phew yall! what a time we are living in. i feel like i’ve said it a few times over the years but i’m really feeling it in this moment: we are living in times of collapse.
unfortunately, times of collapse are not necessarily unique. it it the way of things to collapse and reform. it is the nature of the universe for things to fall apart and it is of the nature of evolution for things to come to together.
and i feel like at certain times, the tenor/frequency/intensity of one or both of those energies (collapse, construction) ramps up. i think we’re in one of those times of increased intensity. if you’re feeling this, here’s a few things that lately have helped me pay some attention and/or care to myself and others. may you and we all remember that now, even in this, there are places to put our attention that continue bringing forward what we want and love.
in other news, it’s aries season. do you feel it yet?! i do. and jesus is it overwhelming. but of course it hurts when the buds burst🥵
also, aries season means it’s almost my birthday! stay tuned for my usual birthday ask in the next newsletter. :)
on that note, i was at party last week and i heard two things that were both so powerful but in different directions.
the first: i introduced myself to someone and they were like “omg wait i think i get your newsletter” and i was like 😱 cooooool. (i won’t name you because i didn’t get consent to, but just know i remembered that moment and thought it was cool, obviously)
the second: i heard from someone i know that someone they know (who they didn’t name) was a paid subscriber to the newsletter and that person was having feelings about having become a paid subscriber and me not sending out enough newsletters.
if you are that person: you are so right! and i am sorry for not meeting your expectation! if you’re willing to connect with me directly, i’d love to hear from you! this newsletter is absolutely a labor of love and when i get overwhelmed with other things, it def takes the backseat. that said, please call me in and let me know what you’re expecting! feedback like that is critical to me; lemme hear it! i can handle it. it’s possible that it’ll activate me to post more! it’s also possible that we can have a good back and forth and land on a conclusion that maybe this isn’t a place you want to contribute money. that’d be a bummer but i don’t want anyone feeling anything negative about what’s happening here. whoever you are, thanks for expressing yourself and i hope we can connect!
ok, keeping it moving: this edition is gonna have lots of things in the addendum (did i mention it’s aries season? things are HAPPENING)
an old friend and colleague of mine recently got displaced from his home across an international border! if you’re willing to support a queer leader in black theatre, please contribute
there’s a chance to live with me (sort of) this summer! one of our buildingmates is looking to sublet his room for 4 months.
a friend is in search of an editor/coach for sacred writing project
dope course my friend chris told me about: Black Speculative Literature: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Race, and Reality (the course is actually about to wrap up for this round but if you’re interested, getting on the waitlist might keep you in the loop about things connected to it in the future)
check out this call for artists and performers
open mic for the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network (BIJAN) | 2 may
loving men, the men’s work documentary i was in, has a new website!
https://www.lovingmenfilm.com/. there’s a sweet viewing guide, there, too.
last thing i wanted to share is that a friend and i are doing a little experimenting in the next month in boston. check it out and feel free to share with anyone you know in the boston-area: uncles against the patriarchy (7 april or 27 april)
ok! on to the things!
(!!) pick of the pack
some things i’ve written since the last newsletter:
Mar 6, 2026 | “less prep, more presence” doesn’t mean no prep
Mar 5, 2026 | on dysfunctional rescuing
there is nothing new under the sun. also, full transparency, many of these quotes come from james clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter (which i love).
Each morning, millions of people wake up and unconsciously lay their sacred, freshly risen energy on the altar of the algorithm.
They offer up their first thoughts, their moods, their creative life force.
Not to Spirit.
Not to the Earth.
But to an empire built on monetizing their attention. — Angell Deer
You are not your grand plans. You are your daily patterns. — James Clear
Questions are answered as you move, not before you move. Moving forward with an answer that is partially correct will usually fill in the gaps faster than waiting until you come up with a plan that is perfectly correct. — James Clear
Testing one user early in the project is better than testing fifty near the end. — Steve Krug
The modern world is optimized for convenience, not improvement.
The default path is usually the more convenient path. And I get it. Who wants their days to be a pain in the neck? I like sitting in air-conditioned rooms and watching my favorite shows too.
But the body and mind only grow when placed under a stimulus. If you want improvement, you have to choose something different than convenience.
It can be lovely to have a day where you do not push yourself, but it rarely works out well if you have a life where you do not push yourself. — James Clear
Acceptance, under someone else’s terms, is worse than rejection. — Mary Cassatt
Speed creates opportunity. Patience compounds it.
Moving fast will generate more chances. But if you quickly jump from thing to thing, growth will stall.
Get moving and find what works, then do it for decades. — James Clear
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. — William Shakespeare
some things i’ve read since the last newsletter:
Deadly Minneapolis Encounter Is the 9th ICE Shooting Since September | The New York Times
Hessy Levinsons Taft, Jewish Baby on Cover of Nazi Magazine, Dies at 91 | The New York Times (!)
Rockwood Leadership Institute: Remembering our Sister Helen Kim
Why this famous iceberg turned blue and what it tells us about melting ice | AccuWeather
Opinion | How Trump Has Used the Presidency to Make at Least $1.4 Billion | The New York Times
why dumb goals might be exactly what you need | Le Secret Club
James Talarico Wins Democratic Senate Primary in Texas | The New York Times
Rescuing, Resenting, and Regretting: A Codependent Pattern | PsychCentral
Less Prep, More Presence as a Teaching Philosophy | Reflecting Allowed
Calculating time in Google Sheets: subtract, sum and extract date and time units | Ablebits.com (I HAVE BEEN WAITING YEARS TO FIND THIS)
The Long Dark with Francis Weller | How to Survive the End of the World
Minneapolis Community Defense Is “Riding on the Learning Edge of a Whirlwind” | Movement Memos (!!)
Burnout is Not Inevitable: Building Movements That Can Hold Us | Movement Memos
la vida — snow tha product (!!) i am obsessed with this rn
a lil update from nadav about this:
We just finished updating the list at tinyurl.com/ndzclqb2jobs. A few exciting updates:
My friend and comrade, Zac, is now helping out
We’ve added an application deadline column
We have a form for people to sign up for updates: https://forms.gle/gVdczCREuvHQ8Hcj7
bad environmentalist: my declassified deep winter survival guide
the bird: Postcard from Poland
building belonging: Neurodivergence and belonging: understanding myself and the world
future ancestors: Let’s Not Surrender Democracy (!)
rectangle | square: 11 | Heirlooms, Happenstance, Hands!
The Felt Sense: What Do We Do While Waiting For Change To Arrive?
“Messenger” by Mary Oliver (ht mariame kaba)
how to roller skate. also, about the inflammation of spring. phew chile.
two this month because that’s just how much this moment is lol
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