Hello beautiful human,
Whoa hey hello this is the 250th small brave thing, written two years not-quite-to-the-date since I first opened An Inviting Space for us to gather and breathe into Next together. That’s a nice round number to invite our reflections, innit? I think so.
So here’s an invitation to pull up a cupcake or a valentine and pause with me for a minute, here, when it feels right.
Welcome, Reader. I welcome new subscribers at any level but most of my posts will be moving to paid (more on that below). If you aren’t ready to pay for a subscription, but you feel gratitude for this post and want to support me, you can Buy Me a Coffee (and leave a note! I love reading what people share! I try to respond to everyone).
In my personal calendar, February 1 is the start of the new year. January is denouement: tying up loose ends, recovering from the excesses of the holidaze, and listening for what the new year wants to be. My Januaries trend slow, meditative and sleepsome.
Things begin to stir again right at the start of February, when the world fills with hearts and large pink and red banners celebrating love. (How else should a year begin?) I’ve learned to be ready. February wakes up, stretches, and asks What’s emerging?
So let me ask:
What’s emerging for and around you?
Do the months have themes or flavors for you? What about the days of the week?
My theme for February 2026 is exploration. My explorations dipped and dived into arts and culture in my area. I made a couple of trips to the Kohler Art Center up in Sheboygan to see the Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? exhibit, celebrating the ongoing work of Detroit artist Tyree Guyton. A concurrent exhibit on Midwestern grotto tradition got us thinking about future road trips we could take around the Midwest. On Valentine’s Day we spent an hour at the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Lead Between the Rhymes exhibit celebrating 50 years of hip-hop culture in Wisconsin.
This morning, mulling and reflecting, what I’m noticing is the handmade, homemade materiality that threads throughout what I’ve explored….
Hip-Hop as a movement emerged in the 1970s and 80s from New York and West Coast urban environments. The four pillars of hip-hop: art (tagging), dance (bboys and bgirls), music (DJ-ing) and poetry (the MC/rapper), all had a DIY aesthetic in those unfunded early years. Handmade flyers—hand written, collaged and pasted together, then copied on a cheap copier somewhere, would get pasted up around neighborhoods to announce the next battle or block party. Culture arose from the streets and spread like jubilation around the world.
Guyton’s art also arises from the streets, as he reclaims discarded objects and makes neighborhood art from them. The Midwestern tradition of grotto building assembles collections in the spirit of devotion: shells, broken glass, small objects and curios turn into concrete sculpture and placemaking.
Placemaking, pieces into a whole, the birth of new movements, creativity of the analog variety… What are we making? What do we want to make? The soup pot at the back of the mind is simmering…
Let’s explore handmade, homemade, analog experience, together. I’m hosting a couple of zoom hours, open to my paid audience, later this month, time for us to share memories of making, what we’re working on now, and what we reach towards. If it feels right, bring a craft or project to work on during that time.
A gentle “bee for all” if you will. I’ll send dates and links out soon.
It’s all connected, friends. We’re all connected. What are you contributing to the Great Weavery today?
xo
S
In January I made the decision to paywall almost all of my posts, going forward. Partly this is to try to evade the ever-hungry maws of the AI bots. I don’t trust Substack to do this work on their own. Can any of us fend them off? Perhaps not…this is me, trying. I also want to gather with my people in a protected and boundaried community setting. Paywalls help set a boundary.
But boundaries shouldn’t feel exclusive. New payment rates reflect the change - Substack won’t let me lower the monthly subscription below $5/month, but my annual plan is now $52…$1/week. If you’re currently paying more than that (first, thank you!) and second, if you wish, you can reduce your plan to the new rates by unsubscribing from An Inviting Space and re-subscribing again. Easy-peasy.
If $1 a week is too much of an ask right now, message me. I’ll accomodate. No one should feel left outside.
I believe our world needs new stories. what if those stories lie curled within us like seeds? This is An Inviting Space to experience where and how we might discover, recover and nurture the secret, magical gardens of soul day by day. Starting where we are, as we are.
I’ve included so many links in this essay…here’s a few more…
Kristen Drozdowski at Field of Visions has a beautiful essay on working with rosa rugosa.
I always find inspiration for making stuff at Zinestack.
This incredible piece of writing by Vera Hart MD PhD is worth the long read.
Your support is welcome, and your attention and time are true gifts. Thank you.
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