Cody Cook-Parrott's Blog, page 5
November 8, 2024
Connect with the group
Dear beloved reader
It has been a long time since we had a Friday Thread
A place to share something around a specific theme that is inspiring you or lighting you up :)
Dancers at Bennington College, 1970What better Friday than today to share about ourselves, our work, and our wins. Your paid readership keeps this newsletter alive, and it feels important…
November 4, 2024
On voting in a swing state
California #19, Etel Adnan, 2013 On Friday morning in the rain in a small town on the way to nowhere I cast my vote for President of the United States of America, the country that I was born in and continue to choose to live in.
I cast my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I wept into my ballot. I wasn’t sure why. Was the part of me that got caught by the real tree hat also caught by voting for a woman, voting for a Black woman, voting for someone who could very well beat Trump tomorrow? Was I crying for the thousands of innocent Palestinian lives lost at the hand of the woman I voted for? Was I crying because I was hours away from bleeding? Was I crying because women before me didn’t have the right to vote? Was I crying because it felt like a small act of saying yes to my own queer liberated body and no to fascism?
Along my road is only Trump signs, no Harris signs. Winding along for miles in the rural North I face dozens of these signs every day. Don and Terry put theres out as I imagined they might. Immigration Terry muttered. They have more rights than we do. I look puzzled I’m not sure I’m with you I reply, but we agree that we don’t like our choices. I ordered the sign, I ordered the tote bag, and yes dear reader, I ordered the hat. Embarrassed at my decision they sit in a pile never used and I never put the sign out. It felt like an endorsement I never felt clear on and a conversation I didn’t want to have with Greg the chimney sweep.
Here is what I know and the simplest way I made my choice : Tomorrow one of two people will win this election for President. It will either be Donald Trump or it will be Kamala Harris. I live in a state where the electoral college results are not guaranteed. I believe Kamala Harris will make the conditions of our lives a little bit easier. So I voted for her.
I believe when those with privilege have more freedom we can use that privilege to fight for the most oppressed, this includes lives here at home and those in countries most affected by war and genocide.
It is both a vast ocean of depth, and so light. Such a small fraction of the work that is to be done, here in this country, beyond this country, and between countries is done by voting. There is so much on the ground organizing, laws to be dealt with, and structures to be put in place. What I believe is that under a Harris presidency this will be easier. The load will be a fraction lighter. I want more ease. I want more rest. I want more choices. I want choice for my body. My body that could become pregnant, my body that is covered in scars from gender affirming surgery, my body that is whole and holy and of this Earth.
Every time I drive down my street my nervous system feels scattered, the same last name plastered on the signs over and over again. My neighbors, the ones who I call if I’m in trouble. Who flatten the land so I can park the camper. Who let me walk along their trails. My neighbors, who can’t always remember my name but let me put my trash in their bin, who love June, who I know would have my back if I really needed them.
And yet, our politics are both wildly different and have these strange moments of crossover.
I voted for Kamala Harris for my beautiful friends who have trans kids in this state. Watching them spin in their dresses, access trans healthcare before they graduate high school, be in the bodies they always knew they wanted before words were formed.
I voted for Kamala Harris because she isn’t a rapist.
I voted for Kamala Harris because Benjamin Netanyahu wants Trump and I want Netanyahu to not get what he wants.
I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they back policy that protects the rights of my queer and trans communities. Trump can erode trans rights. Maybe if you live in a state where this is less likely it feels different. This feels so precious to me in Michigan.
I voted for Kamala Harris because in our broken system that she upholds I believe she is better suited for the job of continuing to uphold it, cursed as that may be.
I voted for Kamala Harris because I want to continue to live in collaboration with the Earth and its beings.
I voted for Kamala Harris because the material realities of our lives living in the USA will be better under her presidency.
My vote for Kamala Harris is not an endorsement, but a chess move in a game of pawns. It is a hope strategy, a movement strategy, a shift toward something better than what we had with Biden and much better than what we’ll have with Trump.
I spent a lot of time the last few weeks reading, listening, and learning from organizers, activists, and change makers who are much more skilled at discussing and talking about elections than I am. If I am honest dear reader, I have a hard time remembering the difference between congress and the senate, the timeline of wars, and how laws even work. So I look to the people who know what is really at stake.
If you live in a swing state and are considering if you will vote tomorrow I understand. I don’t believe that a vote for Kamala is a vote for genocide. I also do not believe she can save us. I believe it is a strategic move in this moment, and that after this election we can continue to mobilize and put pressure on her for a ceasefire. I do not believe that will be an easier task with Trump as president.
