Consumed in February 2024
Seeing the good
When I was training to be a yoga teacher, I was told that when offering an adjustment to a student, our first task was to “see the good.” Before you tell your student to draw their shoulder blades closer together, notice out loud how well they’ve set up their foundation, for example. (Thanks for all the lessons I still carry with me,
.)And as I learned from the great Seth Perler about how to support neurodivergent kids, one of my biggest lessons was deploying the 3:1 ratio of compliments to perceived negatives.
In honor of my forty-fifth birthday this month, I spent some time with my younger self, prompted by the Positive Intelligence coaching program I am currently enrolled in. A friend of mine left the loveliest comment on my Little Jess Instagram post, something to the effect of how proud Little Jess would be of big Jess. So, I tested that theory out, imagining Little Jess was there with me throughout the day, showing her our life now and how far we had come in these 40 years!
We all know that what we focus on expands, and so this month I am focusing on the good from February. I am going to share three things I “consumed” but in the service of three goals I met this month.
Three accomplishments:
I attended AWP! I already wrote a little about all the things I consumed there (besides the mediocre barbecue, sorry not sorry). Mostly, I consumed poetry (in the form of books and readings), time with amazing poets, and other people’s conversations about poetry and po biz (also known as panels).
I submitted two grant proposals for arts activism projects. To get my gears turning, I read
’s new book Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—and How You Can, Too. The chapter “Arts, Race, and the Creative Forces of Revolution” inspired me to think about the power of community and how this work really can make a difference. Olou writes:Art is an amazing tool for informing people about societal issues. Art can clearly communicate complicated social and cultural ideas in ways that transcend language barriers and reach across educational levels. Art can work its way past the guards of the most repressive regimes.
Read the book. Don’t be afraid to mix your art and your activism.
I submitted my poetry manuscript to four contests! Putting into motion the strategy my dear friend Kristi Maxwell helped me develop, and some super helpful feedback from my other dear friend Kristina Erny. And a little help from friend-to-every-poet for the knowledge she shares,
. Particularly, the spreadsheet she shared full of 2024 manuscript opportunities.
These are goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the month that I achieved! And yet, I’ve been beating myself up about some other things I intended to do but didn’t. The other things were not goals, just extra opportunities that popped up that I didn’t have the energy for when it came down to it. So, now as I reflect back on the month, I am telling myself, it’s ok that you did not do those things. Look at the things you did do!
Ok, AWP was not initially on my list, but attending 1-2 conferences is a 2024 goal. So, boom. Please share your good below so we can watch it expand!