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step into my office I will NOT ask you about kidneys (at Rimforest, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CU1FiNkFPtM/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Having a body is like being at a symphony all the time. There’s so much nuance and texture. Just like … feelings!! When I remember to pay attention to it I can’t imagine needing any other entertainment for the rest of my life. I haven’t always been very kind to my body. In fact, I’ve been totally abusive at times. It really hurts to say that. I wish I could take it all back. But I have come to a much calmer place with all of it than I ever thought I would. Sometimes I feel like my whole job in the world is to smell rain and look at bees and feel funny things. (And tbh I think I’m right.) Anyway. Happy birthday to me! Nothing is real, magic is real 🪄🔐🧮🕳🔮 https://www.instagram.com/p/CUI2UmnroUE/?utm_medium=tumblr

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daily reminder nothing is real // magic is real (at Joshua Tree, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUCrv3PLi5R/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Ultimately I think we can all be forgiven for participating in AWP in the past. It’s who we are today that matters. 😶‍🌫️ For those who don’t know, AWP is (was??) an annual academic creative writing conference where as a 19-year-old I snaked older writers into buying me cosmos at the hotel bar of wherever. (Yikes yikes yikes across the board!) I went to AWP for like 10 years in a row when I worked for various presses and magazines a few it felt like the! big! show! to me. The most AWP thing that ever happened to me was when I into Dean Young at the book fair and he was like “hey Sarah,” bc he was my thesis advisor at the time … and all these people looked up at once to see who I was, since if Dean Young knew me maybe I was important!!? Oh god the fires of shame at AWP. Because I did it, too—cruising other people’s name tags before looking at their faces. I kind of love that in my sobriety community, most ppl don’t know or care who Dean Young is. They care who I am because I share all my messy days, and I listen to their messy days. Writing books isn’t the main thing they know about me … but at Iowa and in grad school in general it felt like the work was everything. Idk. Thinking about this stuff lately bc I’ve had more than one recent convo with writer friends about careers and competition and insecurity, and bc I saw this picture and thought Ha Ha it’s AWP! We don’t have to go to AWP anymore, bless 🥀🥀🥀 (at AWP Writers' Conferences & Centers) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTkuxA0rQgp/?utm_medium=tumblr

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tarot writing prompt: the Ace of Coins Coins are the realm of material: earth, money, body. Seems like the opposite of lightness, but crows can carry coins. Value isn't always heavy. Flight is a transformation. the prompt: Make a list of the last 20 things you bought. What do you have to add to make it a love poem? listen: “Sunrain,” Ashra read: _Walking On Cowrie Shells_, Nana Nkweti . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx !! 👁👁 & don't forget to save and share this post! deck: @spoliatarot bewk: @nanankweti 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 https://www.instagram.com/p/CTaefCuL0ij/?utm_medium=tumblr

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ooh hey tarot writing prompt today: Air 🌬 The most important part of the balloon. The biggest part of the room. The place where you paint anger, and what you do when you're free. the prompt: Find the air of the past by singing a song you used to love. (Best if you've forgotten it since then.) Where are you in that air? Write the poem immediately. listen: “Little Eiffel,” Pixies read: _Excavation_, Wendy C. Ortiz . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx, then pics of cats, then mystical approaches to novel writing ok!! 👁👁 & don't forget to save and share this post! . . deck: @spoliatarot read: @wendy.c.ortiz chunes: @pixiesofficial (at Joshua Tree, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CS9hIMKHN8T/?utm_medium=tumblr

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tarot writing prompt!! the Nine of Coins 🧫🧫🧫 Home is where you _almost_ go, but never get to, because you're there. The moment before completion is happiest, don't you always later realize? It feels good to reach. The moment before satisfaction is satisfaction at its happiest. writing prompt: Be alone. Be alone for a long time. Then, make a plan to not be alone with someone. Get excited about the plan, think about the person, and write a poem in the five or ten minutes before they arrive at your house or you at theis. Then sneak away into the bathroom and write another poem as soon as you've arrived. listen: "I Feel Alive," TOPS read: Agatha of Little Neon, Claire Luchette . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx !! 👁👁 & don't forget to save and share this post! deck: @spoliatarot book: @claireluchette hey bro bro congratulations!!!! 🎉🍾🎊 chunes: @tttopsss (at Nuns on the Bus) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSz_VB7L5Zg/?utm_medium=tumblr

