Work Notes  

Goodreads giveaway of The Practice of Attention

Reading with Amelia Hruby 3/28 at The Folded Leaf in Traverse City, MI

Experimenting with social media 

Systems for Artists March 28 + 29 Join the Waitlist

The Practice of Attention Study Group : Sundays at 5pm EST April 12 - May 31 Join the Waitlist 

Cody's Clubhouse (working title): Writing Group beta test for May Join the Waitlist 

Dear Reader,

This week I officially launched my sixth book into the world — The Practice of Attention : Cultivating Presence in a Distracted World.

I could not be more proud of this book and am so confident in these times we’re living in that it speaks directly to the fears and strategies we are all facing as the world turns.

It’s a “Hot New Release” in Creativity and Time Management in Jeff Bezos’ online shop where I don’t want you to buy it but I do want you to leave a review. (You can leave reviews there regardless of where you’ve purchased the book! Double up and copy and paste it to Goodreads where a giveaway of fifteen copies is also happening)

Thank you to the independent bookstores around the country (and world!) who made sure this book was in stock this week. It’s out on the front table at Greenlight in Brooklyn, at Skylight in LA, on the shelves at Literati, and available at all three Powell’s locations.

Last night I celebrated my book release in a packed room at Boulder Bookstore filled with my mentors, teachers, classmates, students, part time lovers, former coworkers turned trans kin (thank you Marie Catrib for only bringing the best freaks together, we love you and miss you) complete strangers, Landscapes and Fieldwork and Quilt Class alumni, and everyone in between. A tapestry of chosen family.

To prepare for the talk and reading I wrote an agenda. Partly because I wanted to stay on track, but also because I wanted to address the fact that I knew I would cry. Not beautiful silent tears or choke up a bit, I knew I would weep audibly into the microphone.

Physiologically this has been happening since I made a major shift in my medication. While my mental health feels better than ever, it’s like I’ve lost the little lever that lets you decide whether you’re going to cry or not. The concept of “holding back tears” no longer applies and the lever is broken.

I don’t cry about only sad things in fact sometimes the sadder the issue the stronger my composure holds. I cry at the sharpest miracles, like having a little brother or that time keeps moving.

I greeted the audience and prepared to tell them where we were going.