(Where Are You? I’m Christina Rivera, author of MY OCEANS: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women, and MobyBytes is my series of newslettery notes deep-diving the oceanic kinship of bodies of water and beings. Thanks for signing up for this irregular email in your inbox!)
Sometimes a girl needs to take a break from her book. And from her country.
OK, I was running away.
But my trusty *craniosacral-therapist/psychic (the same I referenced a few times in My Oceans) had—pre-departure—held my shifty eyes and declared: “Your spirit guides want me to remind you that you can’t run away.”
(*If you need this kind of metaphysical frankness in your life, DM me for her contact details.)
Those spirit guides. Always slapping you in the face with your own brilliant fucking truth.
Of course, they were right.
And nothing to grind truth into a soul like a Buddhist retreat at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village…
Because I had my 10-year-old daughter with me, I wasn’t able to participate in most of the sunrise walking meditations. But guess what. That stuff still works on sneaky cellular levels. Since returning home, I’ve done walking (and/or sitting) meditation almost daily. I didn’t set the intention. It just happened. #cellularlevel. And you know what the given mantra for each of those steps—on American soil—is? :
“I have arrived. I am home.”
I can hear my spirit guides snickering.
My husband says I’ve been notably more at peace in the month since returning home. My 13yo says I haven’t had any “moody days.” I flipped them my two middle fingers, and then we all laughed.
Honestly, I don’t know how to talk about this, because my big AH-HA conclusion from my time away was that I need to STEP AWAY from a political & national identity and STEP INTO a spiritual practice. And even though I’m dedicating like 10% of every day to new habits, no one wants to hear about a girl practicing engaged Buddhism for modern survival, right? (Even though Buddhism is more philosophy than religion, my church-traumas still make me jumpy about this stuff.) Wait. Let’s confirm that. Be honest…
Let’s let that simmer.
And now that my initial book push is pushed, I’m turning my attention to this Substacky series of “blue love notes.” Because I like the idea. Most of you (maybe?) don’t know I was a blogger for decades before I became an author. I had to retire that old blogging website because 1) it was embarrassing, and 2) it was stealing SEO from my author website. (Oh, look, my digital footprint kept walking despite my best efforts to awash them!) Though I did archive the site, it’s harder to retire my instinct to overshare in snappy, hyperlinked, photo-story, paragraphs. So buckle up for more regular MobyBytes?!
In other unfortunate and stubborn news: 98% of authors make about zero dollars (or go into the negative) publishing a book. It’s a bummer—and I’m in debt from my book launch. So I’m just going to embrace the Substack subscription model, and if you feel like supporting a writer just because you like supporting artists (apparently, this is a real #1 motive!), well, then, I think you’re amazing. And I also thank you for each contribution that allows me to spend my time writing, and not seeking an 8-5 job. (Ps. I’m sending personal thank-you notes to anyone who subscribes at the “founding member” tier 🙏. ) As for my MobyBytes letters, moving forward, half of each will be free, and the second half will be for paid subscribers. Free apps. Cash bar. Tip jar. Or something like that?
Yes! I will help power the prose!
Ohh, I have new sections for MobyBytes. Because why not play around? Here we go!
I sat for more than a minute with this photo of a polar bear snacking on a decomposing Sperm Whale. Such a wild perspective shifter (and you know how I like those)…
I guess it can’t be stopped? I loved this entirely free series of short meditations by Kaira Jewel Lingo called “We Were Made for These Times,” available (again, free) on the (also free) Plum Village App:
The book didn’t die in my summer neglect! *Phew.* I’m so excited for these events in Telluride (9/10), UC Berkeley (10/29), Boulder (1/13, @Trident), and maybe… (TBA). Updates are posted on the events page on my website. Also, I love visiting book clubs and writing groups, so email me if you have or want to gather one?
Thanks for reading this far. And if you haven’t heard it enough, thanks for all your support of this fledgling writer and book.
From my blue heart to yours,
Christina
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Sample some published essays & excerpts from MY OCEANS
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Upcoming events & readings now on my author website: www.christinarivera.com
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