I believe in so many of the resistance strategies of this election like vote swapping with someone in a blue state, writing in a candidate, abstaining from voting in places where it is guaranteed to go blue, and while I don’t agree with her politics anymore than Kamala’s I understand that some people are into Jill Stein (whose own children want her to drop out of the race).
I also believe there are no guarantees in god’s world. So as much as I support and am participating in some of these tactics, I also want a landslide, even though electoral politics don’t really give us that possibility. I want a clear and concise loss for Donald Trump, sharp as a tac.
If you are still on the fence let me share some of the things that helped me understand and make my choice. Because in my humble opinion “just not really liking Kamala” isn’t a good reason not to vote for her. And if you really want genocides abroad to end, I really think we’ve got a better shot at fighting the system from within with a democrat as president.
I listened to many episodes of adrienne maree brown’s podcast series election time and you can’t go wrong with whatever you pick. I loved this episode the most :
I read what Chase Strangio had to say as a trans lawyer. This was helpful to have someone say listen - I know what it’s like to fight for our rights and its going to be a lot easier for me to do my job with Kamala as president.
chasestrangio
A post shared by @chasestrangioI watched this video from Janaya Future Khan about reframes and challenges.
”Self righteousness is not a part of service work”
A post shared by @janayathefutureI watched this video from treasured elder Senator Bernie Sanders, who publicly disagrees with Kamala and her stance on Gaza. This is a really beautiful invitation if you are stuck.
berniesanders
A post shared by @berniesandersI look to , witch of all witches and author of one of my favorite and most treasured books The Spiral Dance, to see what she had to say, specifically as a white person having been dedicated to Palestinian liberation for decades. I ask, who are my elders? What are they writing?
On September 3rd she writes : I have a new post up: The Moral Dilema of This Moment, on how I wrestle with wanting to wholeheartedly support Harris and Walz to win this November, and the anguish of the continuing assault on the Palestinian people and Netanyahu’s disregard for their lives and the safety of the hostages. It’s an interjection into the flow of chapters and part-chapters of my experiment in writing a book online: The Movement We Need.
Starhawk’s SubstackThe Moral Dilemma of This MomentI didn't get to watch the Democratic convention live, because I'm traveling in France and teaching right now. But I did listen to most of it, thanks to MSNBC’s rebroadcasting and Rachel Maddow’s podcast. I admit it, I love a good political speech. As a writer and someone who does a fair amount of public speaking myself, I enjoy hearing language well dep…Read more2 months ago · 244 likes · 46 comments · StarhawkI really identified with sharing about voting and mobilizing for Kamala Harris and not knowing what to make of this moment, but taking action anyways in a swing state.
museummammy
A post shared by @museummammyI’ve listened to talk about the impacts of climate change and how important it is in this election to VOTE CLIMATE
WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? Episode 2: Vote Climate ✅The environmental movement has a voter turnout problem: 8 million environmental voters did not vote in the 2020 election. Eight MILLION! In a presidential election decided by thousands of votes. This 2024 election is similarly (stressfully!) close. So what can we, climate voters, do… Listen nowa month ago · 34 likes · 5 comments · Ayana Elizabeth JohnsonI kept talking about it with beloveds, wrecked by our choices, but dedicated to the possibilities of a world beyond a two party system. I hear about other people I share community with leaning into the rhetoric of Tucker Carlson and Trump himself and I start to feel like I might be losing my mind. I invite all sides in to where my imagination can take me but it can’t take me there.
I want to put my voice behind the massive Arab community of Michigan and the Uncommitted Movement. We have seen unprecedented numbers and change and I don’t claim to know what it would be like to make a choice to vote with that identity. There is no way for me to write this untied to my own privileges as a white voter.
I spend a lot of time talking about weaving in my values : to my life, to my business, to my relationships. When it comes to voting in an election I do not try to weave the action of voting or the person I am voting for into those values. I make a choice to vote for the person who will best let me continue to fight for what I believe in. With pen and tongue, with monetary redistribution, and with on the ground movement work.
I have a desire. And that desire is to wake up on Wednesday morning to the clear news that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the next President and Vice President of the United States of America. We don’t have to like them to make this choice, one that affects the most vulnerable and the most marginalized in a state like Michigan.
For me to sleep soundly in this hope, in this wish, in this prayer, I am glad I filled in my bubble and hope you will consider joining me.
