Hey there. Yeah you. Living being in this world on fire. How are you doing? No, really. How are you doing? It is okay to not be okay. It is also okay to be okay. And maybe today a butterfly landed right in front of you while you sipped coffee that was still hot and the bird singing turned out to be your favorite – a goldfinch (aka: my dream morning because birding after 40 is a thing). If that’s the case, you might even be great.

The times appear to be continuing to time and will keep it up for the foreseeable future, so this is your urgent call to go fill your cup, as it may be nearing empty. Especially if you are a caregiver. Especially if you are a teacher.

I know, I know. You do not have time. You do not have energy. You do not have motivation. The drain is open and…draining. You have faceplanted on your couch or the floor and cannot get up.

The Need for Joy – Especially Now

Maybe you are an introvert and the mere thought of going OUTSIDE is itself an expenditure of energy. Yet, here I come with the bullhorn telling you to get out there. There are Jacob Lawrence inspired step shows to see! Drag brunches to attend! And apparently it is Tufted Titmouse season!

I was recently part of a wonderful conversation with a high school classmate who is also a teacher and a writer working on two great professional development projects, Moving Writers and Camp Rewrite. We talked about being mid-career educators and how we can possibly keep going after two decades in the game. We also talked about how to find time to write – the eternal dilemma!

As a teacher and a writer, I can only produce from the overflow. My cup can’t be halfway or even three quarters. That is just barely enough to adult and to parent. I need to be overflowing to give anything to my students or to put 1,000 words on the page. And if I want to simultaneously join in the cries for a ceasefire, respect for our planet, the bodily rights of women, visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community, and greater global humanity? We need to get a fountain going! This is where joy comes in. All the big joys and all the small ones.

The times require that we actively seek joy. Hard times are here, and we must remember freedom. It is okay to seek joy right now. Not everything is a distraction. It is okay to take in art and music and nature, to dance and sing, to gather and talk, to laugh and to cry and to marvel at this world in all its complexity. Joy can help us metabolize the pain and the anger, the weariness and the sadness. Joy makes us feel connected. Joy can fuel us on the difficult roads ahead.

So go ahead and fill that cup. The oppressors want us exhausted. Rejuvenation is revolutionary and as J Drew Lanham said: Joy is the Justice we give ourselves.

Here is what is giving me life:

Avian Adventures

You thought I was kidding about birding. One form of self care I practice is to hike on a set of neighborhood trails. Most Black people will say they have an interesting relationship to the forest. The forest has historically been a site of adventure, safety, and terror for us. I feel safe in the woods of my neighborhood, even alone. The trails are well kept, and if I fell I believe I could get help. While I can hear a lot of birds, I cannot always see them. Enter the CornellLab Merlin app which has a birdsong identification feature. I press record and then it tells me each species of bird singing in my vicinity. I often find that I am surrounded by 7-10 different species, and I would never have known that if I didn’t use the app. It is beautiful to widen my sense of community in nature and get to know some new neighbors. Plus, attention to sound is a form of meditation with scientifically documented benefits!

Paranormal Pasts

I was recently challenged by a friend to read books that are less…slavey. I do have a morbid thing for the antebellum BUT here are some books that deliciously combine history (my fave) and speculative fiction (less my fave). Leslye Penelope is a local author who served on a panel with me – she is lovely and a terrific writer. Her story is awesome because she self-published on her own, then sold her backlist. She now publishes traditionally too. I just finished The Monsters We Defy audiobook, and it was super fun. Set during the DC version of the Harlem Renaissance you get mystery, the occult, and terrific female characters who deftly navigate danger and relationships. I will definitely be reading her next release, Daughter of the Merciful Deep. She is also hosting a writing retreat in November. Recommend!

Shaboozey’s Success

I have loved country music for a long time. But for a long time it did not feel good to love country music. Shaboozey grew up in Fairfax (a suburb of DC) and is the son of Nigerian immigrants. He is tearing up the country charts and inspiring Beyoncé. His breakout song is a reboot of a cut I danced to in 2004, probably on the night I met my husband. The world makes sense again. Check him out. He is coming to DC in September but the night before a former student is performing at the Fillmore and the next day I am at the Shepherdstown Book Festival in West Virginia. When it rains it pours. Hold up a lighter (a cellphone?) for me if you go.

News and Reviews

In Attendance

I attended the American Library Association annual conference in San Diego this weekend to celebrate Nearer My Freedom‘s YALSA finalist designation with our publisher, Lerner Books. It was bittersweet because this was Monica’s favorite professional event. She went every year and in fact, our last dinner together in DC was during the 2019 conference, just weeks before her stroke. I wish the world had aligned for us to attend together. This morning, I received our award at a ceremony and did a book signing in the Lerner Booth. It was wonderful to meet our fellow honorees and lots of amazing librarians doing great work across our nation. Thank you to the hard working committees who read our books so thoroughly and make them accessible to more young people.

New Poem Alert!

My poem “seethe” found a home in the Michigan Quarterly Review mixtape. This is one where I really pushed myself and had a ball exploring expressions of anger, the collective voice, and what Camille Dungy calls “quotidian honesty”. Also I curse!

New Award Alert

Nearer My Freedom was named a Young Adult Nonfiction Honor book by The International Literacy Association. The awards are given to newly published authors who show unusual promise in the children’s and young adult book field. See all of the winners here.