Statement on the Events of 11/5/24

A Catherine Noon

I wrote this for my weekly craft salon, and wanted to share it here as well.

Statement on the Events of 11/5/24

I know we’ve seen the news by now, and that the results are not what we wanted. I wanted to say a few words and provide, if I can, some measure of solace for the times that are ahead of us.

Plenty of words will be written and spoken in the coming days about what happened, why it occurred, and what to do about it. But my focus is, and must be, closer to home. What is relevant for our purposes is this: the foundation of our personal wellness comes down to at least three things: mindfulness, community, and creativity. It is by exercising those three things, which are entirely in our control, that we garner the strength to heal, the resilience to act, and the strength to respond to adverse circumstances.

Mindfulness:

Mindfulness doesn’t only mean meditation, and meditation doesn’t only mean stillness. As trauma specialist Molly Birkholm points out, there are three key questions we can ask ourselves whenever we need to come back to our home ground:

  1. What is present?
  2. Where am I feeling it in my body?
  3. Is this information asking me to take some action in the world?

If you, like me, are experiencing a flood of emotions and anxiety, that first question is where our focus will have the most impact. As we learn to sit with our discomfort, to hold the hurt parts, the anxiety, the fear, and the rage, we come into coherence: coherence with our emotions, with our bodies, and with our minds. It is in coherence that we can act from our best and most enlightened selves. This is not comfortable work. It is not easy work. It IS work. It is THE work.

Stay with the emotions as you can, and remember that they tend to come in 90 second waves, like labor pains. Breathe. Practice good self care. Eat well, sleep well, hydrate. If we fall off the wagon and binge on junk food or drugs and alcohol, give ourselves grace to realize that’s a trauma response. We are trying to self-medicate. Get back on the wagon. Follow your program. I’ve got some resources below if you need them.

Community:

A Good Yarn: Makerspace and Crafting Salon is not going anywhere. We will continue our “politics-free zone,” and for the same reason that I put that in place when we started this. It’s not to white-wash what’s happening. It’s not to make nice. It’s not because there are good people on both sides. It’s because, plain and simple, we need a fucking break. We need a break from the vitriol, the division, and the very real fear for ourselves, our families, our community, and our world. Do not think for a moment that I am blind to any of these things. It is precisely because I see them and feel them so keenly that I need to stake out a place where I say, this place, this sacred space, this liminal space is a space out of space and a time out of time and is inviolate to the forces of confusion that seek to destroy it. It is, quite simply, a radical act.

Remember our communities. We are not alone, and there is nothing we cannot accomplish when we work together. I know that it might not feel like that right now, and that you, like me, are feeling bruised. That’s why these steps are chronological. Go back to the beginning. Go back to the breath. What is present. Where are you feeling it. Is the information asking you to take some action in the world.:

Act. Join your local Indivisible chapter. Cure ballots. (Ask me privately what that is if you haven’t heard of it.) Join Red, Wine, and Blue. Follow Heather Cox Richardson and Dan Rather. Talk to flesh and blood humans and stay the fuck off social media when you want to connect, and really connect with other humans. Come to craft circle. You don’t even have to say a word, just sit there and soak up the energy. Remember: Winnie the Pooh and friends didn’t kick Piglet out when he was feeling down. They sat with him.

Creativity:

I’ve said this many times before: all writing is a radical act. I would expand that to all acts of creativity are radical acts. Our power is in our hands and our voices, and in our ability to play. Audre Lorde said it best: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.”

Child-like pursuits are also radical acts. It takes balls to color as an adult. It takes balls to stand up and say, I like to knit. It takes balls to make something, to have the temerity to declare ourselves “artist” in a world that is fueled by monetization.

Do it anyway.

Stay strong. Keep the faith. Write.

