But Maybe Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back💀
oh, I'm still alive
If you want to shake whatever separates you from
The holiness you want to make your life on earth become
Live your life with a compassion you can be proud of
Then let your last breath fade away with dignity and love
~Mirah
Friends!
I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this newsletter. This one’s coming to your inbox several weeks after the idea to send it hatched in my mind.
Better late than never.
It’s been close to one year since I last wrote, and what a year it’s been! Can anyone else relate a little too much to 2022’s word of the year? It’s Permacrisis, btw. And I just want to share that Grammarly suggested perhaps I meant to type sperm crisis.
Maybe next year, my funny little grammar robot.
Anyway, I’ve recently emerged from a severe depressive episode that went on for months and began around the time winter refused to end (maybe April?). Ironically, I started feeling pieces of myself I thought were lost rise again as the natural world began her seasonal shift toward death and decomposition.
I leaned into it, honoring the ever-flowing cycle of death and rebirth the best way I know how…
a playlist.
That’s right, the real reason for this email is to share this playlist I hope you love. It’s called Autumn 22, and it’s a real vibe. Considering there are fat flakes of snow swirling lazily outside my window, I thought I’d best share it now before it’s time to conjure a more appropriate Wintry Mixx.
Here’s a rundown of what else has changed since my last newsletter:
As mentioned earlier, my body played host to the all-consuming black hole that is depression. Once again, psychedelic medicine saved me. I’m happy to share more with anyone interested.
I’m still running a side business doing email tarot readings and intuitive consulting for creatives at Luna Phoxx. You’ll find a year’s worth of blog posts there, and I’m planning to pick back up again now that harvest season is over. I’ll probably start another substack for Luna Phoxx because I kind of hate every other newsletter service.
I’m working on the second draft of a YA fantasy novel about witches and vampire mermaids. The first draft was written in the third person, and I decided it’d be easier to do a complete rewrite in the first person than continue struggling to tell the story from outside my protagonist’s head.
Jason and I became fully legal cannabis farmers and had law enforcement on our side for the first time in our growing history. Because Jason’s the one with the most growing experience — and holds a Masters in Ag Engineering, from UC Davis — I’ve naturally been appointed with the paper-pushing side of the business. You might see me re-appear on Instagram to promote our Northen Lights Farms brand. Then again, maybe you won’t.
We said goodbye to Brenda, my favorite silkie hen, and Terrence, our valiant rooster. They’re both buried in my garden under beds of calendula. Since then, we’ve adopted a new rooster (Louis with a silent S) from the post office. That’s right, the post office. Our local postal clerk, Sarah, is a wonderful, kind, crazy chicken lady. Her rooster passed away about a week before Terrence, and we bonded over our grief. When her friend got fertilized eggs from Sarah’s rooster’s… only living son(?), she offered me first dibs if more than one little roo hatched. They got two roos, and Sarah told me they slept in bed with her and Goldie — her house hen — until they started crowing. Louis does not sleep in our house. I text her photos of him often, and she texts me whenever she brings his brother, Sebastian, to the post office. Crazy chicken ladies unite.
I’m still working as a freelance health/science writer, but with much better clients. I was inspired after joining a slack group of women writers in the women’s health and femtech industries. It’s called Mayday Collective, and it’s full of brilliant women who are changing the way we access information about our health.
You may notice I’ve added a paid subscription to this newsletter. I haven’t decided what, if anything, I’m going to do with it, so no pressure to join. However, there’s no time like the present to need money. If you’d like to support my work, please do!
If monthly donations aren’t your thing, you can buy me a coffee. I set that up fairly recently and haven’t gotten any coffees, yet. This is your chance to be the first!
That’s all for now. I’ll leave you with an awesome playlist and a mediocre photo just to prove I’m still alive, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!
Thanks for reading, and Happy Almost Thanksgiving!
Lauren
