Devotion Before Discipline
Finding Systems That Support Our Work
Dear reader,
The wild ride continues. I think about retiring from talking about something and get curious about what the retirement is actually from. From obsession, rumination, fear. I am retiring from letting apps dictate my creativity when I want to express myself in new and profound ways.
I thought that by retiring from talking about social media I might be freed of its grip. I didn’t find that to be true. Within days of making my account I deactivated it again, remembering all the original reasons for needing to leave. A new layer of knowing was bestowed upon me of the discomfort, the lack of creativity I feel, the pressures of unknown eyes. Perhaps it will return, unannounced (I’m retired from announcing after all) or perhaps it will stay hidden.
What I know is that in being hidden I am my most free self. Which brings up other questions about the work, the job, the art of self employment. Does not wanting to be on social media mean that I don’t want to be a public facing person? After thirteen years is it time to look for other sources of employment? Is it time to be more private? What does privacy look like or feel like?
The newsletter or podcast format rarely makes me feel overly exposed, even though I share my every day details of life. I find that privacy isn’t the issue as much as access is. Social media creates a level of access that requires sharp and inpenetrable boundaries, ones that I don’t always find myself equipped with.
What does self employement look like without social media? Without a vast online presence? Does it require changing the entire forumla and business model?
Some weeks I send sales emails every day leading up to a launch and while I enjoy writing them I wish I didn’t have to. One upon a time in the year 2017 I could launch an online course with three Instagram posts and it would sell out. That was it just three little squares and three little captions.
Today selling requires strategy, email funnels, lead magnets, circling back just to follow up. I don’t mean to complain or sound resentful, I genuinely enjoy using my writing practice to enter into these marketing spaces. But I can’t help but wonder how my time might be used otherwise, even to have a part time job where I make less money just to be somewhere else a few days a week.
My dear friend Jamila Reddy has written extensively about this in their newsletter and we talked about it on an episode of Common Shapes. The ups and downs of online business and the attempts at returning to a more traditional work force.
I applied to a job at the local community college to be an adjunct English professor but I didn’t get it. It did say you needed an MFA which I almost have but don’t offically have. I trust that rejection is god’s protection but I liked the idea of doing what I love while not having to write a sales email. Perhaps the sales email slog is replaced with the slog of grading papers. Is there such a thing as no slog under capitalism?
I wrote a letter to the editor of the Northern Express and pitched myself as an interviewer, but all my interviews are audio. Perhaps I send in a transcription.
I track all of this in Notion, in Are.na, in TickTick, and over a million notebooks all meant for different things. My systems are clear, even though to some they may appear clunky or scattered. To me they are right in place - giving me the spaciousness to play and find out what is right for me.
When I question online business it is never the creative act itself. When the zoom room opens and it’s time to teach I am lit up, I am on stage, I am ready to hold the space with delight. It’s the fine tuning that goes into getting the people to come to class that worries me. A part of me that misses sending only one newsletter a week on a Monday. Not a dozen to remind the people class exists. But this is where our attention lies, we need the reminders (myself included). We need those seven touchpoints to say yes - this is for me. And so I continue on, trusting the unsubscribe button is there for whoever needs it.
With rejection came acceptance to a residency, my new book beaming out into the world, and a lot of love and steadiness in my friendships. It becomes clear to me over and over again that by being more disciplined I will not win the cake. I may get more done, but I might be misaligned with the real knowing. Devotion comes forward and I know that this is what comes first. Devotion before disipline. When I know what I am devoted to I have a much better chance of knowing what is next.
No matter what systems you have in place - for earning, for creating, for pivoting, I hope you can find an anchor with them. Something that pulls you in and roots you while letting you come up for air.
I leave you today in the midst of my own questions. What is working? What isn’t working? On Thursday I’ll share the behind the scenes of my last class launch. How many emails I sent and what converted and what didn’t. It’s own creative art form, the art of data collecting for the people.
Self employment is one big mystery, and there are so many ways to do it. Here is my request to you dear reader
THE COMMENTS ARE OPEN TO EVERYONE
I’ve love for you to introduce yourself :
Name
Pronouns
Your self employment ecosystem / What are you working on
Hobbies / Passions
I’d love to see this newsletter building out into more of a readership community, not just me broadcasting to the void. I’d love to get to know you and what you’re working on. It is my hope that you can respond and tether in with each other too.
