right by the miracle can be really tough if you, like me, have a great deal of chronic pain, tend toward burnout due to a variety of passions and responsibilities, and are trying to deepen your spiritual practices while simultaneously not taking yourself too seriously (everyone needs an Emily in Paris binge now and again).
Fragmentation can easily occur without a heartfelt intention to keep remembering what matters most.
My Zen teacher recently asked me: "Why do you meditate?" I've been sitting with that question for a while - it can be so easy to just go through the motions. Why DO I meditate? Why do I write? The new year is always a good time to ask ourselves questions like this.
Honest, tender gut checks are necessary to wake up to our lives and how we want to live them with our whole non-fragmented selves.
This brings me back to icicles. What is so cool is that, when the ice melts, it's not a fragment of an icicle, not broken or discarded. It's the frozen water that briefly enjoyed time as ice art returning to its original un-frozen state, curious and open and nimble. Maybe it will fall into a patch of snow or be sipped up by a bird or soak into the earth to nourish buried seeds. The possibilities for what it will do are endless. Whether it is frozen or melting or flowing, it's still itself, reacting creatively to whatever is in its environment, responding to the present moment. Kind of like some writers I know. 😉
The word I chose for 2023 is INVIGORATED. I figure that if I'm feeling invigorated, I stand a good chance of getting something worth sharing on the page. When I'm invigorated - as I was seeing that icicle melting - I'm feeling connected to myself, to my readers, to the earth, to Source.
I worked from that place, writing this to you.
Below, I've curated a variety of resources to support a heart-centered, non-fragmented writing practice and creative life: I hope one of them is just what your heart needs right now, whether you are freezing, melting, or flowing.
Free Workbooks, Meditations, Recorded Workshops and Worksheets
If you didn't get this in your last newsletter, it's not too late to dip into the Get Clear. In fact, I like to look at this throughout the year to check in with my intentions, dreams, and schemes. Get instant access on the Lotus & Pen subscriber portal. If you’re not on the list, you can jump on here and instantly access the workbook, which includes word play, tarot spreads, writing explorations, and more to help you get clear.
The Lotus & Pen portal is regularly updated with new, free support for your writing practice. Plus, you get inspiration in your box about twice a month.
Free 2023 Quarterly Workshops
This year, we're doing something extra special with the free Well Quarterly Gatherings. In collaboration with Rebecca Dykes Writers, an organization dedicated to supporting writers who tell stories to end violence against women and girls, we’ll be focusing our 2023 Well efforts on the topic of writing trauma.
In our first Gathering, we’ll look at practices you can begin right away to support working with material that is painful or traumatic.
I’ll be drawing from my own experience writing trauma, my work with Rebecca Dykes Writers, and Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness practices to help you have the support you need in the writer’s seat.
Advice for When…
You’re Freezing, Melting, or Flowing
This post will help you get to the heart of WHY you write and WHO you write for. It's the gut check of gut checks for writers.
This post is for those of you who are STILL trying to figure out how to write a decent freaking chapter.
Struggling to make time for your writing? Here are some good tips for good writer hygiene.
I finally found a way to apparate to my dream writing space. You can come, too.
1:1 Support & Mentorship
I now have a nice-sized handful of on-demand support, from process to craft to tarot. Any of these courses and mini-courses are a great way to begin the new year.
I have several different ways we can work 1:1 together, whether it's a creative season or single call. I love working with writers during powerful transition times, such as the new year. There is so much good energy to work with and a sincere desire to enact change. Get ready for some breakthroughs!
Head's up: Creative seasons (three or six months of coaching) begin on the 1st or 15th of the month. All single calls can be at any time.
May you be happy, healthy, safe and inspired in 2023 and beyond.
Remember: ALWAYS CONNECT! ❤️
