Celebrating Slowness

Channeling My Inner Mollusk

UPDATE: I would be happy to send you the analog version of my post FOR FREE if you want to trade! Do you have a zine? A real-life newsletter? Even a handwritten letter!

There’s this thing in the chronic illness community called the October Slide. Basically, the falling temperatures, disappearing sunlight, and rise of colds/flus make you feel like (extra) shit. I have a theory it exists in the abled-bodied community, too. For many people, the shorter days trigger seasonal depression. The impending holidays cause dread. And, just generally, the inability to allow our lives to slow down to match the rhythm of the changing season is a strain on everyone.¹

In honor of slowing down, this week’s post is literal post. As in, if you want to read it, it’s coming in the mail. That’s right: I went analog. I was inspired by this article and a twenty-year-old notepad I found in a box in my basement. It was surprisingly fun! And time consuming. I forgot how hard it is to use a manual typewriter.

the notepad was 9x12, so I actually had to hand cut the paper down to 8.5x11. Still worth it, I think.

Paid subscribers at the Founding tier (aka Extra Softies) get this post in the mail for free (they went out yesterday!). If you aren’t an Extra Softy and would like to become one, you can do so by clicking the button below! (I think? I don’t know how this stuff works. Let me know if you have any issues.)

If you’re a Supporting subscriber, I’ll send it to you for $1.

If you aren’t interested in a paid sub, but still want to read this newsletter/zine, I will mail you this week’s post (and maybe something Extra?) for $5.

The newsletter includes an essay, some illustrations, a Mary Oliver poem, a book recommendation, an (optional) assignment, and a lot of mistakes, because it was made by me, an actual human, with a typewriter and and exact-o knife and a copy machine. If people are into it, I’ll make it a seasonal thing. (I might even make it a season thing if no one but me is into it. We’ll see what winter brings.) Whether you read it or not, I hope you go easy into the world this week, filled with light, to shine.

1. Do people who live in sunny/mild climates get this? Actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.