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tarot writing prompt!! the Nine of Coins 🧫🧫🧫 Home is where you _almost_ go, but never get to, because you're there. The moment before completion is happiest, don't you always later realize? It feels good to reach. The moment before satisfaction is satisfaction at its happiest. writing prompt: Be alone. Be alone for a long time. Then, make a plan to not be alone with someone. Get excited about the plan, think about the person, and write a poem in the five or ten minutes before they arrive at your house or you at theis. Then sneak away into the bathroom and write another poem as soon as you've arrived. listen: "I Feel Alive," TOPS read: Agatha of Little Neon, Claire Luchette . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx !! 👁👁 & don't forget to save and share this post! deck: @spoliatarot book: @claireluchette hey bro bro congratulations!!!! 🎉🍾🎊 chunes: @tttopsss (at Nuns on the Bus) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSz_VB7L5Zg/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Admin reveal!! Did you know that I’m amazing at LA cosplay? Throw a fake Balenciaga hat on top of this outfit and I’m ready to go buy 50 beige t-shirts + an adaptogen latte. Jk but not really? One thing about growing up in ruralia is that you can get this sense that everything real happens somewhere else—and by real I mean art and music, I guess, but maybe also politics, decisions, whatever culture is. Maybe that feels different for people growing up now because you can discover a random SoundCloud genius Tumblr savant anywhere or be a tumblr savant anywhere for that matter. But growing up as part of the Spice Girls generation, you had to know someone to find out about indie bands. You could hear a song you loved on the college radio station, but if you missed the name of the band, you would never be able to find it again. (Which happened to me with “Harnessed in Slums” by Archers of Loaf until I heard it again in @oldenharangue ‘s truck like a decade later.) And I think about this a lot when I’m traveling, especially to cities, because I pack like I’m auditioning for the role of being From There, of being Real. On some level I think that’s kind of fun, but I’m also realizing that a lot of anxiety and sadness comes from the idea that there’s a place where things happen and I’ll never get there in time. So I’m curious, if you also grew up in ruralia, did you feel this way? Does it come from growing up in an era where you needed college radio or someone’s cool older sibling to tell you about Pavement and Fugazi? Does it feel the same way if you grow up in Teaneck NJ where you practically see the skyscrapers? Or is it just teenager shit that never stops? (at The LINE Hotel Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZlfmOLXOd/?utm_medium=tumblr

