Surrender

Explorations, ecosystems, and essays worth surrendering to—on the topics of writing, rest, spirit, social media, friction, and sleeping dogs.

••• A Brief Unfolding

This month’s letter is a short one because I’ve been embracing the act of surrender. There’s the giving up or backing down in surrender—and there’s also the giving way and letting go. Among other things, I’m surrendering to…

…frustration and discomfort
…needing more sleep and early bedtimes
…allowing books to remain unread
…rage and grief and pain
…absurd and wild gratitude for little things
…not getting everything done
…craving salty chocolate and eating it often
…elusive and inconsistent creativity
…frequently creaking hips
…occasionally broken routines
…walking away
…holding close

••• Sweet Surrender

Sweet…and short. Here are a few explorations, ecosystems, and essays worth surrendering to.

Surrender and Social media

I recently had a brief session with dancer, writer, and creativity guide Cody Cook-Parrot—focused on leaving social media. I’m not going anywhere immediately, but lately I’ve been trying to create more practice and ritual around how I use social media. My session with Cody was incredibly grounding and joyful, and it left me feeling even more invested in building things by word of mouth.

Surrender and Spirit (and Sleep)

WE ARE SACRED, PRODUCTIVITY IS NOT

Finally got my hands on a copy of Heather Archer’s The Grind Culture Detox: Heal Yourself from the Poisonous Intersection of Racism, Capitalism, and the Need to Produce. OMG THE TITLE. Really can’t wait to dig in.

ALL CREATURES NEED SLEEP

This exploration of sleep from Reuters is really cool. I didn’t know that some animals (like dolphins and whales) sleep unihemispherically (one half of the brain sleeps at a time to allow them to be constantly alert), or that South American Armadillos sleep more than 20 hours a day.

THE NAP MINISTRY HAS A NAP BISHOP (OBVIOUSLY)

You’ve almost certainly heard me talk about Tricia Hersey and the Nap Ministry—if you haven’t, well I’m sorry and you’re welcome, because this won’t be the first or the last time I mention this work. “Work” isn’t even the right word—it’s a calling, a purpose, and a gospel. I enthusiastically urge you to read (and listen to) Hersey’s book, Rest Is Resistance, and find a copy of the Rest Deck.

Surrender and Analog Creativity

NO MORE TO-DO TYRANNY

In my early days at A Book Apart, I got to work with publishing technologist Nellie McKesson—a wildly talented and kind creative person who not only was a book composition expert, she also created a service for publishers of all shapes and sizes. And she just launched the APRON notebook: a notebook for “To-Do List” people with too much to do. Gasp.

IN PRAISE OF FRICTION

My friend

Kate Neale Cooper

writes the wonderful Skin of Our Teeth newsletter and her essay, “In Praise of Friction,” is one that I keep bookmarked for reading and frequent re-reading. I love it because it’s about slowing down with intention; I think about it at least weekly and have shared it often.

Surrender to Self-Promotion

I’m offering writing workshops in April (with more dates likely to come)!

EMERGE is a hands-on workshop focused on concept, thesis, and outline development for nonfiction writing projects.

TEND is a small group writing clinic with the goal of helping folks craft meaningful and creative bios.

If you’re thinking about starting a writing project (or thinking about thinking about starting one), EMERGE is the perfect place for you. And/or if you wish you had a bio that genuinely represented you, TEND is where you can create one. I’d love to see you at one of these gatherings—or if you know someone who might like to join, please pass the info along!

Baby Let’s Snooze

I have hundreds of photos of our dog, Hugo, on my phone—a good percentage of which are him in repose. At minimum, he takes an after-breakfast nap, a midday nap, and an evening post-dinner nap before heading to bed for the night. He turned thirteen years old this year, so he’s losing his hearing and his eyesight a bit, and our walks are more of a mosey these days. We keep thinking he’s sleeping more than he used to, but I don’t know, the guy just loves to snooze. It makes me deeply happy to know he feels so safe and relaxed with us.