Happy sunny Sunday Reader,

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I gotta say... phew, I’m happy to be through winter! I like it, I really do. I like the hibernation. I like not feeling guilty about spending hours on the couch with a book. I like winter.

And I get the winter blues.

The last couple months have been tough for me. Dark, introspective. But the depth was worth it, the reflection, the honouring, the reverence for all that hurts. It did me well.

I now feel myself emerging, to be honest from a cocoon I’ve been in for YEARS so the emergence is epic. I’m a new human. Nice to meet you, I’m not who I was before.

This experience of rebirth, of resurrection, shows up in many forms through nature and society. Caterpillar to butterfly. The rising phoenix. Jesus. Eclipses.

My favourite piece of feminist scripture speaks of this magic…

What you say, you say in a body; you can say nothing outside this body. You must awaken while in this body; for everything exists in it: Resurrect in this life. ~ The Gospel of Philip
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In this body, in this life, we can start again. We can resurrect.

The magic. The power. The inevitability…

Because if you’re really living, feeling and wondering… you will experience some form of rebirth in your life, some version of starting again. Maybe in a new town, or a new job for more practical examples. Or in your heart, your soul for those spiritual rebirths.

I am rebirthing as a writer. As I’ve said a few times recently, the last few years were really hard on me and those struggles, along with the focus on academic writing while I did my masters, took me away from my own writing practice. This left me not just unfulfilled but like a part of me was gone. I’d lost myself.

Then in February, I read Hysterical by Elissa Bassist.

It’s my new favourite book and she’s my new author crush. I just wrote her an email telling her so. And I signed up for her feminist comedic writing newsletter, which you can too if you want. And I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop of hers last weekend, How to Write a Tragicomic Memoir. I mean with a title like that, how could I not?

What I love about Hysterical is that it is all the things I want a memoir to be. It is poignant, meaningful, heartbreaking, patriarchy-smashing and packed full of research to make it so very clear that her experience is not an isolated one.

It’s also fucking hysterical.

This was like a great big permission slip for me, “Yes, you can be smart AND funny!”. Research and jokes can co-exist! I needed someone to tell me this. I needed it to be ok to be a funny nerd.

With this permission slip in hand, I’m writing so much more. Writing what I want. I’m sitting in coffee shops laughing out loud as my fingers tap the keyboard. I’m finding my joy again. Joy in my words, in my jokes, in the image I have of your face when you read it someday, Reader.

Oh it feels sooooooooooooo good!

Want to bask in my easy-breezy writing vibes? Ya you do. I’ve resurrected my old Facebook group, Writing Vibes. It’s a place for writers, for folks who feel compelled to explore themselves and the world through the written word (whether funny or not). Come for support, memes, inspiration and a good dose of distraction, all free. If you're not already a member, you can request to join right here. If you are a member, come back for a visit.​

And I know you wanna know more about the funny stuff I’m writing… I’m not quite ready to share yet but I suspect some excerpts will end up on Instagram or in Writing Vibes in the next month or so. As much as I’m loving writing it, it’s risky writing so I’m nervous to put it out there in the world... I’ll get there...

For now, the magical eclipse... if you're in the viewing region, I hope you have your eclipse glasses ready for tomorrow. May the plunge into darkness and return to light be one more beautiful rebirth in this life of yours.

Hope to see you in Writing Vibes!​

'til next time,

Parrish

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Gospel of Philip sourced from Meggan Watterson's Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet, (2019).

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