Nov 10, 2024 6 min read

Grounding & Direction for Tired People Who Care: Fall Newsletter

"I am tiret. With a 'T.'"

Image title: grounding and direction for tired people who care; diagram of four circles in a Venn diagram, containing links to different sources in the categories of body, spirit/courage, rest and joy. download of image with links and full text list of resources available below.

I am not a typically cynical person, but these United States have been TESTING ME! I got some things for you, though...

Lissen, y’all. I firmly believe we’re all doing the best we currently know how to do. AND we are definitely gonna need to do better if we’re going to survive together, spirits intact!

That said, it’s been particularly hard this week. The Black erasure and anti-Blackness have been heart-flattening. I’ve corrected a few people about blaming the election results on Black people and I will find time to continue to do so. The reality of the popular vote... The continued, consumptive, irritating and self-centered obtuseness of white women... The fear of emboldened ignorance… My Black pastor said "I am tiret. With a 'T.'" and I felt that immediately and profoundly. This tired has rings like trees, strata like rocks, layers like a landfill.

Atena Updates

TORCH Literary Arts benefit/Dana's Birthday Party

I was invited to be a reader at an excellent event online; my dear friend Dana Weekes brilliantly braided together a list of very cool and talented poet friends and her connection with TORCH Literary Arts (an organization established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women), by hosting an enriching, delightful, much-needed event. We got together and shared our love of poetry alongside our love of Dana! Such an honor to have been included alongside such talented artists!

Mid-Atlantic Review 2024 - In-person?
- This year I have been honored to have 2 poems in Mid-Atlantic Review's online publication. I am extra pleased to announce that I will also be published in the print magazine! And further still: I have been invited to perform in the release event for the latest print issue and hope to have the chance AND it takes place in Washington DC later this month... So if the budget allows, I promise I’ll keep you posted.
Writer Retreat: Senegal bound!
- I am indescribably excited about this! I will be joining a cohort of writers with the Rose Pan African Education Immersion Writers in Senegal in 2025! This will be critical research for the completion of my manuscript giving me the opportunity to write about West Africa from firsthand experience, exploring language and cultural institutions. Some things cannot be imagined or constructed. This will be necessary work.
Publishing program and manuscript update
- The writing is going well. I spent the month of October generating work via the always enriching In Surreal Life (ISL) experience. The daily prompts and access to writing community are so motivating and always fruitful for me. This month is NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month, when writers tap into collective motivation to urge ourselves and each other toward hammering out enough words to constitute a book. I’m tapping into that energy for my own purposes, as a support to my revision process. Collective creative efforts are very powerful, and I need all the motivation I can get.

Rough Times and Resources for People Who are Feelin It

My well being has been haphazard this week, and the good parts have been due to some of the resources I am sharing here. I have curated various memes, articles, clips, etc. of things that have been helping me which may contain a lifeline for you. Like this video:

Here is a link to download the diagram above with embedded links (NOTE: the text with white arrows will not have links; those resources can be found in the list below):

BODY, SPIRIT, REST, JOY Venn Diagram.pdf

BODY, SPIRIT, REST, JOY Venn Diagram.pdf.pdf

775 KB

If you like graphic organizers, you can thank ADHD for the diagram. If that’s not your thing, here’s your list:

For the BODY

Regulating your body Facebook post by Kirsty Sayer:

Drink some water
Move your body in some way. Micromovements and shoulder raises and releases, hand shake outs and horse lips count. Toe wiggles. Don’t underestimate little actions, the truly can get us out of a state of freeze.
Eat something with protein in it. Eat something fresh. Then eat anything you like.
Turn off the news. Your brain was not designed to process this much information, stimulation and stress.
Do 3 or more rounds of box breathing.
Put on a favourite song and sing loudly to it
Put down your phone: Create some tiny sense of order. Make a bed, clear a sink, wipe a counter, arrange some flowers. If you cannot put down your phone: delete some emails or close some phone tabs. Update an app.
Move to another room or space
Colour or doodle
Go outside/Open a window/turn down the heat a bit. Circulate stagnant air and energy.
Send a kind message to someone
Splash your face with cold water
Cross your arms across your chest and tap alternate shoulders rhythmically
Call someone, walk around while you talk if you can.

3 Vagus nerve resources: Per Amanda Stern (below),

“The vagus nerve runs down each side of our body, from the brainstem to the abdomen, carrying signals to vital organs and systems. It’s a principal player in the parasympathetic nervous system, the branch of the ANS that controls digestion, heart rate, blood pressure and the immune system. It’s our great regulator.”

For SPIRIT/COURAGE

When you're ready to think about the days ahead...

Lama Rod Owens, Rad Black Buddhist Teacher: We Keep Organizing, We Keep Loving
Kelly Hayes, Rad Indigenous Writer and Organizer:
- Podcast: Movement Memos,
- Blog: Organizing My Thoughts
Libby and Hoopla are apps where you can check out books from your public library systems. Download them wherever you get your apps and update your library card. TONS of free digital content! We need to be protecting libraries in general, part of which means USING them.

For REST

Did you know there are seven kinds of rest that people need? Physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social and spiritual. This entire list contains supports for the various categories.