Something small, sweet, and calm in the midst of what has been a very hard year

We all need to lie fallow sometimes.

We can’t push and strive and hustle all year long, day after day. We can’t embrace December’s festive season if we haven’t had time to simply be, without demands or pressures or tending.

We just can’t.

Rest is vital.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a really hard year. A watershed hard year.

For me, this year has been full of predictable low points, but also unpredictable ones. Life is calmer now, but I don’t know how the story will unfold. Years from now, we may look back at this moment and think, That’s when things really started to get bad.

There feels like so much uncertainty, and so much risk of hardship.

Or, as the young kids say, the vibes are off.

Here on my newsletter, Knit Together, and starting tomorrow morning, I will be hosting three days of quiet morning activities, reflections, and meditations. They aren’t specifically knitting or crochet-related, but they are created with yarn crafters in mind.

Each morning, you will get a mini-essay from me in your email in-box with one specific activity “attached.”

It’s not a to-do item. It’s a permission slip to be.

If you’ve been around here for a while, you will recognize the format. We did this together when we were waiting for the 2024 US presidential election results to arrive, and we did it again during the first few days of the current presidential administration, when holding on to hope was really hard.

Being part of this virtual retreat won’t take more than a few minutes of your time (or, spoiler alert: about 45 minutes if you decide to join me for the All Bodies Welcome yoga class tomorrow morning).

It’s for paid subscribers, but I’m doing the event with reciprocity in mind. This means if you need free access, you've got it. Here’s how:

1. Get free access: If you are Black or Indigenous, if you’re out of work or at threat of being out of work, if you are a student, if you experience food insecurity or another type of scarcity, enter your name here to receive free-to-you access, community-supported, 1-month membership. (The yoga class, each activity, and every part of the event will be free to you.)

2. Get access without a subscription: If you want to join the event but absolutely do not need another subscription to manage, buy this listing, and I’ll add you to the “paid list” for one month only.

3. If you’ve been thinking of upgrading your membership for a while, please do! This newsletter engine supports my graduate schooling and my spirits: Upgrade your membership to paid. (If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you! You are the best!)

The retreat starts tomorrow morning.

Thanks for letting me pop into your in-box today to remind you about it.

And, whatever you’re doing today, I hope it’s gentle.

Take good care,
Anne

*I say new, but I’m actually realizing that I’ve been a social worker since Day One. It’s thrilling to learn new words and theories for things I’ve done all my life.