Writers are always talking (read complaining) about how to make money and still have some energy left for writing, family, friends, etc. I’ve been thinking on this for a long time now, but River’s arrival last summer put a new pressure on me to figure out what I’m actually going to do.

Last fall I was in the thick of job applications with nothing panning out. I was lucky to have a fellowship to help me through the rest of the MFA and I requested a forward of half of my small grant from last year. Just as that money about ran out, I received an email from the lovely and ever talented Rebecca Hoogs of Seattle Arts & Lectures, asking if I would be interested in a residency at Children’s Hospital (I wrote about that experience here and here and here). The week that residency ended I began my second annual stint as an associate editor for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Quick, busy and good. The week that position wrapped up Rebecca Hoogs surprised me again with another email out of the blue offering me a new residency at TOPS, an alternative public school in Seattle. So, for the rest of the spring I’ll be teaching poetry to 8th graders once or twice a week.

I know it doesn’t always happen like this, but somehow it feels as though the world has conspired to make life possible for us in our new role as parents. Of course, the work is hard—very hard—most of the time, but it is good work. It’s the kind of work that asks me to grow and engage with things I care about—poetry and people. So, even when I’m not making a living off of poetry alone, I’ve been surprised to find work that encourages the time required to write (i.e. chase poems from the shadows).

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In other news, I was recently invited to Ink Node, an online journal with a unique attitude toward publishing. The journal is “virally edited” as the founders of the mag put it, meaning that one must being invited to publish, but with that invitation comes the chance for the author to invite five new authors on board. It is this last piece that has me most excited. I’ve been able to connect with a number of wonderful writers online and these invitations have allowed me to engage in that community to an even greater degree.

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I’m so glad to have Elle and River back from Arizona. Life just doesn’t work so well when they are gone. With that said, my to-do list is growing out of control and I need to get serious and go in with the mind of a machete. Which reminds me of the time I carved a bowl from a log in the back country of northern Saskatchewan during a 33-day canoeing expedition mainly using a machete. So much can be learned from the pleasure and focus of a day spent sculpting something smaller and more precise from something larger. I need to be reminded of that simple approach more often. Onward.