I'm not fishing, I promise
the last thing I am doing is fishing, truly!!
Upcoming Astrology:
There are plenty of week ahead resources out there (the CHANI podcast is a good one), so I thought it might be more fun to read a focused interpretation of one dynamic in the sky.
Specific astro dynamics:
Mars is moving away from his tight square with Saturn. For the rest of the time that Mars is in Sagittarius (until about January 4) there’s some pressure in his relationship with Saturn (imagine a stern grandma or maybe great aunt you don’t have a great relationship with), but now Mars isn’t in Saturn’s direct line of sight. He’s hanging out in the back yard of that great aunt’s house, playing pretend until he’s allowed to go back home after the holidays. As it’s Sagittarius, maybe he can find some imaginary escape, entertain some adventure stories, and appreciate that solitude.
The other big news for the next week is that Venus is about to leave her home of Libra and enter Scorpio. There’s no other way to put it: this is not a great vibe! She’s happy in Libra, she’s supporting balance and connection and ease here. When she enters Scorpio she’s going into Mars home without even being able to get ahold of Mars to ask what the WiFi password is (remember Mars is stuck in that back yard).
The first thing to remember here is that if you have Venus things to do (like making a pick for cuffing season) you might want to try and do that before Monday night. The second is to be easy on your relationships this holiday season. Venus will be in that uncomfy spot until December 30. It might not be the best time to pick a fight about something that doesn’t matter. Save that energy for causes that can use it.
A self-indulgent ramble, ty ty ty.
We just had a Full Moon in Gemini which is in my Third House, so I’m going to ramble a little about writing and routine (both represented by the Third House and both very resonant with a Gemini Moon).
This morning, as the internal pressure to write something, get anything down and sent out, was mounting, I read an essay on Substack by Summer Brennan. Honestly, it left me wanting to skip today.
In her essay (which is worth a read) she addresses the kinds of lies and half truths that thrive in spaces like Substack that there’s a playbook or a cheat code or a simple routine you can follow that will allow your “presence” to grow on the platform. She does a good job of teasing out the impulse behind that hope to build a presence, linking it back to a thought pattern that is familiar to anyone who’s ever wanted to “be published”. The thought pattern is just that to “be published” has some intrinsic value and that it is naturally connected to some other kind of worthwhile validation. What does it mean to build a “presence” outside of follower counts and, potentially, subscriber earnings?
Brennan’s conclusion is basically to be wary of this on Substack, to remember that there’s no path to writerly “presence” without working hard on the writing part, and that whether or not you want to work toward monetizing that “presence” is both a personal choice and not something that anyone is entitled to. It’s not the natural next step to signing up for a Substack or the natural conclusion to any playbook that a Substack guru or consultant or coach can sell you. The only playbook that results in good writing is working hard on your writing. Assumed in her essay is the belief that if you’re writing and you want your writing to be read, you want it to be good.
I’m someone who can be drawn to shortcuts and always have been. As a kid one of my favorite sections of the public library was where they kept the “Writers’ Market” annually released publishing guides. I would spend hours reading through the interviews with authors who explained how they got their break (authors I had never and would never read the work of) and picking through the listings at the back of the book that explained what kinds of unsolicited manuscripts were being accepted by various imprints. This is funny because I rarely spent much time writing. Also, I was like eleven.
One part of Brennan’s essay really stuck out to me:
I recently learned that the uber-famous essayist and humorist David Sedaris does full re-write edits of all his essays at least 15 or 20 times, or something like that. He’s patient. He prints them out, waits, considers, and rewrites them, over and over. He reads his work-in-progress, or pieces of it, vignettes, out loud to his audiences and then makes notes and edits based on their reactions. He works and works and works on them. His finished essays seem so effortless, but that is because he works hard to make them seem that way.
I can feel jealous of David Sedaris’s fame, I can feel like I’ll never get to that point, but I should ask myself: am I doing 15 or 20 full rewrite drafts of my essays? Am I pushing myself to search for a universal feeling, for a moment of poignancy, and for a laugh, all in the same piece? Am I doing what he did, in my own way? No, no, and no. I am not. If I did that, and then did it for 15 years before getting published, like he did, then maybe I would find out how close to David Sedaris (or my own equivalent) that I could get.
All this to say that I have definitely not been doing my 15 or 20 full rewrite drafts (or my equivalent). The first hurdle I’ve had to jump has been consistency, which I am feeling proud of. I haven’t missed a week since September 20. That’s exciting, but I also recognize that I’ve reached one of the limits of consistency. Sure, I’m sending something every week, but am I playing with what I can achieve? Do I feel like I’m getting better? Honestly, not at the moment.
The reason I wanted to skip today is that I felt like I owed 15 or 20 rewrites to myself and anyone else who has been kind enough to devote some of the attention and time they have in life (which is famously short) to my newsletter. I also felt that was a copout and that I’m motivated enough by maintaining a consistent streak that I didn’t want to let it go. So, here’s my unasked for commitment to push myself to not just write every week but to write better every week 🫡. I won’t commit to 15 or 20 rewrites every week, but maybe at least a few.
Thanks again for reading along with me up to this point, I genuinely do not take it for granted! I hope I’m sometimes interesting, or funny, or educational, or thought provoking. If I’m never any of those things, don’t tell me until next year, I’m too fragile right now <3
Always a lot of credit goes to the people who have been my teachers, both directly and through their freely shared knowledge, and so many books.
