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How to Be Yourselves

These are posts from my newsletter about all the ways human beings are more than just one thing at a time. Expect partswork, reflections on news and culture, incitements to curiosity, and other Ash-type stuff.

An orange cat walks past a small translucent statue of Green Tara, the goddess of compassion.

A brief story for times when you are shattered by ongoing suffering

Many people I know are feeling overwhelmed by the intensifying harm the new American government is inflicting on people here and around the world. The vastness of the suffering, now and to come, is shattering. If you are feeling overwhelmed by it, this brief story might comfort and sustain you.

My father’s prayer beads, photographed in my garden on August 11, 2024.

Two weird tricks for getting by in overwhelming times

Well hello again! 👋 It is lovely to be back in your inbox after all these absurdly eventful months. Since unprecedented times seem likely to continue for the foreseeable future, I’d like to offer two practical ideas about how living more plurally can help us stay sane as history whirls us along.

The Joys of Being Yourselves

The Joys of Being Yourselves

My inner family and I spent last Saturday afternoon hanging out with hundreds of diverse conceptual people and their human-bodied spokesbeings. The joy I felt in that community inspired today’s newsletter: fun with grammar, including 3 easy ways you can give plural pronouns a try.

Some belated valentine ideas 💌 for our dear departed 🪦

Some belated valentine ideas 💌 for our dear departed 🪦

Imagine the late Toby Keith in heaven, singing a Bollywood song to the tune of his guitar, while my late father (grinning from ear to ear) accompanies him on the tabla. Adorable! 🥰 The week after Valentine’s Day, here are some plural ways to stay in love with our dear departed.

Two pictures from picture books in which clothing has been applied to a naked boy and goblin using clear tape.

Who’s afraid of a goblin’s butt?

If you can believe it, a tiny part of a tiny part of me actually admires Moms for Liberty for censoring naked pictures, which it finds truly terrifying. This week, some plural reflections on the grown-up effects of childhood fears.

Some new bodies to try this week

Some new bodies to try this week

I’d been feeling crappy for weeks — not sick enough to take off work, but just sick enough to work slowly and badly. Thursday I finally decided to do something about it, and what happened was a remarkable development in this Year of Living Plurally: I ended up in a new and better body.

That tinkling you hear is the sound of breaking streaks

That tinkling you hear is the sound of breaking streaks

Last week I broke a long streak of daily meditation, a small bummer that got me thinking about how and why we track our own evolution over time. This week’s theme is streaks: how they work, how to choose them, and how to diversify your timescales to understand how you are growing in more ways.