January 2025 booklet

Here are the titles and brief descriptions from this month's booklet.

• Angering: Explores anger as a natural and necessary emotion for self-discovery and worth. Argues that acknowledging and affirming anger is healthier than suppressing it, as unprocessed anger leads to depression or violence.
• The best we can: A poetic reflection on how everyone is doing their best with what they have, even when struggling with self-judgment, doubt, or pain.
• Plain Speech: A vulnerable personal essay about fear, connection, and the desire to make a positive impact despite feeling overwhelmed by life's complexities.
• Mood #1083: A lyrical poem celebrating moments of joy, using nature imagery to convey a sense of peace and presence.
• An experience of love in the body: A poetic exploration of physical intimacy and emotional connection through bodily experience.
• Warped Verse: A short poem about vulnerability and the desire to return to a childlike state of openness.
• Allowed to Prefer: Reflects on learning to acknowledge one's preferences after childhood experiences where they were invalidated, exploring grief for what wasn't received.
• When I read Gandhi: Examines how we idolize figures like Gandhi while overlooking our own authentic paths, and questions the pressures of capitalism on personal fulfillment.
• Should be easy: Discusses the writer's difficult relationship with struggle and their tendency to avoid challenges due to fear of failure.
• On Doing: Contemplates political powerlessness and the challenge of finding meaningful action in the face of systemic problems.
• Self Harm: Explores subtle forms of self-destructive behavior and the challenge of choosing wholesome activities over numbing or stimulating ones.
• Good Grief: Examines how difficulty with intimacy and connection relates to unprocessed grief about the past.