Hello friends,
I’ve uncovered a lot of ancient treasure lately.
(Perhaps that’s a bit too grand.)
I’ve been sorting through a lot of old junk.
(That’s not quite it either.)
I guess it’s best to say that I’ve been digging.
I’ve been rooting around in my personal past. I’ve gone spelunking in my archives (and my parents’ wondrous basement) and unearthed some potent portals.
This has mostly been prompted by preparing the manuscript for The Small Particulars (my upcoming poetry collection, but more on that below!), and a bit by our recent move to a new home. At New House (creatively named, I know), I have my own little studio space for the first time ever, and beginning to arrange and decorate it has brought me enormous joy. Suddenly, there is a place that I never have to tidy, a room where I can leave everything out (though, I don’t know, Alec might argue that that is most rooms in our home…), a place that I can decorate and define and delight in just absolutely for me.
It was the very first place I wanted to set up after we moved, even above our bedroom. And there was necessity too, because in the midst of moving, nothing else stopped for even a few hours. There were still overlapping rehearsals and work deadlines, and this manuscript to finish for my first ever book (!!!)—a dream about to be realized that keeps having to tap me on the shoulder to pay attention to her in the midst of it all.
So I set up the studio. Bright desk, in. Bright chair, in. Bright curtains, in. Flowers painted on the wall around the costume closet (THE COSTUME CLOSET!). A shelf that’s just for tarot decks, and a shelf that’s just for zines. A whole wall set aside for art by friends. As I set it up, I found myself coveting treats and trinkets that I hadn’t thought about in almost 25 years. Suddenly, I am at the art supply, purchasing a unicorn figurine and a folio of ocean-themed stickers. Suddenly, I am raiding my parents’ basement and my childhood closet for the collection of tiny replica shoes that belonged to my grandma, and the brass bell, and my handwritten first-grade “novels”, and my Lilliputian German-English dictionary.
Are you awash yet, in this sea of oddly-specific details? This tangled assortment? Me too! All the soil, creatively and personally, feels like it’s been tilled over the past few weeks—churned up and ready for new planting. And all these artifacts — old writings, odd trinkets — are like heirloom bulbs and seeds, potent forgotten kernels, eager to bloom.
So, something feels like it’s germinating here, in the days before my 34th birthday, in the midst of the fearful madness of all around, between the still-packed boxes. Some little, vibrant, playful, freaky part of me is creeping back out of long hibernation in the dark. And thank goodness — I need her now more than ever.
From my small and sacred self to yours,
Joellen
An Update on The Small Particulars
The Small Particulars, my first poetry collection, will be out later this fall!
This collection spans ten years of writings, all completed when I was most definitely supposed to be doing something else. Subjects range from frogs and mosses to the multiverse, and all of it is full of my love, fears and wonderings.
This week, I visited Verdant Publishing for the cover shoot. Many of the artifacts mentioned above came out to play, and Shannon and I spent an enjoyable hour arranging and re-arranging tiny treasures to be photographed.
Seeing the cover image take shape is starting to make this feel real, and I can’t wait to hold the book in my hands and share it with you.
If you’d like to be notified when it goes on sale, you can sign up to do so here.
And a few theatre performances that I’d love to share with you…
Oct 11 - Nov 8th: Dancing on the Sabbath with Shaking the Tree Theatre
Dancing on the Sabbath opens TONIGHT!
A fairy tale retelling of silent resistance and rebellion in 12 ritual dances. Based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses by The Brothers Grimm, Adapted for the stage by Shaking the Tree and directed by Samantha Van Der Merwe with Choreography by Laura Cannon.
I love the team that’s working on this play very dearly, and the process has strengthened my flexibility, my sense of play, and my quads. It’s truly full of surprises, and I hope you’ll come experience it with us!
Oct 27th: Bedrock Theatre’s Album Release Party
Bedrock is releasing an album of our original songs from our 2024 show, Sun Songs & Moon Tunes!
Working on this project has taught us so much — this really has been the year of expanding into new media — and we’re grateful to have the music recorded for posterity. So come hang with us at Leach Botanical Garden, hear the songs live AND enjoy the outstanding guest artistry of Alec Chase on piano, guitar and bass!
And I’ll leave you with a recent moment of joy…
A visit to Ona Beach, Bedrock Theatre’s adopted mile of the Oregon Coast. We’ve become volunteer CoastWatchers after our year-long audio project, CoastWatch & Listen, and it’s introduced us to a beautiful new beach.