Question: Why Are You (Really) Here?

Forget the networking party or the family gathering. This is an invitation to explore, to be brave about it, and to meet me "in person" on Zoom next week.

First, to those of you who are new, wow. I’m thrilled you are here. If you are a writer (on Substack or not), I’d love to read a snippet of your work. You are welcome to share with me anytime. For my yoga students, friends, and writers who moved with me from my old “email sender,” thanks for coming along. If you feel like you are here by accident, you can unsubscribe in one click.

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“Why is a raven like a writing desk? I pictured the classroom in my country school in Germantown, Pennsylvania. We still had penmanship classes with real ink bottles and wooden dip pens, with metal nibs. The raven and the writing desk? It was the ink. I am sure of it.”

~Patti Smith, M Train

Meet my new best friend, songwriter/poet/memoirist, Patti Smith. Why has it taken me so long to read her? In an excerpt I shared (one involving grumpy detectives and London hotel rooms) with the women of Word Gathering last week, she said this:

“I am not here to work.”

This got me thinking: Why are we here? American culture tries to convince us that the Protestant work ethic of our scary early colonists and the 9 to 5 grind championed by the capitalistic industrialized empire and the hustle culture manufactured by online entrepreneurs gives us the holy trinity of an answer. Everything in me rebels against this brand of tyranny.

Oh, how I long for penmanship practice with real ink bottles and wooden dip pens, with metal nibs! The slowness. The artistry. The practice. Like yoga, like meditation, like writing, like anything worth doing. I believe in work that matters.

How do I dare claim a life outside of the perceived cultural values? I got choked up while trying to read this just-written poem to my dear writing circle on Thursday. The end (especially) felt like some kind of otherworldly message to me from a deeper part of me.

Here

I am not here to work. I am not 
here to sit in a blustery cold cubical, 
pretending. I am not
here to wash dish after dish 
after endless dish. I am not 
here to answer the question, “What do YOU do?” I am not 
here to laze about waiting for my life to start. I am not 
here to listen to the same old friend complain 
about the same old thing without
change. I am not 
here for that anymore. I am not
here punch a time clock or to get a raise. I am not 
here to do the kind of work that gets recognized as work. I am 
here to sit with my mother, to listen again and again. I am 
here to find out what’s true. I am 
here to help a friend alphabetize name tags or 
help the neighbor lady haul donations to the food bank. I am 
here to open up worlds for people. I am 
here to work on knowing myself and on the things that equal 
love whether or not I get paid for them. I am 
here to stand for something even if in the end I 
stand alone and naked in the middle of the street, screaming. I am 
here until I am not here, and I’ll let that be enough for now.

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Let’s Write Together

My writing circles (the beautiful Word Gatherings) will be on hiatus for the summer. Writing with the Moon will continue monthly on or around the new moon. But—mostly—I’ll be concentrating on my own writing. My book and my Substack will be my twin devotions. Making art out of life is my true calling. As one friend put it, “Writing is your dharma.”

I’d love to see you (or meet you for the first time) next week for…

I’m so happy to offer Archetypes of the Writer as part of Write Around the World, a fundraiser for Amherst Writers & Artists. What does this mean? Your registration fee supports AWA 100%. This will be a fun but deep workshop for those of you who are rediscovering, reclaiming, or reinventing yourself as a writer. We'll explore our beliefs around creative identity and the desire to evolve with journaling questions and discussion. Join us HERE.

And in June…

My monthly new moon embodied writing ritual continues on Friday, June 7, at 4:00 pm Pacific time. Together, let's explore the curious, social, restless yet joyful energy of Gemini. This sign rules the nervous system and has a deep connection to WRITING...a perfect combination for the sensitive Story Tending community.

Register for this Pay What You Can event HERE.

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Today, as I sit in my backyard with my cat, I felt inspired. I’m going to let myself feel inspired for a while.

Quill pen down,

Holly