Resources:

Mindfulness:

EMDR International: https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/

US-based: Find a therapist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/

Calm app: https://calm.com/

Yoga Nidra:

Molly Birkholm has a number of resources. There are quite a few, but the ones I like are a series she did during the pandemic:

  1. Week 1: Cultivating Safety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbBeYppEC8Q&feature=youtu.be
  2. Week 2: Connection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuaNSRdiaQM&feature=youtu.be
  3. Week 3: Sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NATx0PAff14&feature=youtu.be
  4. Week 4: Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM7fc90jKG0
  5. Week 5: Calming Stress and Anxiety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXN4I2JTyMc
  6. Week 6: Investing in Yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg6emSjPAy0&feature=youtu.be
  7. Week 7: Balancing the Five Elements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-dI-u3oHO8&feature=youtu.be
  8. Week 8: Embodied Consciousness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVqIuz5f8dE&feature=youtu.be

Community:

Saturday studio time: Saturdays, noon to 2 Pacific on Zoom (leave me a comment to discuss if you’re not already on the list)

Indivisible: https://indivisible.org/

Red, Wine, and Blue: https://redwine.blue/

Heather Cox Richardson: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ (there is a free version of her daily newsletter; she also puts up an audio version the next day. Letters come out daily in the evening. She’s a professor on the East Coast of the U.S.; non-partisan.)

Dan Rather: https://steady.substack.com/ (there is a free version; he’s a retired U.S. reporter, non-partisan)

Creativity:

The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron

Seattle Writers Group on Discord (leave a comment and we can discuss privately if you would like to join; open joins are paused for the moment for the safety of the community)

Monday Write-ins with Writer Zen Garden (leave a comment and we can discuss privately)

I will have more info and thoughts in the coming days, but like you, I’m reeling from the news. Be gentle with each other. And above all, remember you are loved.

 

I Won’t Let You Break Me

A Catherine Noon

You’re not the first narcissist I’ve dealt with.

You won’t be the last.

And like the song says, you probably think this is about you,

But it’s not. It’s about me.

I am strong enough to weather your storm.

You are nothing more than the wind outside my tent.

Sometimes hurricanes cause great damage and destruction,

But they are not us. They are outside of us.

As you are. As you remain. As it is.

And so it is.

I remind myself of my strength.

I remind myself that my hurt parts who want to respond to you

Are the lost children of my history that is long and filled with monsters.

But history is not destiny, and I won’t let you break me;

Just as she could not break me – and you are nothing near to her.

You are a petulant child, like another petulant child flinging ketchup at the wall.

I actually feel sorry for you, when I’m not in the storm of your abuse.

Your life is hollow, and will remain so.

The hole you seek to fill by destroying others will remain stubbornly empty.

And that is Justice.

I will not let you break me.

I am not food for your maw.

I am not fuel for your conflagration.

I am not sustenance for your starvation.

I am not yours.

I claim my power, back from all times and places, from all timelines and commitments,

Back from all soul contracts entered into consciously or unconsciously.

I call myself back to myself,

Into my body, my holy vessel with which I interact and experience this world.

My body is not yours. My mind is not yours. My spirit is not yours.

And my breaking is not for you to accomplish.

Any breaking that will happen here will be me, breaking the bindings you have tried to forge over me.

I release you. I forgive myself for believing your myth.

I forgive myself for wanting connection with you who are incapable of it.

I forgive myself for not somehow psychically knowing what you were about before you showed your hand.

I forgive myself for wanting to be one of your in crowd.

I forgive myself for wanting anything from you.

I release myself from any bondage or commitment to you.

I reclaim my own power and destiny from you.

I call back the power I gave you and put it rightfully back into myself.

For I am strong. I am resilient.

And you will not break me.

J Is For… Just Write It! (aka Following One’s Own Advice)

A Catherine Noon

So. It’s the 12th. Of April.

Yeah, I noticed that too. It was the 6th of April like five minutes ago. Oof.

Here’s what I tell others when they say to me during a challenge, “But I’m so beehiiinnnd!!!” I say, “So start with where you are!”

What does that mean for me today?

Well, for a start, it means posting on the blog. I checked my Postcrossing stats, just to see where I was on sending out cards – my goal is to have all cards out at all times, and last time I checked I still had four out – and it turns out I’m behind there, too:

This is what it looks like once you sign up for an account on Postcrossing. (If you’re interested, you can click the image and I have it set up to take you straight there). When you start out, you only get a few cards to send, but as you send more and others note they’ve received them, then your send count goes up.

I’ll grab my postcard stash and request an address, and then work through the list one at a time. I once selected six at the same time and then got busy, and couldn’t write them in a timely fashion; I don’t do that now. I pull the address when I am sitting in front of my postcards so I can send them right away.

How many of you are already in Postcrossing?

