Spring has truly sprung upstate, and I was blessed to greet many new shoots of green on my woods walk this morning. It's a wonder to see Mother Nature reinvent herself again and again.
Down the street, in my neighbor's yard, there is a magnificent magnolia tree laden with blooms. The house, clearly someone's second home, is currently unoccupied and it seems a great shame that no one is paying witness to this tree's radiant unfolding.
We have so much we don't even notice it sometimes.
Spring is helping me practice the noticing. 🌷
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You may recall that in a recent podcast epi entitled "All creativity happens in relationship," I debunked the myth of the lone creative genius and this pernicious idea that all creativity should be HARD and LONELY.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, this theme seems to be coming back for a reprise in the links section of this week's newsletter. Perhaps because we could all use a little more convincing? 🤔
Anywhoo, I've got all manner of takes on creativity & consciousness below from David Lynch, Melissa Broder, Emily Dickinson, Priya Parker, Suzan-Lori Parks, and more.
I also just dropped a new Hurry Slowly interview with writer, dancer, quilter, and all-around creative human Cody Cook-Parrott (who some of you may have known previously as Marlee Grace).
We had a really rich conversation about reinventing yourself as a creative person amidst a digital landscape where it's so easy to get locked into your identity as a personal brand.
Once you become known for something, it can feel like you'll be jeopardizing your business if you evolve into someone else or move into a different focus area. So how do we navigate that?
There are no easy answers, but Cody and I dive deep into the discomfort of these questions and share how we are facing them.
Speaking of Spring and chrysalises and transformation, a quick note that there are only a few days left to register for the Spring Cycle of my new creative incubator.
KILN is a warm, generative space for creative transformation that will help you create accountability, build momentum, and make progress with your creative ideas.
As I was thinking about KILN and the metaphor of "creative fire" a few weeks ago, a friend sent me this essay about heat as the most essential ingredient in all transformation —
"Every time a difference is manifested between the past and the future, heat is involved."
Fascinating! 🌞
Sending love, Jocelyn
Pablo working hard. Photo by Sam Thorpe.
This is the first morning.
Maybe it's all this vernal freshness, or maybe it's just wanting to shrug off my "self" for a moment, but I am feeling less like writing and more like appreciating this week.
So instead of an essay, I'm sharing a small bouquet of spring love poems by two renowned female writers from Japan's Heian era (794 - 1185): Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu.
These are from a beautiful collection called The Ink Dark Moon, translated by Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aritani.
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No different, really— a summer moth's visible burning and this body, transformed by love.
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No bone-chilling autumn wind could pierce me like this spring storm scattering blossoms.
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Watching the moon at dawn, solitary, mid-sky, I knew myself completely, no part left out.
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If, in an autumn field, a hundred flowers can untie their streamers, may I not also openly frolic, as fearless of blame?
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I think I will not go out again on your drifting boat that floats in any direction without ever setting a course.
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Like a ripple that chases the slightest caress of the breeze— is that how you want me to follow you?
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Sleeplessly I watch over the spring night— but no amount of guarding is enough to make it stay.
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Undisturbed, my garden fills with summer growth— how I wish for one who would push the deep grass aside.
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Nothing in the world is usual today. This is the first morning.
When wellness is marketed as a product to be purchased, what does healing mean? A good piece from writer Melissa Broder on going down the wellness, individual-healing rabbithole: "Timing is everything. But what if one's cacao ceremony conflicts with one's intermittent fast? And then there's the problem of breath work. To Wim Hof or not to Wim Hof? To box breathe or breathe coherently? I just need to know the perfect way to breathe. Especially in a time of crisis."
What have we done to Emily Dickinson? A wonderful piece about how one of our greatest poets of all time was not the weird, spinster, recluse she has been portrayed as: "Say goodbye to the Belle and Recluse of Amherst, Mythic Emily, and every other epithet that scholars, biographers, and critics have coined to stoke the public's fascination with a human sphinx. Behold, instead, a woman who baked—a lot—for friends, family, and neighbors; who lamented that she didn't receive any valentines at school ("I have not quite done hoping for one"); who was very often funny and used a prodigious number of exclamation points in letters to her family ("Your welcome letter found me all engaged in the history of Sulphuric Acid!!!!!")"
"The human hand is a marvel of nature." In my energy work practice, I often speak to the immense power of our hands for healing. In my teaching practice (and my RESET course in particular), I talk about the power of choosing to work in analog over digital. This NYT article digs into some of the science behind WHY we find working with our hands to be so gratifying. (The comments are great, too. Especially the one with the Lynda Barry quote: "In the digital age, don't forget to use your digits!")
"I like writing because you get to hold the hand of the spirit." A beautiful profile of playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who has a new play (Sally & Tom) at the Public Theater: "'What I received was how to conduct myself in the presence of spirit,' she told me, conjuring the religious underpinnings of Baldwin's work. 'You have to wrestle, tussle with the angels. I like writing because you get to hold the hand of the spirit.' For Parks, it became clear that the writer's vocation was one of listening to the ancestors, and reverence for what you might learn."
+ Join KILN, my brand new creative incubator. Got a creative project that's been on the back burner for too long? KILN is a transformative space for turning half-baked creative ideas into a reality.
+ Book a one-on-one energy session with Jocelyn. I love doing energy work with folks who are looking to get in deeper touch with their heart's purpose, their creativity, or their intuition. If you haven't experienced energy work before and are curious but have questions, just hit reply and drop me a line. : )
From a recent client: "I loved the work I did with Jocelyn in so many ways. I was navigating a tremendous amount of change and the work we did together allowed me to feel grounded, centered, and empowered. I felt like I was able to return to a wisdom and intuition that I knew was lying under the surface and was able to unlock a part of me that I did not have access to before."
SHOUT-OUTS: The puppy pics are from: Myself and Sam Thorpe.
Link ideas from: Austin Kleonand Kottke.org. You can support me & my work by: Participating in one of the offerings listed above, or one of my courses below! : )
Hi, I'm Jocelyn, the human behind this newsletter. I host the Hurry Slowly podcast, teach online courses, and practice energy work through the Light Heart Project. You can learn more about me at jkg.co. If you have a question, you can always feel free to hit reply. 🤓
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