One of my words for the current season of my life is flow. I’m so often an Activities person, flitting between gatherings and events and experiments. It’s amazing! But I’m trying to lean more into days that flow, where I say yes to the next thing not knowing where it will lead, enjoying the playful ins and outs of a day unspooling with friends. It’s also felt needed, as the cold and the crises compound to feel like ten thousand pounds of pressure upon us, daily. I’m always still figuring this out, because feeding my own desire to flow can also feel like neglecting the urgency of the trouble.

We’re likely to take somewhere around 600 million breaths in our lifetime. The good life is somewhere in there, between and around those breaths — the slow ones when we’re trying to calm ourselves down, the sharp inhales during a frigid bike ride, the quiet rhythm when keeping silent during a moon ritual. Something I’ve been hearing frequently from friends is that January felt a bit frantic, and it’s only now as we meander into late winter that we’re listening to the season’s call for slowness. I think of this as the inertia of seasonal change; it takes a while for our breath to catch up with the world around us, being tossed around as it is by the pressures of modern life.

If this feels true for you, here’s hoping that you can find some flow in the weeks ahead. And one characteristic of flow that I’ve been attending to: it’s most frequently facilitated. Sometimes we just need a container to play in. Some containers coming up…

🌘 OPEN STUDIOS at Center for Performance Research: Waning Crescent (Thu Feb 12 @ 7pm). Performance and dance exploring the theme of shame; catch Liana’s disaster whore, “a dance theater lullaby for catastrophists, rubberneckers, and anyone who lives more readily in fantasy” — amazing. $0-25.

🌘 Lust & Wonder at telos.haus: Waning Crescent (Fri Feb 13 @ 10pm). Dancing, live nude sculpture, tattoos, delights all around - I think this will be very lovely and liberatory ! $35.

🌘 Consumption Book Club at Index Greenpoint: Waning Crescent (Sun Feb 15 @ 4pm). We’re reading from Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval, an eerie story of a queer crush in a beer factory with all kinds of fermented fantasies. We sold out a couple weeks ago, but a little birdie (Colette) told me that we might have enough for a few more spots. Join us for beer, pretzels, pickles, cheese, cake, and a beautiful little recipe zine <3. $50, DM for waitlist.

🌘 Show Me Love: A Benefit Concert at A.R.T. South Oxford Great Room: Waning Crescent (Sun Feb 15 @ 8pm). A delightful lineup for this concert and expression of community love — Dija and Abbi both gather people with such care. Proceeds going to Safe Passage Project! $17.50-56.

🌑 Let's horse around... at telos.haus: New Moon (Mon Feb 16 @ 7pm). Bring in the year of the horse with friends and delicious foods <3. $30.

🌑 New Moon (Tue Feb 17). It might be slightly warmer than before, but still a cold cold February new moon. Let it be an invitation for a ritual of your own, a time to clear out the clutter in your mind and welcome in a new (hopefully warmer) cycle. Also, year of the horse!

🌒 Let’s Get Off Together at telos.haus: Waxing Crescent (Fri Feb 20 @ 9pm). Come thru to dance, delete your dating apps (a better way is possible…) and generally have a very fun time. We are putting a lot of thought into this event! If you have ever wondered what a better culture around nightlife might look like come co-create that with us. $10-15 suggested donation.