This will be but another Tuesday, we will keep fighting side by side for a better tomorrow. Freedom and liberation for all people, may it be so.
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive the Yes Yes Advice Column and essays behind the paywall - become a paid subscriber.
P.S. I hope you have a care practice set up for Tuesday no matter how you choose to use your right to vote. Landscapes will be meeting from 11a-1pm EST for a special Election Day edition (recorded) session : Contemplative Writing and Movement Practices for World Building hosted by yours truly. Drop in, many journaling prompts and movement exercises await.
November 2, 2024
Why we vision
Dear reader
In just a few short hours (9am PST / 12pm EST) I will be hosting a visioning session in Landscapes, the twice a week writing group I facilitate. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 11-1pm EST with many other sessions throughout the month.
I took the last month off of hosting the group and have missed it tremendously. I wanted to talk today about why I do visioning sessions, why a writing group is important to me, and invite you to join us.
First I want to remind you that I made this guide on note taking tools and possibilities. It is totally free. Perhaps a writing group isn’t your speed but you know you want to dig into your research methods. Enjoy :)
In preparing for today’s visioning session (which is recorded if you can’t make it live) I reflected on the immense amount of work I got done after our visioning session in July, specifically finishing writing a whole ass book. Look About You was born in the rooms of Landscapes, cheered on by countless members, and witnessed by the group. I truly don’t think I could have channeled a book and written it that fast without the accountability and structure of a writing group.
If you want to actually finish something, this is where to land.And while finishing isn’t the goal by any means, there is a sweetness to it. So many newsletters launched in the space, novels being tended to, reels being made.
launched their newsletter and shared on social media yesterday that it is a big reason they have been able to say so consistent with a newsletter.
worked on her new podcast and launched it into the world alongside and
There are so many amazing projects, classes, and idea that have been brought forth in this time. Plus this season we have guest classes from , , and . I mean… pinch me am I right?!
Brandi will continue hosting monthly BIPOC writing circles which have been a huge center of the practice of Landscapes.
We have at least one cave day a month where we write for our hours, and members can add their own co-working hours to host if they want! Caroline has been hosting “slump o clock” in the afternoons to get admin tasks done and has been hosting early morning hours.
BUT WHY DO WE VISION CODYWe vision because we live in systems and worlds where the powers that be do not want us to dream. We do this as an act of resistance, as an act of resilience, as an act of creative spell casting. We journal and make lists and get clear on our values so that we may weave them into our precious work.
We come together to shape the group as a brave and safe space, one that we all feel like we have a place in.
We come together to not be so alone in the world, to form true community, to dream up the projects and books and writing we want to make in the world and give to the people. Because that is where service is rooted.
Landscapes is $55/mo with a lower priced tier and a pay it forward tier. There are also low and no cost spots if you need something more flexible. Many members have joined at one rate and had to switch to a free membership while they save up to return to a paid one. There are no questions asked. Everyone is welcome at Landscapes.
When you join you not only get access to amazing recorded sessions from last season, you get a whole host of freaks and queers and elders and writers and witches and angels who will be just delighted to cheer you on.
You do not have to do your work alone. Come vision with us.
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive the Yes Yes Advice Column and essays behind the paywall - become a paid subscriber.
October 27, 2024
Every Time is Now, Every Day is Tuesday
Photo by Cody SellsDear reader,
I come to you five days before the scheduled end of my experiment to take the whole month of October off from writing this newsletter.
It is because of money, because of time, because of resources, because of pace. It is because I felt that today was time to return to the page, to my research and practice of understanding the right now. To tell you about the things that are emerging in a timely fashion.
I will begin with what happened, what is upcoming, and what I learned. What I look forward to, what I’ll never do again, where I missed the mark, my business metrics from before and after the break, and everything I know about taking time away from parts of my job.
For international readers I would love to tell you that you can now place orders for my book of 366 prayers Look About You : A Book of Ordinary Prayers on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop. Readers in the USA can order directly from my website. Books arrive to you 11/19 if you order by 11/12 :)
P.S If you are my friend or family : Text me! I have a discount code for you :)
I feel incredibly humbled by this experiment I have now lovingly named No Broadcasting. What I learned is that when you are a self employed creative business owner when you do not broadcast it is very hard to generate new income. Broadcasting through a channel : social media, a newsletter, a flyer at the coffee shop - these are examples of spaces to broadcast in. I generally broadcast : classes, this newsletter, books, and other paid offerings.
