Emotional regulation and reconnection to purpose for overachievers—through music, embodiment, and the courage to feel. Essays + cello improvisations on Substack for sensitive, driven souls ready to heal.
Reconnecting in a Disconnected World (free post)
An essay on burnout, environmental grief, and the earth in us.
This is what makes me so sad: the way we treat our bodies is exactly parallel to the way we treat the planet. The way we treat the planet determines our collective health as a species. No other life forms in nature attempt to produce 24/7 or destroy their own habitat. In fact, it’s a symptom of our neurosis that we talk about nature as if it were something separate from ourselves, as if these bodies had not been given to us as miraculous gifts that were billions of years in the making. The only way we can force our bodies and our natural surroundings into such dire circumstances is by profoundly disconnecting from both.
License to Play (paid post)
Rebellion against productivity and why creativity is not a luxury
“People tend to forget that play is serious.” ~ David Hockney
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I agree with David Hockney 100% that play is serious. Watch children playing a game and try to break the rules they have established—fur will fly. Play is the way we learn; we know this from child development studies. But I don’t want to have to argue the scientific angle with this part of myself that stands guard at the practice room door. Play is my god-given right, dammit, and Elena becomes a very dull girl without it.