Wecommendation Wednesday
Two Substacks, two books, and two practices
Well-wishers, welcome to Wecommendation Wednesday! Okay, sorry for the alliteration, it has been a hobby of mine ever since I heard Crosby, Stills & Nash sing:
Lacy, lilting, leery
Losing love lamenting
Anyway, I wanted to share some things I’ve been excited about lately, and since no days of the week start with R, I figured today was as good a day as any.
Substacks
First, the luminous rose june has recently reappeared, reintroducing rest. (Okay, sorry again, I’ll stop now). If you love poetry, music, liberatory theology and philosophy, and Black women, you will love this Substack. And if you are able to become a paid subscriber it would mean a lot to me. rose june and I share a struggle to make creative and healing content while still paying the bills, and I would love to see her better funded in her work.
Next is the radiant Breanne | Celebreabird, who I discovered through her Tolkien walks where she shares fun facts about the JRR Tolkien legendarium. I also learned from her the word legendarium. Breanne is the kind of nerd scholar I aspire to be, and I learn something fascinating from her every day. She is currently leading her paid subscribers through a (re)read of The Hobbit with, of course, weekly deep dives and links about the chapters we’ve covered. It would be really fun if you joined us there!
Upcoming books
Two of my besties have books coming out soon, both very gay, but quite different other than that. The very sparkly Matt Bays has written a dating guide based on his own experience after coming out in his forties and tasting the Tinder scene for the first time in his life. Matt found the man of his dreams five years ago, and has put together some spicy tips, and some very wise ones, for finding yours. It comes out on April 14th, but preorders are SO helpful!
Aw, look, those two bananas are in love! All very innocent, I’m sure.
And my poet friend, the iridescent Kate Mapother, has written a novel about queer love and longing that will break your heart and put it together differently. Book of Grace is, in Kate’s words:
…a completely selfish endeavor to illuminate the quiet room inside me that needed this book to exist. I indulgently hung art on long-empty walls, and strung twinkle lights around my ribcage. I laced my fingers into what felt holy, even if it was broken or undone. I over-seeded the wildflowers of my imagination. I tried to tell a love story from both life and afterlife.
Book of Grace is about the sacred seeds that lie waiting for hundred year rain in the parched fault lines of a broken heart. Book of Grace is about what blooms up through the cracks.
Book of Grace comes out April 20th. Follow Kate on her Substack for updates, as well as poetry that is similarly heart-rearranging:
Practices
I started a new medication recently that I take weekly, and the day after I take it I have a side effect of some pretty intense fatigue. Instead of fighting the fatigue, I decided to schedule it strategically and take the opportunity to actually rest, and I’ve been having some awesome naps on Sunday afternoons. I used to nap more in my twenties, but for the past few years when I’d lie down to nap, more often than not I wouldn’t fall asleep, and it became kind of a frustrating experience. But now I’m taking lovely 1-2 hour naps, and they feel so luxurious. The other day the April sun was shining on my bed, and I curled up in it like a cat, and I have to say — cats are on to something.
And, in the ongoing saga of wrestling with the pros and cons of social media, both personally and professionally, I’ve been trying to develop the habit of not always having my phone on me. It’s hard not to feel a sense of emergency — what if my (very healthy) mom is calling from the hospital?? What if someone is texting me about a lucrative copy editing job, or a book deal?? What if I miss something??
But once I get over that need for hypervigilance, it feels really good to have time alone with my own thoughts, instead of constantly processing other people’s. I find myself crying more often, which seems appropriate in light of, you know, the horrors. And I’ve been reading more, and making weird art.
Someone on here (I think) posted a photo of a homemade phone holder on their wall, and said, “Practicing hanging up the phone again.” Like the olden days when we had landlines and answering machines, and weren’t constantly reachable. I think this will always be a push-pull situation for me, but I’ll continue to try to navigate it in ways that make me feel the most human.
What about you, what have you been loving lately? Any great cat naps curled up in the sun? Good books? Weird art? Tell me in the comments!
With love and hope,
Jessica
Jessica, your support means the world to me. Thank you so much!
Thank you for the mention Jessica 🤍