When I took away my broadcast channels I took away my main ability to earn, specifically my ability to earn if my expected income was lower than usual or if my financial needs were higher than anticipated. I considered a few other strategies which I will go over but at the end of the day I can say I could not actually afford to take the time away that I did. Or rather, I did not plan my saving or spending in a way that allowed me to be relieved of the obsession of money or earning.
The title of today’s newsletter comes from All Fours by Miranda July, one of many books that in my time away I devoured within a few days, melting over every part of the story and the way she reads it. In the spirit of what I learned from reading the book and my own return to the newsletter format I will say I think more of Monday Monday will be behind the paywall and not always come out on Mondays. I will also no longer comp the newsletter.
To mark these pivots and return : the newsletter is currently 25% off for an annual subscription until Friday November 1I enter this space again as a beginner who knows very little about the poetics and the form. What I do know is that my attention has returned to me in unprecedented ways, and yet the state of my business as an artist remains unclear and is requiring more strategic shifts than I had anticipated.
I do think that in what I lost (paid readers, members of Landscapes, opportunities for sharing) I also gained so much in the awayness. I made a commitment to share the honest numbers of this experiment, which also leads me to want to step away from the business of it all. No more business as usual, no more business at all.
To me the business metrics are the least interesting of the No Broadcasting experiment. What has been much more interesting to me is what I learned about myself, my phone, and the ecosystem of my life as an artist and writer.
October 1, 2024
Discount codes working :)
Dear readers
Today marks day one of my public facing month long sabbatical but that would never come without some glitches. Quilt in a Weekend BIPOC scholarships and Writing the Personal solidarity discount codes for all were broken - they are now fixed! Payment plans available for both classes and sliding scale available for quilt class.
Let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you at one or both.
Also don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Look About You : my secular radical prayer book coming to bookshelves 11/19/24! A prayer for every day of the year!
Here is today’s prayer :
OCTOBER 1
We tumbled into this world and we will tumble out. This day is precious, this turn toward the last quarter of the year. The air gets a little colder but the water still beckons us for a swim. Take chances today, let god help you jump in the deep end. There is no dive too endless for you.
PRAISE FOR LOOK ABOUT YOU FROM
I texted Cody after barely hitting the month of March, "This is my favorite book you've ever written." I'm a Cody Cook-Parrott fan, over the years I've amassed my own small collection of keepsakes. This book is a new arrival, something poetic and rare in a writer's trajectory; to write about God is an act of submission. It is to hear the call and prepare oneself for the diligent task of being in communion. To share this knowledge is an act of divine ordinance. I'm grateful for their work and deliverance here, daily reminders that God is near. I think of the words of Imam Khaliifah Williams in his final days before his martyrdom, "All Praise Be To Allah In Every Situation." To surrender is an act of will, an act of God. I am grateful for the existence of this work. I will keep it close.
Thank you for tuning in to this small moment together. I’ll see you on November 1 :)
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
September 30, 2024
The sensitive heart
Photo by Cody Sells Last week within a two minute time span I met my ex husband’s baby, walked by my part time lover, and shook the hand of a boy who suggested we go on a date. I shook his hand because it is a weird defense mechanism I do like yes I know you yes I know there could be physical intimacy here but if I shake your hand then I am protected against all rejection because a handshake implies this is not romantic. I do this with the lover. I did this with my ex boyfriend last year when I saw him for the first time after we broke up. I do this as a way to hold my energy space as my own. I don’t want to hug, I don’t want to feel the pleasure of our chests pressed against each other, I don’t want to embrace. So I go in for the handshake.
The handshake confuses people. It isn’t the social norm. We usually just go in for the hug. But my sensitive heart moves too quickly and as soon as we hug my defenses come down and I am not in the safe zone. My window of tolerance blasts away and I am left raw and uncovered and it’s too much to hold.
Meeting my ex husband’s baby was easy. Something I have thought about for many years - What would this be like? Would I be sad? Would I wish I had a baby? It was so easy, so simple, so happy, so perfect. To stand and dance with his wife, mom, and baby was all the healing I could have ever needed. A perfect quartet of love and one smooshy tiny creature to bring us all together.
My heart is sensitive these days. I seem to be going to the hardware store for milk and not only is there no milk there but if there was it is spoiled. Past the expiration date, no longer palatable to the tongue.
My flowers didn’t do well this year in the garden. The cosmos barely came up and the zinnias are struggling. On the side of the house I planted some sunflowers and they thrived. Five total! Last year the birds ate the seeds and this year they spared them. I trust they needed them last year and this year they knew I needed the flowers.