What I’m desiring isn’t platform growth or fame, but recognition. When a witness pays close attention to the tiniest movements, I am recognized. My eyes are closed as I do my solo and the witness holds the steady space. This is the feeling I am always chasing. Both in receiving and giving.
I am paying close attention at what it takes to stay, what it means to leave, and how to come to the surface to see what is already right in front of me.
Registration for Systems for Artists is now open
My next class Systems for Artists : Creative Infrastrcuture without Burnout is THIS WEEKEND March 28 + 29 with bonus co-working/ office hours on April 1
This class looks at digital and analong systems for organizing your process and work as an artist, writer, or creative business owner. It is taught through the lens of disability, neurodivergence, and marginalization. This is not a productivity workshop, but a classroom space to brainstorm and share resources to what is getting us closer to finising our work and farther away from being assholes to ourselves. Class is $111 and scholarships and payment plans are available to all.
Recorded if you can’t make it live with lifetimes access.
Read More : Systems for Artists
Make the trip to the most beautiful place ever! Northern Michigan :)
This Saturday I am in conversation with Amelia Hruby of Off The Grid (she will have copies of her books too!)
I am so so excited, this is my only other scheduled book event in person at this time so come over and hang out with us.
→ More entries in my MFA thesis draft (One Leg Circles!)
→ New card drafts in Cards of Orientation
Upgrade now
→ Ann Friedman asked me about the inspirations and inputs that helped me write The Practice of Attention and included them in her weekly newsletter. Ann’s newsletter is an all time favorite of mine, grateful to be included.
→ The Practice of Attention Study Group April 12 - May 31 Join the waitlist
→ Emily Hall interviewed me on her podcast Soil and Stars. Emily is one of my favorite astrlogers and interviewers, this was such a sweet conversation.
→ Dog Trot Writers and Artist Residency is looking for residents for this year - apply now!
→ Next month’s PROMPTS is all about MEMORY. I’d love to mail you a copy. Sign up by March 31 to get yours. Writing prompts and an intimate letter from my PO Box to you.
→ The books I read that inspired The Practice of Attention
→ I love seeing all the cool bookstores you can order The Practice of Attention from, like Prairie Pages
→ Open call for Pitches for the Are.na Annual Vol. 8
→ Watched Fire of Love again
→ Cody’s Clubhouse : A writing co-working group in May Join the waitlist
→ This article on social media and long form work by Regina Anaejionu
Feel called to build something meaningful but unsure if it’ll work? Learn how to see if buyers exist before going all in. Join the free 5-day course. ✨word witch for hire✨– editor, copywriter, narrative designer and visual artist looking for consistent remote work. Let’s chat! [email: faith.zamble(at)gmail(dot)com] Got a day job + an art practice? Artist Admin Hour = evening co-working to handle admin without sacrificing studio time. Free session March 25. Love a women's circle, but hate adding more to your calendar? The Wild Wellness Women's Circle is 💯 asynchronous, so you can be both held & free. Free live EFT tapping with Sydney Harbosky — Mar 26, 10am CT. Fun, lighthearted & stress-busting. Recording available if you can't make it live.
Want to book a classified ad for May ? Read all about it here.
→ info@codycookparrott.com
→ www.codycookparrott.com
→ Follow Along on Are.na
→ Follow along on YouTube
From Discipline to Devotion is my $22 class you can grab here
Consider becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter to read essays like Crying in the Bookstore and My Favorite Mistake. Each month a portion of paid subscriptions are redistributed. This month they are going to the Lebanon Emegerncy Relief Fund.
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Hi! My name is Anjana and I use she/they pronouns. Looking forward to connecting with folks (and thanks Cody for opening up the comments today!). I have a public health mostly work from home 9-5 job so that takes up most of the day. Outside of that I primarily consider myself a non-fiction writer, though I want to make more time to be creative in other areas and am hoping to use Cody’s new book (and maybe the book club) to help with that!
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↳ In reply to Anjana
Yes! Would love to have you in the book study :) Love claiming the title non-fiction writer. Thanks for introducing yourself Anjana!
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Hi Cody, I am a labyrinth creator for people, making labyrinth portraits. Sometimes in print form (lino print or aquatint), sometimes in clay, sometimes drawing, painting. I work on a pay what you can/what you want basis. I can do that because I have a disability pension that covers my basic needs. I love to make the labyrinths, they have worth apart from being paid a certain amount and in this way people with little money can receive one too. I started back up with Instagram a couple of months ago and am not that much invested in it. Love to you
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↳ In reply to Josh (she/her)
So beautiful to read about your pricing model and how and why you're able to do that. And thanks for your thoughts on Instagram, always curious how people are relating to it. Thanks Josh!
