Joy is an ember
Helping Friendly Newsletter, 06.09.23
Every other Friday, I share 5 things to consider and a treasure chest of links. If you like them, please subscribe (it’s free).
GM! ☕️
Thank you for your support of the C-Will Fund! I was moved to see some of your names on the donation feed. Our community will benefit, and I personally felt a boost. I’m truly grateful. ♥️
Here are this fortnight’s 5 things to consider:
My little circle has experienced more grief and loss than we are used to this year. Even with some background in deathcare, it has been difficult, and I certainly have no concrete answers when it comes to the great mystery. However, I do sense that death awareness grounds and helps me in subtle ways.
So, I wrote a poem about it☝🏼 and curated a shelf of death-positive books to complement my death for dummies series. I also found kindred spirits: Ted Gioia just posted a fantastic literary guide to death, which includes Paul Lauritzen’s wonderful essay on end-of-life dreams. And from left field, onetime twins Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito share an honest word about the pain of letting go.1 Memento mori, friends.
This year for Pride, I want to hold space big enough for both beautiful, abundant, joyous, rainbow celebrations and honest reckoning with the “state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States.”
My hunch is that joy is an ember for or precursor to wild and unpredictable and transgressive and unboundaried solidarity. And that that solidarity might incite further joy. Which might incite further solidarity. And on and on. My hunch is that joy, emerging from our common sorrow—which does not necessarily mean we have the same sorrows, but that we, in common, sorrow—might draw us together. It might depolarize us and de-atomize us enough that we can consider what, in common, we love. — Ross Gay, Inciting Joy
I recently developed a new training on navigating conflict at work. Here’s my resource list, if you’d like a DIY curriculum. Happy dialoging. ✌🏼
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote a poem that will be etched on the side of a spacecraft destined for Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon. Listen and read the poem here. I adore this verse on our connection with the cosmos and one another:
And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.Poet Maggie Smith observed, upon recommending a nail polish (that I totally bought), “File [this] under frivolous pleasures, because fuck it, we all need those, too. Life is absurd. More little pleasures, please.” Don’t forget to have some fun, folks. ✨
Request for help
Please consider referring me in your networks as a writer:
What: Ghostwriting for blogs, published articles, and speeches. I’m a quick study with broad range. However, leadership, work, creativity, spirituality, and ethics are right in my lane.
Who: Nonprofit, faith, and business leaders with progressive mindsets.
Where: Blogs, newsletters, industry publications, and speaking gigs.
When: Typically, on a 2-week turnaround.
Why: To amp up your visibility and thought leadership. (Also, to meet the deadlines that are making you sweat!)
Thank you for your help!
Treasure chest
I bet you find a gem 💎➔ 3 ways to be an informed advocate to transgender people | Juneteenth readings: the case for reparations + booklist curated by the National Museum of African American History and Culture | what’s driving progressive organizations apart and how to win by coming together | how Gen Z replaced doomscrolling with #hopecore | a different way to think about ambition | a practice for developing kindness to yourself | moneyball broke baseball | Ted Lasso, holy fool (or…is Jamie Tartt the real hero?) | exciting book news from Elizabeth Gilbert | I’ll be OOO next week; send in the goons👇🏼
Have a great weekend! I’ll see you again soon.
Jenny
P.S. This newsletter is a labor of love. To support it, please share this post, venmo me a coffee, or engage my services. You can learn more about my work at jenniferlphillips.com. Thank you!
Via friend and reader CS. Thank you!