A Few Things to Keep From Freaking Out

The latest issue of Little Thoughts Press, my magazine for children, is now available to order! This is a really special one for me because it’s the 10th issue I’ve published, which feels like a mighty big milestone. I also really love the theme: An Ekphrasis Adventure. For this issue, we first accepted submissions for artwork, chose 10 illustrations from a combination of adult and youth artists, and then accepted written submissions that were inspired by those works of art. It was so fun to see the kinds of stories and poems these illustrations sparked and I’m so proud of how the issue came together. I think it’s wonderful and that you will love it and that your kids will love it and you should totally order a copy!

We are also open for submissions for our next issue, Stirring Words. You can check out the theme description and submit your work here. We accept submissions from writers and artists of all ages, so if you’ve got kids at home who could use a creative project, be sure to check it out!

And just two more little thoughts about Little Thoughts: we offer annual subscriptions through our ko-fi memberships, and this year and moving forward, we’ll be donating a portion of all sales to individual teachers and elementary school classrooms that could use a little help funding class projects, supplies, books, really whatever is needed. If you are a teacher or want to recommend a teacher to add to our list for donations, you can do so by filling out this form.

Thanks as always for reading and for all your support!

It is raining* and the world is falling apart. My mother is taking a break from the news this week, which is a good mental health decision, but it means I have to stop myself from constantly sending her links to news articles with “UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH” as my only comment.

*I actually really quite like a nice soaking spring rain, but we’ve had a few recently and the temperature this week dropped down into perfect after having been too hot and I really would love a few more days of beautiful blue skies and lovely breeze before we enter the long stretch of sweaty chests and sticky neck hair that is summertime around these parts.

Summer is coming, which means there are ten thousand events at my son’s elementary school in the next two weeks, and the mounting anxiety of what am I going to do with these kids all day for three months, and an intensifying rage with every new mosquito sighting. But also tomatoes and corn are coming, and I’m going to eat so many salads, and the trees my husband expertly planted in our yard have grown enough to begin shading our patio couch throughout the whole day, and we have a couple of those ice cube holders that make huge ice cubes and I’m going to drink so many glasses of sparkling water with giant ice cubes while I eat my salads and sit in the shade and watch my dahlias bloom.

Summer is not my season and this government is not my government, and the world is full of so many heartaches and disappointments right now, but also so many small pleasures and people doing good work and making beautiful art, and taking care of each other. And so I soldier on, letting the spring rain collect on patio furniture and tiny hollows where mosquitoes will breed more babies that will soon torment me, but also letting it soak deep into the dirt so that my flowers and trees will drink up and continue to offer me their delights.

I hope summer brings you at least a little of what you need. And if you could use a bit of a boost right now, here are a few things that I have enjoyed recently.

• The show Dying for Sex. You gotta go in knowing that at some point, you’re going to sob (Jenny Slate’s character screaming forgiveness at a man she hates was my first breaking point) but my gosh this show is so funny and wonderful and empowering. I’m loving it.

• ‘Tis the season of a bunch of vegetables and legumes in a bowl. There’s nothing better than this. Toss in a sliced up hard boiled egg if you’re into eggs and can afford them again. Throw in some rice or a grain if you’re into that kind of thing. Drizzle a little sesame oil and sriracha over the top, mix it all together and go to town. The best thing about summer is how easy it is to eat something that’s immensely satisfying.

• The book The Frozen River. A badass midwife pissing off powerful men? Yes please. This would be an especially good read during a hot summer because it is set during a freezing winter in Maine, so you can tame your sun stroke by imaging that you are instead riding a horse through the bitter wind of a January snowstorm.

• I have gone back to watch the video of this catch easily once a week since I first saw it. If I’m bored or need a quick mental reset or just need to briefly see the opposite of gross incompetence, I watch this.

• My husband and I took a short trip to New York at the start of the month as a sort of belated 40th birthday celebration and we just walked everywhere. Even on days when it was rainy all day. We just explored parks and looked at buildings, grabbed coffees and talked about whatever came to mind. It was really wonderful. It sounds so simplistic as to be almost not worth mentioning, but if you’re feeling really overwhelmed and stressed out by everything happening in your life and in the world, try taking a long walk with someone who you feel you can talk to about anything. Not every conversation you have right now needs to be about THE STATE OF THINGS. You can just be like, hey do you remember that song “Mouth” by Merrill Bainbridge? And then you can try to remember if it came out at the same time as “Mouth” by Bush and then talk about which albums you owned as cassettes versus CDs.

• Summer is the best season for revisiting old favorites (here I’m talking about books, but this works for movies too. Is it even summer if you don’t watch Speed or Dirty Dancing?). A few of the titles that I can read over and over again each summer are Evvie Drake Starts Over, Wild, The House on Mango Street, and Ordinary People (the same copy of which I’ve been reading every few summers since I was 10 years old and accidentally threw the book into a pool).

• A bit of good news in Maryland: The Wildlife Connectivity and Crossings Act was recently signed into law. Yay for protecting animals!

• And a few ways to do a bit of good: give aid for children in Gaza; public comment is currently still open to respond to the decision to restrict covid boosters to those 65 and older or with preexisting conditions; support music and celebrate the life and legacy of my friend’s amazingly talented friend, Sarah Gibson, through The Sarah Gibson Foundation; my son’s school is currently fundraising for The Charlotte Bohn Memorial Walk-a-Thon which holds a special place in my heart because Charlotte was a friend of mine. If you’d like, you can donate to my son’s page here. Finally, add to your summer reading list by supporting a small press! May I recommend Shayne Terry’s memoir, Leave: A Postpartum Account from Autofocus Books, and Heather Brown Barrett’s poetry collection, Water in Every Room from Kelsay Books.

You can find more of my writing & contact information at clairemtaylor.com. If you’d like to further support my work, please consider purchasing one of my books, or a copy of Little Thoughts Press. I also have a ko-fi page