Less than a week before I leave for my residency at Jentel Arts in Wyoming! I’m excited, tired, and somewhat unprepared, though I still have time to get all my ducks in order – and luckily, being a writer means there aren’t too many materials you need to accumulate to get your work done. (I probably won’t take most of my nicer drawing stuff, lest the pens explode on the plane, etc., etc.)

One thing I have done to prepare is begin unsubscribing from each and every political listserv that has been emailing me for the past seven months or so. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before – it’s not like I read almost any of those emails. Mostly they just show up in my inbox and raise my anxiety level, either with the topic at hand or the hysterical styling. (“DID YOU HEAR THIS?!?!? APOCALYPSE TOWN!!!! HIDE YOUR CHILDREN AND KNIVES!!”) Now, I’m systematically unsubscribing every time a new email arrives; already my inbox is quiet for longer, and I have more mental space to think, move, breathe.

There are genuinely unnerving things at work in the world, and I don’t blame anyone who wants to keep up with them. But I think I’m finally starting to get some perspective on what I cannot do, what it matters for me to know and not know in any given moment. And for the next month, all I need to know is what I’m thinking, what I’m writing, how deep I can go into my own heart.

(In other new, my agent had a baby! Hi Emma! Hi Chris! And welcome to the world, Lucy! xoxox)