๐ April Last Quarter Links
โI donโt live to drain, I drain to live.โ โ Colin Robinson, Energy Vampire ๐
Registration is open for Let It All Out! Cultivating Mourning Practices for Grief Release, a 3โweek course exploring embodied and expressive practices for processing loss. Tuesdays 4/30, 5/7, 5/14 :: 6โ8pm EST :: SPACE IS LIMITED. Registration and more info here.
On April 8, registration will open for Make Sacred Space: Enchanting Time for Meditation โข Intuition โข Creativity, four Sundays of soulful time for creation and contemplation. Sundays in May, 7โ8:15 pm ET. See more info below.
Hi friends
Happy April Foolโs! Weโve officially entered the second quarter of the year, the world is still on fire, and the magnolia tree across the street is in full-bloom glory.
Are you doing anything for the solar eclipse?
Later this week, I leave for California where my gay-husband Aaron and I will travel to a Dark Sky Place for a new moon weekend of stargazing, trying to catch a glimpse of the Pons-Brooks Comet (and not looking at the eclipse). A friend recently described me as having my feet firmly on the Earth, eyes to the cosmos. I felt very seen. #ancestorstoelements ๐๐ง๐พโโ๏ธ๐คฉ
About that quote aboveโฆ Who else got into What We Do In the Shadows? I only watched the first couple of seasons, but love this quirky show about a trio of millennia-old vampires (long live Nadja!) who reside in Staten Island and continually fail to understand modernity. The three of them are classic blood suckers, but they have a tenant in the basement. Colin Robinson appears to be a nerdy-white-guy, middle-aged office worker. He is in fact a special species of spirit known as an energy vampire. Itโs one of the running gags of the show that Colin Robinson (always referred to by his full name) seems simply to exhibit the annoying yet common characteristics of those human beings who never know when to shut up, constantly cornering you with their boring stories and tedious anecdotes. However, without your conscious understanding, Colin Robinson is in fact feeding on you โ sucking out your life force with every contact. Thatโs the only way he survives.
Last week, I decided to watch a movie. Iโd been longing to see it for a while. I set up the projector. Set out tea. Settled into the sofa. I was enjoying myself. Half way through, I distractedly reached for my phone. For. no. good. reason. Then, I remembered a friend mentioning having the same realization a week before.
I own the (soon to be discontinued) SE iPhone on purpose โ itโs smaller screen entices less. I keep it on Focus mode most of the day so itโs not constantly lighting up. Iโm not on social media (except for following a few astrology accounts on Twitter/X). Iโve removed news apps. Thereโs no real need for me to grab my phone while watching a movie, unless I am awaiting or sending a messageโฆ
Is Colin Robinson a metaphor for how our gadgets and apps steadily feed on our awareness and consciousness? They donโt live to drain, they drain to live.
My free will is the sunlight.โ๏ธ [Also, maybe sunlight is the sunlight. ๐ค]
April Last Quarter links are below. Enjoy!
With love,
Sebene
P.S. A reminder Iโll be on silent retreat April 14โ21, so the First Quarter Chat will be on 4/13. [Not that anyone but me is paying attention to the quarter moons LOLโฆ Anyone?]
LET IT ALL OUT!
CULTIVATING MOURNING PRACTICES FOR GRIEF RELEASE
Tuesdays, April 30, May 7 & 14 :: 6โ8pm EST
Grief and mourning are often incorrectly considered synonymous. But grief is what we feel when confronted with loss. Mourning is how we process those feelings. Every traditional culture honors grief as a threshold, not an indefinite state. Over these 3 weeks, we will explore both current and traditional relationships to grief & mourning and cultivate embodied and expressive practices for processing loss.
SPACE IS LIMITED. SLIDING SCALE AVAILABLE.
I now cap the size of my three and four-week courses to 30 people max. I have set a sliding scale so those who are able to pay more can help balance the lower end. See here for payment options and to learn more about the course.
SESSIONS WILL BE RECORDED FOR THOSE WHO REGISTER. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE SMALL COURSE SIZE, LIVE ATTENDANCE IS PREFERRED.
There are a few pay-what-you-can scholarships spots available. Please email connect@sebeneselassie.com โ first come basis.
