What to Do With Joy?

Spread that shit everywhere!

Everything sucks.

Well, almost everything.

The world is literally on fire, BUT I HAVE HAPPY NEWS!

I have put off writing this post, becasue last week, when I received the email with what I have been eagerly waiting for to share, the awful reality of the beautiful Bibas children and their mother’s deaths as well as all the fear and upset permeating our society, was just too much.

However, I am comforted and encouraged by the “And yet” of posts like this:

“In today’s world, the cacophony of all that is broken rings so loudly, it drowns out everything else. And yet, there still is everything else. We still hear the cry of a newborn, laughter between friends.”*

And so, in the spirit of “everything else” and laughter between friends, I’m joyful to finally share the just-revealed cover of my forthcoming memoir, Body: My Life in Parts with you!

I wanted RED and I got RED, inspired as I was by a piece of art I shared here last fall, in my first Substack post. A glorious painting that had taken my breath away and made me weep when I discovered it at a museum in Southern France last summer.

Now, dear reader, the launch date of my book—an originally structured memoir where each chapter is named for a body part that I use as a portal for accessing memory and story, is May 27. And you can help me, if you are intrigued by the fact that “The Body Keeps the Score” as Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk has written his NYTimes bestseller about (245 weeks and still going strong), which is also a concept and writerly practice I embrace in this book.

What can YOU do to make a difference in this first-time memoir-author’s book launch journey? First, you can share this post, wink wink!

Then, if you’re really into good deeds and karma, you can pre-order the book HERE! (in this link you will also find out WHY this is so incredibly helpful and powerful).

And with that, I humbly bid you adieu until next week. And thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support, your cheerleading, and for checking in.

With joy and gratitude~

Nina

* Quote is from the Fairmount Temple website, in Beachwood, OH.