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Hello! My name is Gina (she/her) and I've been working as a self-employed tarot reader (Incandescent Tarot) for 9 years, and before that a small batch natural skincare company owner. So, lots of time in the churn of self-directed/nonconventional careers! Really grateful for this space to connect about all the wildness - pivots away from social media, the changing hustle, considering potential alternate paths etc. I have a personal writing practice, enjoy making natural perfumes, and am growing more collaborations around sound/somatics/ritual, and dream of creating some sort of print publication one day.
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↳ In reply to Gina Wisotzky
Gina! This all sounds so dreamy. Love the dance of sound / somatics / and ritual. Such a rich tapestry of offerings. Thanks for introcuing yourself :)
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Hey, I’m phin and I am looking for a job (lol)! Mostly a creative writing student right now, my seasons externally shift with the weather as I am part of a fibre/ecoarts community which involves regular stewardship/land tending. Creatively, I feel best when anchoring with daily writing in my planner (I begin the day…), eating protein throughout the day, and movement. I’m working, slowly, on a hybrid piece that considers the present impacts of growing up conservative and Christian and transitioning as an adult. Also, on a comic about infrastructure and control.
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↳ In reply to phin
love all of this! you might like the book Calamaties by Renee Gladman where every section starts with "I began the day...."
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hello to all! i'm Love (she/her).
my self-employment consists only of a small art shop right now, with paintings, prints, and collages (plus some other goodies) of the Pacific Northwest, where i live now, and Greece, where my family descends from. here she is: www.etsy.com/shop/lovenotespnw
i'm growing less shy with my writing, and i just also moved my newsletter to Buttondown! it's called love notes, and i write about cities, tech/place, "community," histories, and more. find me at https://buttondown.com/lovepjonson/
i've also gotten published in a few places and linked these on my handmade website at lovepjonson.com.
i've been a city planner and policy analyst for a decade, and i'll be going back to school in the fall to get a PhD in sociology.
i would love to connect with anyone similarly situated in any of the ways <3
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↳ In reply to 💌 love notes 💌
welcome to Buttondown! it's the place to be :) congrats on going back to school!
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Hi hi! I'm Jillian, she/her, a freelance writer in Austin TX. I've been freelance for almost six years now! I'm currently in a bit of a tricky transition period — I quit my most lucrative job to travel in the fall, which was entirely worth it, but now I have to figure out how to 1. create sustainable income again and 2. make my art my number one priority! I'm finishing up week 7 of The Artist's Way and that's helping a lot. Keeping my most productive mornings hours sacred for my creativity, connection to self, and most important tasks of the day is so vital as well. My inner child asks: How can you make WRITING the center of your universe again? Not editing, as I've been relying on for much of my career. And how can you PLAY and TRY more and give your great ideas true space to breathe and exist? Hobbies/passions include tarot, sitting outside with my cat Minerva, long walks outside (did 600 miles of the Camino in fall), reading, writing, swimming, eating yogurt bowls in the morning.
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↳ In reply to Jillian Anthony
jillian yay good to see you here! long walks hell yes and putting writing at the CENTER. i love that : )
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Hiya. I'm Christie, she/her pronouns. I work freelance in philanthropy, and I recently released my first book - The Emergency Was Curiosity: An Illustrated Book Report Inspired by Jenny Odell's How to Do Nothing. I am continually experimenting with my mix of paid work and creative work in any given week/month/year. Currently working on three projects: 1. a speaker series about perimenopause and midlife (The Art of Midlife: Don't Call It a Crisis) 2. a zine about mothering and creativity 3. a campaign (?) to make book reports and fan nonfiction "a thing" - at the moment manifesting as a "reading reader" and a symposium in the fall with a couple of dreamy collaborators. I took the Ritual Technologies class, and thanks to the prompt, I finished a good enough draft of my introduction to the reader. Glad to be back in this orbit.
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↳ In reply to Christie George
yayyyyyyy so happy to hear about the introduction to the reader! you rock Christie!
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↳ In reply to Christie George
wow I am really intrigued by all of your projects! How can I find your work?
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Hi, I’m Beth Nelson. She/her I’m not self employed. I work as an assistant teacher at a nature-based preschool in Holland, Michigan. I write a blog called Earth & Company on Substack. I share things from nature, my life, crafts I’m making, stuff like that. I hope to expand some day into hosting community events to help facilitate people getting back in touch with nature.
