How (and why) tea helps me write
Plus, upcoming events especially for moms.
Hello friends,
It’s been nearly a year since I opened “Bevy North” in Manistique, and just over two months for “Bevy South” in St. Joseph, and so far, I absolutely love retail work. Every time I step into my serene, soothing location inside Yoga Life in St. Joseph, or the light-filled, bustling space in The Mill in Manistique, I find myself grateful for the opportunity to interact face-to-face with other human beings over tea. The small moments of connection and conversation figuratively fill my cup while I’m literally filling yours. Thank you for the opportunity!
This kind of work is quite a departure from my “day job.” For over twenty years I’ve made my living as a writer, and I host a long-running podcast as well. Writing and podcasting is creative and satisfying, but also solitary and often frustrating. The words don’t always come the way I want them to, and spending long hours on the computer can be isolating and oddly dissociating (not to mention, hard on the neck and shoulders.) The only way I’ve found to make solitary, creative, “in my head” work sustainable is to intersperse it with plenty of tactile, embodied experiences both that ground me in what’s real and present and also inspire my writing.
For the past year+ I’ve been head down in a major project - my new book, The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read: How We Let Our Kids Go And Embrace What’s Next. The book looks back at my 27 years as a mother, and forward to the period I’m entering now as my kids leave home and space opens up for new adventures. It encourages other moms in a similar stage of parenting to grapple honestly with emotions like relief, regret, sadness and excitement, and turn some of the nurturing energy they’ve been investing in their kids back toward themselves.
While the book only took seven months or so to come together once I actually started putting words on the page, I’ve been living this book for over two-and-a-half decades… and taming the many ideas that came out of my long experience of motherhood was no easy task.
As I wrestled with the words, a cup of tea was my constant companion. And now that I’m entering the hectic book launch stage, I’m relying more than ever on these small oases of calm I’m able to create, one cup at a time, with the magic of tea.
Whatever challenges you’re dealing with this week, I recommend taking a few minutes to savor the whole experience of tea, from steep to sip.
My book launches on Tuesday, May 6 - that’s this week! - and I’m hoping to get the chance to celebrate with many of you.
Here are the events I have coming up in southwest Michigan and Manistique over the next couple of weeks, including a very special yoga, meditation, and journaling event just for moms this Friday evening:
On Thursday and Friday, from 10-1, you can come buy a signed copy of The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read while doing your last-minute Mother’s Day shopping at Bevy Tea inside Yoga Life! (I’ll be closed Saturday this week, so this is your last chance to pick up unique Mother’s Day gifts like tea, teaware, journals, jewelry, and much more.)
Thursday evening I'll be signing & selling books at St. Joe Wine Shoppe inside The Market from 5-7 PM, and you'll also be able to partake in FREE wine samples...so I'm calling this one a "Signing and Wine-ing".
On Friday, May 9, join me and Lisa Segar of Soul Deep Yoga Therapy for Nurture and Restore: A Mother’s Day Reset for Moms. You'll experience an incredible Restorative Yoga class with Lisa (picture an ultra-nurturing and soft style of yoga that's all about rest and tuning in; I call it a "yoga nap") with a meditation afterward, focused on life transitions and making space for new beginnings. Then I'll lead a journaling workshop with a focus on setting intentions for summer. After that, we'll head downstairs to Bevy where you can enjoy a cup of calming tea while shopping a selection of art supplies, tea and teaware, journals, books and other goodies with the $20 gift certificate that comes included in your registration. At the end of the night you'll head home with a gift bag including some supplies to help you create a restful and restorative journaling and yoga practice at home. I'll also be signing copies of my book. Head to yogalifemichigan.com/events and scroll down to May 9 to find Nurture & Restore: A Mother's Day Reset for Moms. Use code MOMSRULE to get $15 off your registration!
On Sunday, May 11, I'll be heading to the U.P. for Mother's Day at The Mill, an all-day event just for moms. You’ll enjoy special discounts, giveaways, and other treats (like free chair massages!). I'll be speaking at 2 PM and signing books all day, 10-3. And the tea will be free all day.
On Saturday, May 17, I'm back to downtown St. Joe for a signing at Forever Books from 1-3.
And, on Sunday, May 18, join me at Flourish Books & Plants from 2-4 where I’ll read from my book and sign copies while we all drink tea together.
Any questions about the above events? Just hit “reply” to this email and ask away. And I’d also love to know: if you’re a writer/journal-keeper/artist, would you be interested in a tea + creativity group to meet up with at Bevy? If there’s interest, I’m thinking of putting a group together.
That’s all for this week, friends. Will I see you this week? I hope so!