Winter Solstice
About a year ago some of my hardest moments in my academic life began that have led to an ongoing series of battles in that space, and I have done so much questioning and grieving. That’s all I’ll say on that … but what I have processed over a decade of pains, I’ve also been thinking deeply about what I want to give myself and what I wanted to attract to me. In January 2022, the word that animated my year was “abundance” and I dedicated myself to attracting abundance in my creative life and also sharing that with others. What a year this has been!
I did a fellowship in 2021 that centered on re-membering and genealogical relationships and have recently returned to a similar fellowship with the Earthseed project. I’ve seen The Acentos Review through its 14th year, just about to start its 15th. A partnership with Nomadic Press Philadelphia began and I’ve been curating and hosting the Two Rivers reading series. At the tale end of 2021/beginning of 2022, I was a finalist for Philadelphia poet laureate. My new book, black god mother this body, came out with Black Freighter Press and I started on the first two legs of a tour with Jasminne Mendez and Yesenia Montilla to the San Francisco, LA, Riverside, and Santa Ana. I was accepted to the Anaphora Residency in the mixed genre workshop with Chris Abani. I was a judge for the Ambroggio Prize at the Academy of American Poets and Versal Poetry with The Amsterdam Open Book Prize. I had my work accepted for the Miami Book Festival and traveled there with my sister to present my work. I took the PR for the People class with PapaLodown Agency. I appreciated on three different podcasts, had poetry (including a visual poem) published in Kweli, appeared at over 40 events this year. I returned to working on one novel project and … started another one, a werewolf romance. I also mentored students in the Stonecoast MFA, which has been such a blast, and taught with The Speakeasy Project and Dominican (MFA) and Mills (Education) and Kearny Street Workshop. I even restarted my newsletter (which you should join!) and supported some folks with individual creative coaching … and found an AMAZING coach of my own!
And with my partner and family, we were also homeschooling two babies until they started camp in the summer and then school in the fall and were working on raising funny, free, compassionate, and kind kids and being a loving and caring partner to my husband.
I applied for things and didn’t get a ton of them, and I applied for some recognition for my work and have already received affirmations (first place here, honorable mention here) in two competitions.
When I look at my vision board for 2022, I have achieved much of what I envisioned, and I am nearly there on the rest … so I’ve started my vision boarding for 2023.
On this shortest day and longest night, I am dreaming into being.
There are a lot of projects just on the horizon that I’m so excited to talk about … may your dreaming be lovely and full and beautiful and loving and ambitious and within your grasp and heart! And may whatever stressors release their hold on you so that your light can shine, shine, shine!
Photo Credit: Unsplash, Josh Givens