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Hello all. My name is Sarah (she/her) and I am a yoga therapist with a private practice in upstate New York. I have taught yoga and meditation for 15 years, so have been constructing and reconstructing my way of working for many years but have had the consistency of a direction, even when the end point of that has felt hard to visualize. My studies led me to work with people in end of life and to train/work as a chaplain, which has greatly informed what and how I work. My private practice has functioned as a donation based business for almost 10 years, and the systems of attention and care that have built around that are very supportive for me and (I think also) for my clients. I work with people who want to use practice to support and make changes in their lives, and even though there are many challenges to a less conventional path I feel incredibly lucky to be connected to purpose and service. Plus I'm a dancer and your dance practice really continues to inspire me to remember the PROCESS not the product, so thank you for that!
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↳ In reply to Sarah
yes! thanks for sharing some of the behind the scenes of how your business works, so inspiring. and yes to dancing!
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Hey all, I am Bridget Bertrand, using any pronouns. My passion is creating. I create playlists, space, recently a garden! and free online gatherings exploring meditation and art journaling, but I mostly call the offerings "creative cultivation time." I struggle with how to market and stick to the system (yay for practice of attention)! I had an "ah ha" that all of the activist work I do online and IRL activism is my work/labor too. Maybe I just keep offering most of the groups online for free and not stress about how many people show up or whether my newsletter will stay at 182 people forever. Therapy pays the bills, which is actually huge news (esp. in these times). I love connecting with others in this world, Gemini here, so always reach out!
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↳ In reply to Bridget
i love that therapy is paying the bills and giving you so much room to do activism work, this inspires me!
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I’m Selomé (she/her), my self-employment consists of writing and teaching about money, and the occasional random freelance gig (event work/bartending), but much of that has been slow because I have a “day” job working at a restaurant.
It’s really hard to balance both things and my schedule, but I know that I need to create to some degree to feel alive. I haven’t figured out the balance and wonder if I should go back to the 9-5 world I left (read: got forced out of) in 2022. I think I’m happier now though but there are always trade offs.
I recently tapped back into Instagram after 6+months away and I already find myself thinking about things to buy that I definitely don’t need! I’m pretty good at resisting but why set myself up for temptation I wonder.
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↳ In reply to Selomé
selomé! gosh the thinking about things to buy that i dont need IG spiral is so so real. yes to teaching about money! so good to read all these noticings you're having
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Hey there! I'm Elizabeth Mitchell (she/her). I'm on Disability, self-publishing my own work and anthologies filled with authors from around the world, and trying to find a way to share my art as well. I write crip fic and essays more often than not lately. The fiction is dark (whether in tone or content or both), sometimes speculative, almost always character-driven. The non-fiction is about Disability and being a creative and moving through the world as a human. I host it on my own website because I was tired of moving from platform to platform. It's a bit of an island and hard to get seen, but at least I am stable for a while. www.justanotherelizabeth.com.
I'm working on a non-fiction book about trauma and Disability that will include no trauma-dump stories and come from a place of compassion and inclusion, deciding on my next fiction project (just published a magical realism crip fic novella called Joyce in January), finishing up an anthology called Clocks (Kickstarter starts tomorrow), and organizing my updated creative space.
It's so nice to meet you all. Always up for connecting with new people, so feel free to reach out!
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Hi! Meag (she/her) and I wish I was self-employed. I am a librarian with so many creative hobbies and loves that it feels really painful to sit at a desk everyday. I have a little digital doc, bingo/joy farming, and gratitude practice that keeps me grounded in how creativity feeds and clothes me.
Current passions are zine making, collage, knitting, and linocut and the hibernating ones are clay and quilting. I have many daydreams about shifting work and energy in community building and art spaces. I really appreciate your writing and practice. Thank you! -
↳ In reply to Meag
thanks for sharing all of this! may the shifts be swift and easeful and take the time they take!
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Hi! I'm Clare (she/her)
I'm a writer and I also had a book published this month!
This is my first book and it's eco-political non-fiction published through AK Press and it's called SCAPEGOAT: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong.
I am working on getting ready for book tour and podcast interviews and op-eds right now and am excited to start working on my next book. :)
Hobbies: + writing (with which I have a love/ hate relationship), + climbing (just got lead certified), + READING (lots of horror these days), + swimming in the Salish sea & mountain rivers (sauna in the winter!), + gardening & foraging (hello nettle season), + painting (gouache), + witchy stuff (I do tea leaf readings!), + and generally playing as much as I can.
