Winter, again ✨

Helping Friendly Newsletter, 01.24.25

Every other Friday, I share 5 things to consider. On the Fridays between, I mix things up. This is a Friday between.

GM! ☕️

Today’s helping friendly newsletter is dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with gratitude for Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, and in solidarity with all who struggle for peace and justice. It has been a week of freezing temps here in Virginia, and of equally chilling politics in Washington. Stay warm, y’all. Spring is coming.💗

(To see these illustrations typed, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

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ICYMI, last week I shared 5 things to consider:

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Thank you for reading! This newsletter is a labor of love. 💌 To support it, you can upgrade to a paid subscription, share this post, or engage my services. You can learn more about my work at jenniferlphillips.com.

Peace,

Jenny

P.S. Wishing you lavish tea times with your very best friends👇🏼

@healingthesource on IG.

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Winter, Again
by Jenny Phillips

This much I know: 
These grays and whites and icy blues 
will crush our brittle edges. 

It is no easy bargain
but we accept it,
for the alternative 
is only to sharpen.

In the dark cold, 
we light fires.
We still. We sleep. 

We discover dreams 
of rosebud and birdsong 
and loving our enemies
and justice rolling down like waters.. 

Thus, we quicken. Slowly—
not because we are brave, 
but simply because we must—

we unfurl limbs, reaching up and out.
Lifting faces to light most delicate, 
breathing into cycles that
silently work us to spring. 

Mycelium, microbe, 
soil and seed, 
root and detritus, 

and something in us, too, 
conspire underground, 
unrestrained, unashamed, 
to life both ancient and new

Winter, again. 
Here we are. 
Alright.

Day by day, 
we turn the wheel.
Minute by minute, 
more light