Marion Agnew

In an effort to increase the time I spend "being" (and okay, also increase my effectiveness at "doing" things)*, I've done some new things lately, where "lately" means "in the past six months or so." Last fall, I signed up for a yoga class ( here's a link to Mayama's blog! ). Late in the year, I started a meditation practice. (Hence the " so/hum "--one of the ways I focus when I meditate.) "Meditation practice" is an awfully fancy-sounding descriptor for sitting cross-legged on the floor trying to not look at the clock, but it's actually accurate. I'm practicing . And there is no performance; no future time at which I'll be capital-M Meditating. This time, this session of practice is all there is.  Same with the yoga class--it's a dedicated space at which I do what my body can do right there, in that moment. I don't think about what I do today that's different from any other day.  ...

Definitely Superior, an artist-run collective based in Thunder Bay, recently launched the anthology Fuel  under its burning.books.press imprint. In it, I have a creative nonfiction piece entitled "Go to a Deaf Event." Visually, it's a poem but it's actually nonfiction. I wrote it in late 2009 and I didn't really think about it again until I saw it in the anthology. Reading it was a (gasp) pleasant surprise--I remember pushing against "creative nonfiction" forms during the writing process. And remembering a time when you were excited about learning something is almost as much fun as the learning itself. (Almost.) Here's a link to a version that retains the proper formatting of American Sign Language terms. Best of luck to DefSup and burning.books.press!