I also have a full-time job writing grants at a land-based non-profit in a small city in the Pacific Northwest.
Please reach out! I'd love to make new friends :) You can send me a message on my website, link below.
https://clarefollmann.com/contact-links/
<3
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↳ In reply to clare
clare! congrats on your book! it sounds literally so so good! and i love all your hobbies :) thanks for sharing
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Hi I am Janet. (she/her) I am blooming with spring- and I have a five-month-old baby. I am finding time to myself and getting back into my writing process for children's books. Today I was thinking about a book that could be read forwards and backwards- because my toddler has been doing it this way. I've been using AI to overcome roadblocks in my creative process, but somehow feel a bit guilty/wrong/excited/nervous to tell people. I think this community might like the dimensions of the AI and creativity conversation. Hugs.
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↳ In reply to Janet Rumsey
I am very curious about how AI can help people unlock creativity and get through road blocks! and congrats on the new bebe <3
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Hi! I'm Ruth in Nebraska, she/her. Right now I am working part time at a non-profit but I think I'm going to quit to spend the summer with my kiddo who will be turning TEN YEARS OLD. I guess parenting is the longest job I've had now. Now when school starts again in the fall, I envision myself writing and sewing and connecting to my community in different ways but in reality I have always struggled to impose structure on myself. I probably need to do "systems for artists" but part of me feels not ready / not like an artist? And also wanting to just live through the summer with my baby first.
I meant to comment on a previous post that I have been using my Brick tool to help with looking-at-phoneness and it is...mostly effective! One thing that has been really effective is that my partner bought us an electric piano for our home last month, which none of us knew how to play previously. So I've been learning to play the piano and also practicing paper piecing quilt making.
I always love reading your letters, Cody, thank you! <3
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↳ In reply to Ruth Kohtz Ek
thank you ruth! i love my brick so much total game changer :) and you should totally take systems for artists! you dont have to be an arist :) we're gonna have a lot of fun xoxo
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Hello :) My name is Meg and my pronouns are she/they! I am softly landing in a nice chill job right now after 9 years as a self employed artist and small business witch. I am pivoting in my business, which is called Rosemarine Textiles, away from making and selling my naturally dyed home goods and accessories and am leaning into my passion which is community building and teaching classes about fibers arts.
I learned in the last few years that I love bringing people together through art making and sharing about the craft of natural dyeing and sewing. I love to make zines and host my monthly crafting circle in Detroit and am very relieved to have removed the financial pressure from my creative work so that I can experiment more with writing and painting and play without the extreme scarcity that I experienced the last many years. I am in a phase of enjoying the discipline of daily journaling, meditating, reading and yoga and trying to overcome my night owl tendencies and go to bed "early" aka 11pm.
I also sometimes write on Substack about cooking and gardening and slow living in a publication called "Chamomile Tea" which you can find here : https://substack.com/@chamomiletea
:~)
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↳ In reply to meghan
Meg! I love hearing all of this, especially relevenat to today's newsletter! I am so curious what your new job is if you care to share, and if it has anything to do with your creative work or is purposefully very separate. You inspire me!
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Hi my name is Rikki (she/her). I am a stay-at-home mom, and my kids have officially been in school full time since August. Since then I have almost driven myself mad trying to figure out what to do, if I should do something and why I feel the need to do something. I am a writer and an artist. I’ve been submitting both to publications, some accepted and some rejected. I self-published my first poetry chapbook titled “Grace in Every Moment: paying attention as an act of devotion.” Cody certainly played a part in the cultivation of self-confidence and awareness as an artist in order to move forward with that project. I tried to be brave by designing it myself, and am quite thrilled with the results. Even though I have put together several zines this project felt intimidating and different. I got my first copy yesterday, and some lovely friends and family ordered copies. I am so grateful to have a physical book that I made. Little Me is quite proud. I also recently took on two freelancing gigs: proofreading a local paper, and copywriting. I was able to open my first bank account in years after healing from some financial trauma and starting to bring in some money on my own. It feels like freedom to be able to do so, like possibility. So for now I am working on building my portfolio to expand my freelancing opportunities, and will continue to share my creative writing. Thank you for all the teaching and sharing. It has been so helpful in my practice of not only showing up, but also choosing what to share.
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↳ In reply to Rikki
Rikki! HUGE congratulations on the chapbook. Love the title for so many reasons. These are such beautiful updates, thanks for sharing them with us.
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