autumnal vertigo::
on memory, nextness, & the desire to fall
Hello Dear Ones:
How was the end of summer for you? For me, it felt like a convergence of cosmic happenings & overindulgence: international travel laden with family time, pasta, wine, poetry, wine, sculpture, food, food poisoning, paintings, painful realizations, more food, internal feuds, sandal shopping, sunning, sleeping, seeing, bleeding, grieving heart, hand, foot, mouth, runny nose, baby diarrhea, pickup soccer, gelato, roses, rainbow cake and death.
What I mean is, while overseas, in the span of one week, I was blessed with a new sister-in-law (to be), inherited a sudden (feline) daughter, and suffered the loss of my paternal grandfather, Richard.
“No one remembers everything about someone,” (Hannah Sullivan, 3 poems)—
but I want to remember as much as I can about my grandfather. We were close. I want to hold as many molecules of his dissipating essence as I might manage to catch & cling onto. And yet, how do we hold the memory of a wink, or the imprint of a specific resonance of a voice you can no longer call on the phone & hear the echo of an answer through your bones. Death takes Time to get used to. Time has this way of eroding all it touches. We know this. And yet. And yet, I want to believe what they always say, how Love is somehow the exception.
After August’s layer cake of emotion, my Virgo moon has been reveling in the austerity of September. In being home. In being back to the school of the Self. Relaxing into the pleasures of discipline + routine. I love it here. Always have. On this autumnal equinox I am spinning in the harvest; drinking my most beloved homemade-earlgrey-londonfog-oatmilk-tea-latte (chef’s kiss), while the baby naps, and the shades are drawn, and only one lamp is lit. I am thinking of Milan Kundera’s definition of Vertigo, as “something other than the fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall.”
Where do fear & desire get crossed within you, dear one? I am ever feeling seduced by the essence of a nextness. In other words,
I am here for the fall.
Autumn Updates:
📕🚨 BOOK NEWS:: My second poetry collection, [a go] will be available for preorder through Ornithopter Press early October. Here’s a peak at the cover:
++ Stay tuned for an invitation to a Book Launch Party.
++ Still looking for willing book reviewers~~reach out!
🗣🎙 INTERVIEW:: I answered 20 questions a while back about poetry + the imagination. It’s up now on rob mclennan’s blog, you can read it here.
🧘♀️🦇 OCTOBER:: Prenatal Yoga Group
***I am NOT pregnant, and I am surely not 9 months pregnant*** contrary to what may have been expressed via a confusing instagram post (facepalm), BUT I am excited to be offering another Prenatal Yoga Group this October.
🗯Fridays, 3-4 pm, mountain time
🗯yoga • breathing • journaling • gathering
🗯intimate, virtual group
🗯all sessions recorded + yours to keep
🗯open to any body at any stage of the pregnancy journey—(including those wanting to ready the self for pregnancy)
»»Sign up here or reach out for more info + do share the invitation with friends! ««
Prenatal Testimonials::
“Gabby is a phenomenal yoga teacher - both for prenatal classes and for regular yoga classes. She has a way of making the people around her relax just by the sound of her voice and her meditative prompts, which has been incredibly important for my daily life. The prenatal classes have been particularly impactful for me because pregnancy is a time of great stress and transition. As a mom herself, Gabby is able to share the poses that helped her most in preparing for labor and in giving birth. She also shares a different breathing exercise each class that can be used during labor. Gabby also designs her classes around the pains/discomfort/worries of her students, and is available for us to reach out and discuss our physical or mental concerns with her. I highly recommend her classes if you are pregnant, preparing to get pregnant, or have no intention of getting pregnant at all. Thanks for all you do, Gabby!” -NC
“My yoga sessions with Gabby were such a life saver during my second pregnancy. She did an incredible job of tailoring a practice to meet my specific needs. She not only helped with my pain, teaching me poses that stretched into places I had no idea I could stretch on my own, but also created moments of comfort that I could relax into. Pregnancy was extremely uncomfortable for me all the way through, and chasing a toddler around all day while pregnant put a huge strain on not only my body, but also my mental and emotional health. My yoga time with Gabby felt like a touchstone that I could come back to every week, to remind my body and mind that I was held and that I could care for myself. I was able to take the poses into my day when I was hurting or feeling overwhelmed and come back to myself and my growing baby. I cannot recommend Gabby’s pre-natal yoga enough, she is incredibly intuitive, thoughtful, gentle, and knowledgeable. Any time you are able to spend practicing with her will be an incredible gift to your pregnancy journey.” —JA
It’s already almost October. I’ll write to you from there.
With love & vertiginous blessings,
Gabby
Heavenly words ☁️