Happy New Year, friends! Admittedly, I’m feeling a little more tear-it-all-down-and-set-intentions than I usually am in January, but trust me: I have great respect for sleepy sloth vibes. Wherever you find yourself, I hope there are glimpses of light, peace, and supportive community.
And what better way to start the new year than with a little bit of poetry?
Here’s one that came together on one of my many plane trips last month.
Flight Risk
Above the clouds, there is only sunset. Only soft. Only wisps of pink, winged cirrus; baby blue innocence. Above the clouds, peering through deep navy eyelets to the under-world, there are no storms. No traffic, no time, really. Above the clouds, there is only the threat of my gases expanding into feeling. Of a brain uncluttered, so close to the source.
For any friends who are new here, every other week, I share a poem and a prompt (with alternate weeks being prose/essays). The prompts are sometimes written, sometimes actions, and often somatic, or body-based. They are all inspired by my belief that our capacity to create a better, more beautiful world comes from our ability to connect to our embodied selves, our environment, and our community.
This week, whether you are ready to set a million intentions or just need a little more time snuggled up on the couch, I encourage you to take some time to notice what’s already good in your world. (Yes, it’s basically a gratitude practice, but some of us need near-constant reframes to access gratitude.)
You could go for quantity and make a fearless and searching inventory, maybe writing the list of things that make you feel whole and human in different colors and directions over a full page of your journal. Or you could think of one thing. Maybe not even write it down. Just repeat it to yourself a few times with a hand over your heart.
The method doesn’t matter—it’s just about remembering, in this dark, cold season in the Northern Hemisphere—where the light comes from.
With much light, life, and love,
Devon
P.S. I meant to share this poem from last January on New Year’s Day, but Substack wouldn’t let me pre-schedule it, and of course I forgot. It’s all about the competing energies of a mid-winter new year.
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