If you’re not into it yet, would you like to know more about it?

Let me know in the comments!

Write on!

E Is For… Easter Cards!

A Catherine Noon

I love getting non-bill mail. One of my favorite things to do, is to find offbeat holidays and send cards to my friends and family. Even if you don’t practice Christianity, the Easter holiday here in the States has become a secular celebration of Spring. We have the Easter Bunny, decorated eggs, chocolates, Easter baskets, and best of all, CARDS.

You can find inexpensive Easter cards at the dollar store and big box stores. You can find special fancy cards at the fancy card shops. You can find handmade and unique artist cards on shops like Etsy or at local small stores that specialize in gifts or unusual things. You might even find that your community supports artist collective shops where you can go in and see products produced by multiple different local artisans. You can even just use regular paper in an envelope and a stamp – it doesn’t have to be fancy to say, “I’m thinking about you and wish you well.”

I need to go find my cards, pardon me. 🙂

Happy writing!

C Is For… Corresponding with Someone

A Catherine Noon

When people find out that I like to write letters, a question I often get is,

“What do you write about?”

Here, then, are some suggestions:

Start with a Draft

You can do this old school (on paper) or in a document you keep on your computer. I like to do this on paper because I find that handwriting my ideas slows my brain down. This serves two functions: one, it’s a form of mindfulness; and two, it lets me see the shape of my thoughts and really sit with them, allowing them to develop.

Jot down things you want to include in your letter – three things you want to mention

Why three? I find that if I can get to three, I can get to infinity. One is too few, it doesn’t leave me anywhere to go. Two is adversarial: this, or that. Dark, or light chocolate. But three, three allows me to suddenly make connections, create a shape, get three dimensional. Try it and see what happens for you.

Have Three Questions

No one likes someone who only talks about themselves, right? Then don’t be that kind of correspondent! Show an interest in your penpal, and ask them questions. One of my favorites: “What’s new in your world?” Another one is, “Describe for me what a normal day is like for you.” You can also go on Google and look up “good icebreaker questions,” and pick some to include.

To Enclose or Not To Enclose

Some penpals insist that one must include something in their letter as an enclosure, and I’ve seen all sorts of rules for what kinds of things to include – and they rarely agree with each other. Me, I’m more of the middle way: if I have an enclosure I want to include, I will; otherwise, I’ll let my words and thoughts stand on their own.

But what kinds of things work as enclosures?

  • A packet of tea
  • Ephemera like small slices of decorated paper
  • Maps
  • Menus
  • Washi tape
  • Stickers
  • A handmade woven “mug rug” that I wove on a pin loom (I’ve used this as an enclosure multiple times)
  • Bookmark

 

It comes down to what you feel comfortable including, and how much postage you want to spend. A note of caution: be sure to weigh your letter; you don’t want the recipient having to pay for extra postage in order to read your letter.

What’s the most unusual letter you’ve received?

B Is For… Blogging!

A Catherine Noon

If you’re visiting from the A to Z Challenge, then chances are you know a lot about blogging. Today, I wanted to talk about one blog in particular: the Postcrossing blog. You can visit it, here. Their tagline is, “Stories about the Postcrossing community and the postal world.”

Postcrossing is an international community of penpal afficionados. It’s an interesting concept: members send postcards to members around the world. The blog discusses news from within the community, and also postal mail in general. One recent article highlighted the Malta Postal Museum.

The thing I love about Postcrossing is that it’s not a big investment. Writing a postcard is a tiny bit of text, and a small amount of postage. You can decide whether to mail members just in your country, or whether you’re willing to write to folx in other countries.

Each month, they send you a list of your “stats” – to which countries you sent cards; from which countries you received cards; etc. I use it as a way to keep the pump primed, as Julia Cameron would say.  In the process, I’ve even made some friends along the way. Not every person in Postcrossing is interested in a more extended correspondence, but I’ve met a few. It’s the best of both worlds: a quick note to someone new, and a few longer, more crunchy letters.

What about you, Dear Reader? Have you tried Postcrossing?

A Is For… A Letter!

A Catherine Noon

Welcome, friends! And Happy April!

