Starmoth Press

a diary of words, paper and other ephemeral things

Tag: creative writing

  • The Tarot Diaries: Temperance

    Read the essay

  • New fiction piece is live đź’š

    I’m writing a serial fiction over on Substack. It’s called Dear Lila: Refraction Road. It’s a meditative, surreal journey through an imaginal world where I meet an…interesting group of companions. It’s weird and trippy, I would love if you checked it out! Once complete, it’s my dream to compile it, edit it and make a new collage for each segment to publish into a limited edition book 💚


    Read it here

  • Creative play session

    This is how I feel better

  • Journal Explorers Club Quest


    Go for a walk
    Find a landmark
    Draw or describe it (yes outside)
    Ask it for advice on your quest
    Write what comes to your mind first
    Repeat until you feel you have enough data

    Stay tuned

  • The body is sacred: a poem


    There may be meaning to taking quick steps; walking in circles; making loops again and again.
    Our cells beg, they want acts of devotion radical care for the complex systems which make up a body.
    Our brain may resist, asking for stimulation, crying for satisfaction.
    For so long, you caved.
    Now you see light at the end of the tunnel. You know wisdom comes from your chest…your beating heart…your pumping blood. It’s drumbeat that sounds the call of your soul; you’re never-ending vibration.

  • This project is a weekly walk with an individual tarot card. I will analyze the card. I will connect it with personal anecdotes. I will make art that represents the card. I will try to embody the spirit of the card (or allow its’ spirit to embody me). I will look at the days of that week to see how the chosen card shows up in my day to day life. It will be a practice of getting to know myself, getting reacquainted with the tarot, and coming back into my life. Tune in for status reports daily-ish, or get the full week’s work in a delivered newsletter. 

    This weeks card is strength

    This morning I pulled the tarot card strength, which is card 8 of the major arcana. At first glance, I see the figure attempt to open the lion’s mouth. This is done in a tender way, but also forceful. It makes me think of walking my dog. She is constantly trying to eat things I don’t know that she should eat. I am consistently trying to open her mouth to spit out a bug or a plant I haven’t identified, or a piece of garbage left on the street.

    Ultimately, this practice of walking our dog, who we got a year and a half ago, has been the natural force to get my feet moving and my eyes open. Admittedly, I am still on my phone more than I would like, sometimes while walking her. Even if I tuck the phone away, I still struggle when I think of walking without music or an audiobook or podcast. But, since about midsummer, this has changed.

    Walking has turned into a meditation. It’s an act of presence. I have paid more attention to my surroundings. I have paid more attention to nature. I have learned a lot about my environment. I have met more people. I have written poems. I have gotten downloads for creative project ideas. I have felt…in flow.

    This comes back to strength because it brings me back to myself. Much like the infinity symbol above the person’s head in the card, I am reminded of forever returning. The daily minutiae used to be the bane of my existence…now it is an act of worship. I still struggle to pick up a dishcloth everyday. Laundry remains in the washer too long. But I am gentler. I am a buoy that gently rocks back and forth, back and forth. I may stray from the practices that help to keep me aligned with my body, my values, my soul…but I find my way back, each time a little bit quicker.

    It also makes me think of the forever-ness of living this creative life. What does it look like to start a project, to walk away without berating yourself or feeling like a failure, only to return when the time is right? There is often artwork I share because the art of sharing is an instant gratification I LOVE. I make things, and immediately want to show them to every person I know. This includes you, dear internet friend. I want to show you too. Strength is holding some projects back, tenderly, forcefully. It is knowing that some things require incubation. Not everything must be birthed immediately.

    I am learning this in my art practice. I will often tune in with a medium, work in it, and end up unfinished and unsatisfied with the end result. BUT…but…but, when I let it simmer. When I let the magic bake into it completely and then return to it? Usually it takes new shape, and ends up as something whole. I’m thinking this is what will be required of me as I continue writing. Some things are perfect for that immediate satisfaction. There are other projects, the big, scary projects I have been avoiding because of “insert favorite excuse here” that require patience.

    I think strength and patience are perhaps sisters. Or at least cousins.

  • I finished a sweater and update on the artists way (week two)

    freehand crochet sweater done, using lots of yarn from the first fiber festival I went to earlier this year 💚 my creativity takes many forms. 🦋

    I am on week 2 of the artist’s way, where I saw more struggle and reward.

  • Writing hymns to autumn

    And looking for the signs

  • The first breaths of autumn

  • Little journal

    Here is what’s going on in my insert for everyday tiny miracles hosted by Liz Lamoreux and Kelly Barton. Originally this was my insert for noticing on my daily walks, but we know how plans for notebooks go. This is a soft space I’m feeling very happy in at the moment.