PLACENTA, NAMES, AND THERAPY-VERSARIES

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Not-a-lot-a: I read approximately zero pages of a book last week, which is strange and rare for me. But I talked about books non-stop. About the one I'm reading (In Ascension) about the one I've published (You're Not Lost) about the one I've written (That Novel...more info soon!!) About the one I always recommend to memoirist hopefuls (Blue Print for a Memoir by Jennie Nash). About the best book for finding your creative life force (The Artists's Way)! Books are so much more than books to me, they're catalysts for great conversation and connection.

What I'm writing: I've been working on character sketches for That Second Novel which is so fun! In these sketches, I decide every detail about a character's life leading up to the moment they walk onto my pages: what are they scared of, what do they believe, what do they look like, how will they arc, what do they represent, what formed them and why, and...what the hell should I name them!?!?

Right now, other than my main character, I've got no names and only placeholders: “the Brother”, “the Rivaling Witch”, “the eager mentee” “the journalist” and “the judge”. One of two things will happen next: the name will either come to me as I document their backstory (characters have a way of communicating their name in the process of writing). OR, I'll be combing through census data to see what names were popular in the year they were born. Is this basically the same or entirely different than your process for choosing a child's name?

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon:

In the LEAST surprising findings to ever hit the newsstands: PLACENTA HAS RIDICULOUS HEALING POWERS. It can heal burns. It can heal wounds. And yet we throw it out...WHY? why?????? Someone answer for my rage!!!!

Ok, I will (LOL).

Because it's a reflection of the systemic devaluing of women's natural power, including childbirth – dismissing our natural reproduction experiences as messy or taboo. Instead of celebrating and researching the potential of the placenta's regenerative abilities, we put it in the trash. The actual trash. But what dampens the explosive nature of my rage ever so slightly is that this is changing, as detailed in the NYT. “Her face was unrecognizable after an explosion. A Placenta restored it.” I have hope that this is a signal of a bigger shift in connecting our medical and scientific practices with the full potential of the female body.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

A year ago today I started a practice that has changed me from the inside out: somatic therapy.

A year and one month ago I didn't think I needed a therapist (LOL). Today, I wouldn't have the capacity I have without it.

I had tried talk therapy in the past and it never clicked for me. I can talk myself into any realization, but it wasn't changing the way I felt, the way I showed up in the world.

Well, upon feeling really spiral-y this time last year, I called up the somatic therapist a few of my international gal pals had recommended: “She is French. She is the real deal. And she doesn't mess around. You'll know when you're ready.”

Well, I was ready, but I didn't know what it'd require of me (honestly, for the best). I also couldn't have possibly imagined the outcomes. My sense of location has moved from the outside, in, allowing me to walk away from things that would have sucked me in. To say what I need to say, immediately, instinctively, and without strategizing. What I know in my head I can actually feel in my body, and act accordingly. The delta between what I know I should do (or want to do) and what I actually do has shrunk. There's less over-analyzing, less overthinking, more spiritual peace.

I've changed my internal reality which has changed how I see and relate to what's around me. Nothing has gone untouched because of this practice: partnership, writing, leadership, communication, sex, health, friendships, creativity, and power. So, happy therpy-versary to me. And follow the amazing Céline if you need a reminder of your own innate power. It's there, always accessible and always yours.

Woman on xx