Every year, in the month of April, there is an international blogging challenge called the A to Z Blog Challenge. I’ve done it in previous years, but as with many of my writing friends, the last couple years have been difficult. Between the pandemic; war in Ukraine (Slava Ukraini!); the George Floyd riots and subsequent awakening of the American people to the continuing evils of racism, misogyny, and homophobia; the climate emergency; and the rise of Christo-fascism in the U.S. and around the world, it’s been a difficult climate in which to be a creative. It’s easy to feel lost in the midst of all of the onslaught.

I think it’s important to remember that we are physical beings. We aren’t avatars, and we don’t live in social media: we are flesh and blood beings with physical bodies and THAT is where our connection, our reality, must live.

And therein I found my theme for this month’s blog challenge. I decided to join at the last minute; I literally wrote the theme out yesterday and had to ask myself, “Am I nuts? Do I really want to do a 30 day challenge right now after coming off a severe dry spell?” In answer, my brain’s squirrels awoke and not only was the answer yes, but I got ideas for my other sites and themes.

Thus, here I am.

Which brings me to today’s subject: letters!

What do you get in your physical mailbox? Do you get garbage mail, paper spam, bills, and nothing interesting? Nothing uplifting? Connecting you to people from far away?

Well, I LOVE getting “non-bill” mail. It turns out, you get what you put out there, and that’s doubly true for receiving letters. If you write letters, you will get letters back. Pretty magical, nu?

And so my theme this month will be around my love of penpalling. I’ll share some pictures of letters and postcards I’ve received (never with the sender’s address visible), and I’ll talk about how I meet other penpals and snail mail aficionados. I’ll even talk a little bit about mail art. While I don’t consider myself a mail artist, I am fascinated by it and have participated in a couple Artist Trading Card swaps.

But for today, I’ll simply close with an invitation. Would you like to be my penpal? If so, please drop me a note at a.catherine.noon AT gmail DOT com and include your name, how you like to be called (if your nickname is different than your given name), and your mailing address. International folx welcome – I just got in a new set of international stamps. 🙂

Tell me, Dear Reader, what do you like to receive in the mail?

Gone Visiting – Join Me!

A Catherine Noon

I’ve been visiting around the web again, which feels terrific. On my mind right now is the upcoming Lettermo, or Month of Letters, and that’s what I’ve been talking about.

First, I visited bestselling author Delilah Devlin’s blog to talk about Lettermo and why it helps to slow down time. Check it out, won’t you? And drop a comment to let Delilah know you visited.

Next, I’m over at the Lettermo main site today, talking about “Why Write Letters?” If it’s not obvious to you, I hope the post will answer your questions and maybe even tempt you into joining me for the month of February – after all, February IS the Month of Letters!

That’s all for now, Dear Reader. Remember: life is short; write more letters!

Write on!

Lettermo Is Almost Here!

A Catherine Noon

I love writing and receiving snail mail, I always have. When I was little, I would send all sorts of things through the mail – doilies from under coffee cups that I colored, travel brochures, beer coasters… Anything that was flat and would fit in an envelope. The habit stayed with me to adulthood and now I send thank you letters to colleagues and business partners (never underestimate the power of a heart-felt thank you note or even just a “wow, I’m sorry I didn’t do that as well as I could have, and I promise to learn better next time”); greeting cards to friends (Valentine’s Day is coming up on Feb 14th, remember!); birthday and anniversary cards; and even just a certificate you can create congratulating a friend on a personal milestone.

What is Lettermo?

It turns out, there’s a vibrant online community for correspondents! Who knew? The internet can support our offline lives in creative ways. One of these communities is called “Month of Letters,” or “Lettermo” for short. Every year in February, participants challenge themselves to mail something to someone every day during the month – it could be to another participant, to a friend, to a public figure, heck – even Santa Claus! We also agree to write back to everyone who writes to us.

How Do You Join Lettermo?

Technically, you don’t have to do anything to “join” Lettermo; you can just participate in your own way and in your own time. BUT, if you’d like to meet other letter writers, you can join the site – it’s free, and share your address. This way, your information isn’t just out on a public website (though it’s prudent to shield yourself by using a post office box rather than your home address). The site allows you to write up a profile of yourself that can include what you like to do, hobbies, and what kinds of things you’d like to write in your letters.

If this sounds fun to you, point your mouse over to lettermo.com and get started. Your mailbox will thank you!