Poetically Powered Newsletter, Welcome to the land of holy shit, can we create?
Poetically Powered Newsletter, Welcome to the land of holy shit, can we create?
“There’s so many worlds where I wasn’t supposed to be here, but somehow I’m in this one that I am and still here despite all. With that said, it’s still hard and painful so we do the best with what we got and that’s all you can be asked.”
I had this thought recently thinking of other worlds/universes I could be in. The one where trauma wasn’t a thing. The one where anxiety isn’t my best friend. The one where depression doesn’t bed me at night. The one where I didn’t have to have years of self-hatred that made me my own worst enemy. But, we’re in this current universe and we’re still here, and doing what we can with what we got.
I created this Newsletter to keep you updated on my poetry life, the classes that I offer, like Poetic Catalysts, Haunted Poets, etc., and my facilitated spaces with the non-profit I’m a member of.
Guess what? I still don’t have any offerings for you. I have my Patreon, which starts at $1, and I breathed some life into it after an entire month of going silent. I went quiet because it’s been impossible lately. I never get into details of my personal life, but this has been the worst thing of my life. And I’ve had a pretty good track record of surviving some crazy shit.
Life has been nuts, and I’m still recouping from some health issues. Nothing like your health going down the drain to awaken you to how things can be “this too shall pass… into something worse, cool. We’re great. It’s great.” I’ve been someone who doesn’t paint a pretty picture if it’s not happening to me. Even when the image may be appealing like before the Tom Fuckery happened in my life that set everything to fucked status, there still is the poltergeist of my mental health sitting like a gremlin reminding me that I will never get rid of it.
Surprisingly, or not, I sent off my last Newsletter, which was made months ago before being sent, and found a surge of … poems? Since April of this year, I couldn’t write without a workshop behind it. And I could do that, but my poems from my mental highway couldn’t compare to those made in workshops. Primarily Undercurrents, which I’ve been a part of for a year, has caused some of my favorite pieces.
I’m cautious because not being in a safe space mentally means my mind doesn’t want to say shit. I think this was a survival tactic my body did for years. Fall into perpetual numbness and your mind detaching from your body and the two not working together. I’ve always been disconnected from my emotions, and now every part of me is trapped in survival.
And sometimes, not survival, my mind just rejects what’s happening.
That’s all you can do is do the best you can with what you got. It’s a mantra. It’s a fight, my favorite place in the world, my head, and retreat to my favorite place in the world, my head.
I will be a part of Kin Keeping next month with Desiree. If you want to see what it's about, here's the link: https://www.desireedallagiacomo.com/kinkeeping
I might bring back my Holiday workshop, but instead of Holiday Hope, I might rename it “Hold Holiday Shit Here.” That just feels more like the feel of it this year. I’m hoping to do a monthly editing series, “Come Edit A Poem With Me,” on my Patreon of my process and how I make 2-3 poems out of a single draft.
If you are on my Patreon, and a part of this Newsletter, message me your address if you want to have some cards n’ things sent to your physical address. I’m slowly getting back into hopefully being crafty and treating people to shit I make.
If you’re looking for a workshop I provide with Guerilla Poets that will probably be next year. My last workshop with them was, “Surviving Life’s Seasons” which was different than the ones I normally teach with them and I got great feedback that it was well loved. I also have been creating a lot of lesson plans for future workshops I may just provide on my own, which you’ll get a Newsletter if/when this happens anytime soon.
Listening to: Discovery mix on Spotify
Reading: Paper girl and the knives that cut her
Getting ready for: Kin Keeping, still need to do some essay reading for it
Thanks for being here with me, for reading this Newsletter, for being a part of the proof that words matter in this world.