Walking June yesterday we came upon a huge deer. She stopped in her tracks, wanting desperately to run after it. I felt her animal desire through my own body as well. The excitement and the wanting to run toward something wild, even if it can hurt you.
I am running less today. I am pausing, in the light of discomfort and rejection I turn toward myself and what is steady.
I have never taken a month away from writing every week since 2017. I look forward to seeing how my mind tracks time without this weekly entry point into my own mind. I look forward to seeing how my book writing goes. I look forward to seeing what emerges.
Thank you for being a reader. It means the world.
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTSI am announcing a few classes earlier than usual since I won’t be online in the month of October. They are all available for you to sign up now if you so wish.
NOVEMBER :
11/2 : VISIONING SESSION in Landscapes
11/9 : BIPOC circle in Landscapes
11/16 : guest writer workshop in Landscapes
11/23 and 11/24 : QUILT IN A WEEKEND
DECEMBER :
12/1 : guest writer workshop in Landscapes
12/14 : BIPOC circle in Landscapes
12/8-12/22 : Writing the Personal with special guests and
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive the Yes Yes Advice Column and essays behind the paywall - become a paid subscriber.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT : MORE ABOUT MY BREAKSeptember 27, 2024
Behind the scenes of business
Photo by Cody SellsDear reader,
In taking the month of October off of writing my newsletter, facilitating Landscapes, teaching, and using social media I want to share the transparent metrics of my business. Sharing them with you today and again on Saturday November 1.
What are the financial, social, and energetic impacts of taking a month away from the channels you use to tell people you exist? I have never walked away from all channels for more than a week in the last twelve years. This is a huge experiment and I couldn’t do it without your devoted readership and support.
Shared below is a handful of transparent income and promotional metrics : How many free and paid subscribers this newsletter has before the break, how many people are currently in Landscapes, projected income for Look About You, details about my next book, how I am getting paid, and more!
I will also include what sort of promotional efforts I will be doing in the next few days to gear up for a month away from selling channels.
I am working to heal my shame around being a higher earner than the generations before me. In an attempt to release the shame I share these numbers trusting that you can read them with your own grounded energy intact.
A reminder about what you don’t see : my tax debt, my student loans, my mortgage, where any of my money goes, who else I support with that money, and how much it costs to run my business.
For this newsletter I will also be answering any questions in the comments. It is my hope that this demystifies some of the structures and shapes of self employment. Ask me anything about this break! BUSINESS METRICS : Newsletter :🌼 Total number of newsletter subscribers : 32,022
September 24, 2024
Money, hate mail, and podcasts
Photo by Cody SamuelDear reader,
My work exists in many other places this week, so instead of bringing you something new I thought I would bring you to the other places it lives.
🌼 My Creative Advising books are open for this week and the month of October. I am booking only a few spots while I take time away from my newsletter, social media, and Landscapes. I’d love to support you on your creative journey. You can now book directly instead of emailing to find a time :)
🌼 I received wild hate mail and deconstructed it sentence by sentence
🌼 I wrote an essay about my drinking and thirteen years of sobriety over on beautiful newsletter
REASONS FOR LIVING with Esmé Weijun WangReason for Living #2: My SobrietyToday’s guest essay for REASONS FOR LIVING with Esmé Weijun Wang is by Cody Cook-Parrott , a writer and artist living on the Leelanau Pensinula in Northern Michigan. They facilitate a weekly writing group called Landscapes and teach classes about writing…Read morea month ago · 34 likes · 6 comments · Esmé Weijun Wang and Cody Cook-Parrott🌼 had me as a guest on their research project about money which you can listen to here
🌼 and had me on their podcast and it was a blast
That is all for today. I hope that the transition from Summer to Autumn has you wrapped in delight, service, and abundance.
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive the Yes Yes Advice Column and essays behind the paywall - become a paid subscriber.
September 20, 2024
Lesbian trash
Yesterday I received the wildest email I have ever gotten. It reads like if you uploaded my newsletter to ChatGPT and asked it to write the meanest craziest email to Cody Cook-Parrott you could think of.
Before I dive in I want to tell you that I am a part of research project HOW MUCH MONEY IS ENOUGH? Which you can now listen to here.