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new tarot writing prompt! the Knight of Wands 🤲🏻 Fire is the opposite of a heart: Give it more air, and it lives. But your blood has to live in a wet tube forever, or else. (Yes, I just called you a wet tube! Get over it.) Being hospitable requires different things of different people. Passing smoke between each other, leaving doors open. the prompt: If you're jealous of a person, make a fire and be jealous of that instead. The poem is the three-chord song you sing. listen: “Night of Joy,” the Breeders read: _How To Wash a Heart_, Bhanu Kapil . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx !! 👁👁 . . . book Rx: #bhanukapil chunes Rx: @thebreeders (at 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 touching) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSJxWfarg5v/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Tarot writing prompt for the summer solstice: the Sun 🌝 How is it possible to walk beneath something so round? So hot enough to kill you 100% of the time? So golden and occasionally hidden by clouds, and sometimes red? There is no life without radiance, and no life without a night apart from radiance. the prompt: write a poem about the things that are always true, even when they’re surrounded by clouds listen: “La-La Means I Love You,” the Delfonics read: “[who am I talking to],” Alejandra Smits . . . . follow me @braindoggies for tarot writing prompts + music and poetry Rx !! 👁👁 . . . deck: @spoliatarot chune: @delfonics_official poem: @alejandrasmits (at Surface of the Sun) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQdztqoj0TE/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Happy Father’s Day to the best cat dad in the game, @kirkiture ❤️😽❤️ He will do anything for these lil bebs—seeing the way he takes care of our animal posse has made me a better human. I’ll let the pics say the rest … https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWRVvsjhAN/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Vacation is what we do _after_ vacation 😹 Big Bear was fun for seeing the real-life backdrop for the infamous Jax is Drowning episode of Vanderpump Rules but the real attraction yesterday was the San Bernardino National Forest for sure. (at San Bernardino National Forest) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQQw5rrMD30/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Here’s something I do when I’m feeling 〰️weird〰️ I make a list of the things I think are true in the moment. These frequently suck/are cruel, but it’s important to write them down literally exactly as they sound in my head. Some examples of recent mean thoughts: ➿I always do things the wrong way ➿ ✖️I’m too sensitive, insecure, and volatile to have good relationships ✖️ ➰I’m cold and friendless➰ ♾If I succeed I’ll be shunned♾ 〰️My mentor is mad at me〰️ There’s a lot of “always” and “never” in these thoughts. They’re extreme! But I write them down word for word without editing. I think it actually really helps, just that part of it, because it’s a way of surrendering to the thought rather than fighting it. By which I mean that everyone knows you “aren’t supposed to” think mean things about yourself … but that just leads to thinking “fuck, I’m thinking mean thoughts, I have to stop, this is bad.” And trying not to think a thought is just an invitation to loop it. But when you write it down, it stops shapeshifting. You’ve captured it, like a cockroach under a glass. Now you can look at it. And the next step is to look at the thought and write down its exact opposite. Again, it’s important to be literal and exact with your words. This might look like: 〰️my mentor accepts me〰️ ♾I’m warm and have a lot of friends♾ etc. And then you look at the new list and ask, “Is there any evidence that this is true?” Let me tell you: There is always evidence that the opposite is true. Always. In fact, it’s often funny how literally true the exact opposite of a shitty thought can be. Calling it “anxiety” makes it seem like this floating cloud that has agency to attack me or stick with me. But in my experience, these are often just shitty thoughts, and once I write them down and inquire as to their validity, I can see that they aren’t inevitable facts—they’re untrue. Tbh it has never worked for me to “just stop thinking X” or “stop being nervous.” I have to replace a shitty thought with a different one, and I need to bring evidence. But the amazing thing is that when you ask your brain a question, it will give you an answer no matter what. 〰️➰➿ (at 𝐴𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJaoEssNSe/?utm_medium=tumblr

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I love it when an image from real life shows up in a tarot spread—swipe to see the real-life image from our Sunday night power outage. 🕯🕯 #tarot #tarotreading #nineofwands #knightofpentacles #smallspellstarot #cafetarot #coffeeshoptarot #matcha #tarotcommunity (at Mediterra Cafe) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJKnAQsWUe/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Hey hey hellew! In case you didn’t know, I do a monthly tarot advice column for Catapult, appropriately called _Dear Braindoggies_ 🧠🐶 … and in this month’s installment, the fantastic question: How do I allow myself to write from a more personal, messy place when all of my mentors told me that memoir was taboo? (Paraphrased; the actual Q is much more graceful!) 🦢🦢✨🪐 You know how they say your calling is the thing you’d happily do for free for the rest of your life? Well, my calling is apparently writing obtuse poems about throwing flowers off the Roberto Clemente Bridge/novels in which mountains talk … and _also_ staring at beautiful renderings of archetypes in the service of telling writers, fuck everyone, do what you want. 🔗in the usual place … and send me your questions! Always anon, always a gift to others wondering the same thing ❤️‍🩹 . . . . Fabulous illustration by @elizaeharris 😻 (at TAROT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtRRJJDSlZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Writer’s cat job description pt. II: ✔️obstruct typing capacity to encourage better self-editing ✔️ bolster computational efficiency by absorbing laptop heat ✔️ bask in Caravaggio light ✔️ sweetly insist that presence accomplishes more than hustle ✔️ silent judgment of my enemies ✔️ thousand-yard stare when asked if you are a handsome man Hexie is definitely a quick study, but Falcor is the best in the business and a real pro. 💻🐯💼 (at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPjiepWjem2/?utm_medium=tumblr