Dear Reader,

The wind is whipping outside my window today. Not in the sweet way that it rolls through the valley sometimes, but in the way that weather shows you who is in charge. June’s usual leisurely morning spent behind the house was cut short as she stumbled through the snow drifts making her way back to warmth.

I’d say the hardest part of winter is heating the house. Bringing enough wood in for a few days, keeping the coals going, not giving in to the old electric base board heaters when we run out of said wood. In this tending to the wood stove I learn so much about the tending my own body and spirit need. What is my emotional electric base board heater?

Katy and I settle into our seasonal roles in house and home and it’s become her job to bring in the wood. I go to bed first so Katy tends the nighttime embers and I get us started again in the morning. This morning I am dealing with a gnarly head cold and found myself not wanting to pick up the short task of starting the fire. And yet, I do it, not waiting to want to.

In the evenings I am enjoying chipping away at stuffing envelopes for my analog newsletter PROMPTS — which if you subscribe by January 1st you get my bonus welcome letter.

PROMPTS gets dropped in the mailbox on the first of each month, reaching you sometime within that first week. Truly written with the season it’s in, I feel delighted to experiment in this way with so many of you.

My writing feels a bit drab at the moment. I haven’t been dipping in as much as I’d like, and I have some lingering projects to wrap up / get started with for this past semester of grad school.

One thing I want to make sure to invite you in on : This Thursday January 1 begins a seven day digital detox course called NO SIGNAL I am teaching through email, with a 60 min group zoom on January 7 at 4pm EST for anyone who pre-orders The Practice of Attention. You can choose your own adventure, but if you’ve been wanting to experiment with taking a break from Instagram with the accountability of a group I would highly recommend it!

The windows are rattling now as the fire I so faithfully started picks up speed. The thing about faith is it doesn’t require motivation or hope, it just requires that you take action.

I think this is what winter teaches me every year: that care is rarely about desire. It’s about presence. About showing up for what needs warmth, even when you’d rather stay still. Even when your head aches. Even when the work feels dull.

I have to learn this again every year. To believe that what I keep alive through repetition will carry me through the dark, minute by minute, until the light changes again.

→ Another amazing installment of Ayana Zaire Cotton’s newsletter where the footnotes are just as powerful as the newsletter itself : Why You Don’t Have What You Want

→ I’ve been really enjoying the Words of Mouth newsletter — sharing so many resources, job opportunities, grants, and more

→ I wrote about navigating a new diagnosis for paid subscribers of this newsletter

→ The Good Hart Artist Residency open call runs through January 13 for the June 2026 – May 2027 season. Come feel the magic of Northern Michigan!

→ Arundhati Roy on New Memoir “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” Gaza & Authoritarianism from India to U.S. on Democracy Now!

→ The Milwaukee Freedom Fund is looking to meet their $25k goal. In the last 5 years they’ve paid bail for a total of 374 people and spent $815,495 in support of pre-trial freedom. Read more + donate here

Get a zine mailed to you! Relating in This Time: One human's take on how 2025 has affected our connections.

Reflect back over the year & find your word for 2026 with the (free!) Unravel Your Year workbook. Beloved by thousands, it's my gift to you x

Join us on a FREE 3-part workshop for women ready to bring their creative visions to life with more ease, pleasure, and self-trust.

Solo-preneur? Business-oriented therapy for navigating innate creativity and career narratives. 
Telehealth in WA (BCBS Premera/ Lifewise) & CA

Want to book a classified ad for January? Click here

→ info@codycookparrott.com
→ Pre-Order The Practice of Attention and get The Attention Audit Workbook and No Signal email course January 1-7 as pre-order bonuses!
→ www.codycookparrott.com
→ Follow Along on Are.na