We talk about what caused me to finally begin engaging with the real, specific numbers of my financial life, the experience of needing to adjust to a lower income this year, the role of self-worth in one’s ability to earn, the myths of what a rich person even is and what happens when we believe that being rich is bad or we don’t deserve money, and so much more. I hope you enjoy it and listen with a gentle ear.
Anyways, about the hate mail. Or, the most unhinged email I have ever received. Or … I don’t even know what to call this. Let us dissect.
The subject begins : Yr little career
September 16, 2024
I wrote another book
Photo by Cody SellsFor the last few months I have been working on a book of 366 daily prayers. I started this project by serializing it over on a separate newsletter called . At first I was writing very long essay like prayers and found I needed to pivot toward short channeled benedictions. Today I want to tell you the story of how writing it has gone, how it’s unfolding, and announce that it comes out this November 2024!
Writing a book is a wild task. This is the fifth book I have made, the third I have self published, and the second longest. At over 20k words it is an effort in devotion, discipline, and endless hope. It is a book with a prayer for every day of the year that is rooted in shared visions of collective liberation, connecting to god as a form of self care, and the idea that having a daily prayer practice will make us better stewards of the Earth, more generous to our fellows, and of greater service.
Edited by and designed by it is my pleasure to give you the cover as well as a link to PRE ORDER! Order by 11/12 to receive 11/19 :)
Designed by Alyssa NatociWhen I first started writing the book I called it Ordinary Practice. I am working on another book about practice and it just felt like … too much practice. I also have Personal Practice as a project and book so I turned to the readers of the serialized newsletter and suggested Look About You - which comes from Michigan’s beautiful state motto : If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you
I also believe that in order to find god you must seek it. You must go on a journey to find your own relationship to spirit and create a pathway toward prayer. I am not affiliated with any organized religion, I do not capitalize the G in god, and I think that god is a genderless essence of the world.
In the book I use many different words for god : spirit, spirit of the universe, great creator, higher power, and more. I think that if you have an aversion to the word god this book might not be for you. But if you are open to expanding the word to mean clouds, lakes, oceans, and blades of grass you might find great benefit in this small object.
Coming in at 4in by 6in it is meant to be thrown in your cross body fanny pack, read alongside your favorite 12 step daily reader, or stacked on top of Melody Beattie’s The Language of Letting Go. It is meant to be taken with a flower essence, tossed across the room when it’s too real, and underlined and dog eared and highlighted.
I have written many mornings at 5:30am, written it during cave days in Landscapes (the writing group I facilitate), and got very stuck on the month of July. After passing the half way mark of the book I got caught in the story that “I was only half way” instead of letting myself continue to flow. The story that I will always be stuck and not be able to finish stopped me in my tracks, but the thing about writing is you must type (or record a voice note and have it transcribed). Any way you cut the cookie you must say or type the prayer that needs to be told.
I write best when I am not trying to fight my cycle.1 Day 11-19 I am in my flow, the prayers pour out of me, and I am able to channel. When I push too hard in my luteal phase (the phase before I bleed) I become stuck and nothing wants to pour out of me. When I use that time to do more admin tasks, organizing projects, or editing I am much more equipped to face the work.
We now enter the editing phase, the revision process, the reading the whole thing out loud to myself to find where the language is mucky or uneven. I look forward to having many eyes on the prayers : Jacqueline as editor, my grad school professor, and my fellow classmates. I look forward to revisiting entries I wrote months ago, finding the right order for things, and ushering the words into the world.
I received the assignment to write this book many years ago, and I am grateful that I took up the task during this season of my life. It reads like an acid trip to heaven, a vision quest in the desert, or a sweet long winter in Northern Michigan at the wood stove.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading along at and all my friends who told me to keep going when I didn’t think I had another prayer in me.
Finding over three hundred ways to connect with god has brought me closer to my own versions of the fourth dimension. I’ve been catapulted!
With any book, especially one that is self published, the most generous thing you can do is share this news! Share the social media post in your stories, forward this email to a friend, text a loved one with excitement, hit like on this newsletter post. Everything helps spread the word and it means the world!
info@codycookparrott.com
PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Landscapes : A writing group for all genres
Monday Monday is a reader-supported publication. To receive the Yes Yes Advice Column and essays behind the paywall - become a paid subscriber.
1Not all people who bleed, give birth, need abortions, or anything to do with reproductive health and rights are women. All bodies can bleed. Trans and non binary people bleed. Just a little exhausted lately seeing so much language around “women’s rights” and the divine feminine of bleeding. Guys bleed too! Ok bleeding rant over.
