For the Birds: February nourishment

Marking transitional moments in time: A video prompt for paid readers! Plus BIRDSEED, some thoughts about discipline, and this month's Resiliency Circle is not about love.

Thanks for being here! Paid readers of For the Birds:

• Receive one writing prompt, worksheet, or creative tool each month

• Gain access to The Resiliency Circle, a low-stakes / highly nourishing community

• Directly fund the growth & longevity of this creative project

When you can, thank you for reading closely, sharing widely, and financially supporting the labor of writing.

new month, new textures.

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Dear birds,

We’re in a short month, right on the heels of what felt like the world’s longest one.

I’m keeping this intro short as well, saving my energy for February’s cheeky Resiliency Circle—more on that below—as well as a personal essay I’m working on about hypervigilance (oof).

If your interest is piqued by either, know you can look forward to both in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, what’s on your creative mind these days? I hope you’ll find a way to let me know. Being in direct dialogue with each other about the things we care about most is a big part of how we maintain our hope in a climate like this one.

And admittedly, I think our collective hope needs maintenance right now. Mine certainly does.

In small, accessible ways, we can practice doing that maintenance work together.

xoxo, s

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BIRDSEED

~a monthly playlist, curated by M: the person I’d want to celebrate Valentine’s day with, if I wanted to celebrate Valentine’s day (I don’t)~

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Is discipline really what you’re after?

“Rather than aiming for discipline, you can aim to cultivate more curiosity. You can aim for showing up more often, and in less perfect circumstances.

You can experiment with routines that might serve you, and then change your mind the minute they don’t.

You can be so anti-capitalistic that you view rest and goofing around as parts of the creative process.

And you can work to become the most generous, engaging reader your writing will ever have.

What I want you to know today, and every day, is that discipline is an option you can opt-out of. And that good creative work—your work—can be fueled by accommodation, softness, and heart-centered devotion.”

→ Read the full post here.

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The Resiliency Circle: “Anything but love”

It’s February, that strange month when the end caps fill up with cheap teddy bears and boxed chocolates and red & pink balloons.

I like love, but I don’t care for this version of it. And these days, all I want to do is lean into my natural contrarian tendencies. Maybe you’d like to join me?

This month’s Resiliency Circle is a casual & fun poetry workshop! We’ll read some love poems together, and then (no shade to you, Love Poems) talk about ways we can repurpose their language, forms, and/or gestures in order to write our own new poems, about anything but love.

This low-stakes workshop is for you if:

• You like being prompted / having some starting language to work with

• You enjoy being in dialogue with other poems and poets

• You could use some new, playful energy in your writing practices

• You never write poems, and you want some gentle help finding a way in

We gather on Tuesday, February 25th at 5:15pm PST / 8:15pm EST. Zoom link & RSVP are at the bottom of today’s letter.

Note: Are you really not allowed to write about love during the workshop?! Of course not. That’s just my grumpy invitation.

The Resiliency Circle is where paid readers of For the Birds gather once a month in order to write, reflect, and nurture our creativity. Learn more here.

The Resiliency Circle (everything you need to know)

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Marking transitional moments in time: a video exercise

Last month, I was interviewed by the lovely

Sarah Sadie (she/her)

as part of her Practice Sessions series, and we covered quite a bit of ground in 6 small questions:

The Practice Sessions: Sarah Teresa Cook of For the Birds

You can read the full interview here. In it, I talk transparently about mental health and “good days,” the celebrity whose book club list I’ve accidentally become obsessed with, and the nuanced reality of self-care.

Paid readers of Sarah’s list also received a 16-minute video recorded by yours truly. In it, I walk through an exercise I reach for at the beginning of the year, a way we can each mark this big transitional moment through our own internal wisdom.

Part bibliomancy and part reflective practice, it’s an easy way to remind ourselves that what shows up on the page is, first and foremost, for us.

I’m sharing the full video below as this month’s prompt for paid readers of For the Birds! If you’re on the hunt for gentle creative support that won’t overwhelm your to-do list, consider upgrading your subscription today.