Make Sacred Space: Enchanting Time for Meditation โข Intuition โข Creation
A Soulful Start to Your Week * 30 minutes of guided meditation * 10 minutes of journaling prompts * 30 minutes of open space for dreaming & doing :: Four Sundays in May, 7โ8:15 pm EST
Registration Opens April 8
๐ Last Quarter List ๐
โWhen I look at my life, searching it for a blueprint that aided me in the process of decolonization, of personal and political self-recovery, I know that it was learning the truth about how systems of domination operate that helped, learning to look both inward and outward with a critical eye. Awareness is central to the process of love as the practice of freedom.โ โ bell hooks, โLove as the Practice of Freedomโ
So far, Iโve only listened to the first episode of this four-part series exploring the Palestinian struggle through musicโฆ just beautiful. I look forward to the next three.
I have incredible gratitude for all the organizers of Moving Toward Liberation โ the first offering (which just finished yesterday) of the newly formed Off the Dance Floor. Being a student for these 8 weeks to an incredible roster of dancers, artists, activists and healers has been tenderizing and transformative. Special shout-out to Omar Aena for shepherding all of us with such graceful power, and to Valerie Chafograck for holding us down with Black excellence (and daily liberation-memes). The next course will center Africa! โค๏ธ๐ค๐
Iโm grateful for my friends who are big readers and love when, in our catch-up conversations, we get to that point for sharing about what we are currently or just finished reading. Thatโs how I find many books. I agree with this article that For Book Recommendations, People Are Always Better Than Algorithms. Iโm curious about this take on algorithms flattening culture.
I just finished my friend Griffin Hansburyโs novel, Some Strange Music Draws Me In, a gorgeously written trans coming of age story set in a working class town in Massachusetts. Through chapters that alternate between 1984 and 2019, we witness the tender story of a young personโs burgeoning understanding of themselves (without mirrors or language for who they truly are) and their adult selfโs recollection of that emergence. I was struck by the many insights around transmasculine subjectivity โ things I had never considered so deeply. Another reminder that we learn so much from each othersโ stories.
Iโm currently reading the wondrous Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley. Her articulation of grief and its discombobulating power is both heartbreaking and funny in its rawness and wit.
Most Americans have no idea just how popular country music is around the world. Every immigrant I know has at least one relative who sings it non stop (some of you are that relative โ Iโm looking at you La and Yong ๐). All that to say, I dig the new album. Also, fellow immigrants: Whatโs your uncleโs favorite country song, and why is it Kenny Rogersโ The Gambler?
My auntie Salem took me to the opening of Sonya Clarkโs new show at the Museum of Arts and Design. Iโve actually met Sonya and had seen a piece owned by friends (and proceeded to run into numerous mutuals that night). But this was my first time really seeing her work. I was blown away by its depth and power. If youโre in the city, do not miss this! On until September 22.
Not that major museums need me to market them, but if you too started to give up on the Whitney Biennials and were also surprised at how good the 2022 one was but were, like me, still dubiousโฆ imho this yearโs biennial is another winner. I will likely go back to revisit Eamon Ore-Gironโs powerful paintings, to watch the moving (one of them, literally) outdoor sculptures of Kiyan Williams, and to stay for the entirety of Isaac Julienโs magnificent video installation
Oh Mary! is way over-the-top, non-stop ridiculousness and truly one of the funniest things Iโve ever seen in my life.
โI just want us all to write poems and save the planet.โโ Ada Limรณn
If youโd like to practice with me in person:
Iโll be back at Omega Institute three times in 2024! In May, with my friends Jeff & Dan for Meditation Party. In June for The Greatest Love of All with Dawn, Kate and La. And in October for an encore with Dan & Jeff. Scholarships are available for all three programs.
I still can't believe that someone invented eclipse glasses. This wasn't even a consideration decades ago. What a remarkable time we live in!
I am now legitimately considering changing my phone, laptop, and iPad background to a picture of Colin Robinson to remind me of this... With zero shade towards the actor, I do believe an image of his character would totally deflate the allure of these devices and make me less likely to open them up amongst people (lest they start asking questions...). I named my cat Nadja so the WWDITS fandom runs deep in this household.