Recently, an elder revealed to me that they were praying for two very specific things to happen in my life.

I never asked them to do that but it was sweet to hear they were praying for me.

A reminder that you never know who is rooting for you or cares about your joy.

Tonight (Tuesday) @ 7PM (Virtual) ♥️ Looking fwd to this conversation with Shira Erlichman about mental health in poetry, moderated by Jessica Nirvana Ram for Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts

Thank you so much Tyriek White for visiting my Pratt class to talk about your brilliant novel, We Are A Haunting. We learned so much from you today. Thank you for your brilliance, kindness, and care!

Donating the $75K prize money to PCRF wasn’t even PEN America’s decision btw

I didn’t quit. 😆

No, but seriously…other than that, the next thing that comes to mind is using affirmations and affirmations music on a daily basis.

I’m the type of person that responds well to those, and during the PhD I rediscovered that.

Happy Earth Day to this amazing planet. 🌎

May we learn to treat her better & deepen our understanding of how intertwined our human experience is with the earth on numerous levels, including spiritually. ♥️

Yep.

I wrote a poem at the airport last night while waiting for my flight.

This one wasn’t for the verse novel, but was for me. And that felt good.

Thank you, Rachel McKibbens 🦋 for the amazing prompts you’ve been posting on IG. I’ve shared some with my creative writing HS students!

In the revision masterclass, Aida challenged us to read 100 novels-in-verse.

And my brain & heart were like challenge accepted. 😂

So, I’m starting my journey to 100 with her book.

& I will try to include verse novels I probably won’t like & see what I can learn from them.

When you punish students for their love & compassion you teach them how powerful compassion truly is. You admit to them that you govern on a premise that cannot withstand love. Love prevails. We’re witnessing the soul growth of a generation. They deserve our care & respect.💜