On Reaching Out...
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Hello friends, Every day, we get to choose what is important to us. What we spend time and attention on. Is that creativity? Research? Helping others? Family? Work? Friends? Social media? Television? The past? The future? Our health? The health of our communities? Reading books? Going for walks? Whatever we spend the most time and attention on is, by default, the thing we are making most important. Sometimes it isn’t one thing itself, it is a thread running through several things. For myself, the most important thread is connection. I connect to the world. I connect through my words—in novels and essays and poems—and my photographs. I connect through this newsletter. I connect through mutual aid. As soon as I notice something taking me away from these attempts at connection for too long, I must alter my behavior. We’re in the midst of a season that can foster either connection or a sense of alienation. And we rapidly approach a time when many people make new plans. For me, my plans have to include new ways to connect. New ways to reach others and to keep my own sense of connection to my readers, to the cosmos, to this planet, and to myself. Is a sense of connection important to you, too? How do you reach out? And how many ways are you open to being reached for yourself? We’re all we’ve got, friends. I hope we keep making that important. Thank you for being here. Best wishes - Thorn I'm leading Holy Well and Sacred Flame again, as a way to connect with the Goddess Brigid and help navigate these times. There are benefactor, basic, and scholarship payment tiers available. You can also gift the class to a friend at checkout.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, “Light is returning, even though this is the darkest hour. No one can hold back the dawn…” – Charlie Murphy & Jami Sieber It’s Solstice weekend as I write this. It is cold outside. There’s flooding not far from here. There are families afraid to go to work or school. There are people hoarding power and wealth who care only for themselves. There are mass shootings. War. There are people fueled by cruelty, hatred, and fear. These are dark times, indeed. These are also times of...
Hello friends, The thing about life is…. It’s a tangle. A tangle of beauty and heartache and love and joy. A tangle of rest and ambition. A tangle of science and wonder. A tangle of trees and insects, flowers and mammals. A tangle of humanity and a tangle of stars. Another word for this tangling is interdependence. Every time I see it mentioned that someone is “self made” I wince. Not one of us is “self made.” We are all dependent on so many networks that we would not survive without. We rely...
Hello friends, We’re in the dark months here in the northern hemisphere. This is the time when many people kindle extra light. Those lights are beacons of hope, tiny stars brought down to earth. We all have an inner light, as well. A light that connects us with others. The light of creativity and kindness. But some days, we’re too tired to shine. Some days, we’re too afraid to shine. Some days, we feel too beaten down to shine. And that’s okay. Darkness is a time of rest, as well. It’s okay...