rebeccakuder

The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto

I recently read The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto. This book is amazing. I know its premise may be wobbly, or pseudo-science, but when I don’t ask it to prove itself and when I allow imagination and read it like a novel (or at least as a non-skeptic), I find the narrative extremely compelling and hypnotic. Like, what if?

From p.151:

“We all have an important mission: To make water clean again, and to create a world that is easy and healthy to live in. In order to accomplish our mission, we must make sure that our hearts are clear and unpolluted.

Over the centuries, humankind has constantly robbed from the earth, and left it ever more polluted—the history of which is recorded by water. Now, water is beginning to speak to us. Through water crystals, it is telling us what we need to know.

Starting today, we must begin to carve out a new history. Water is carefully and quietly watching the direction we take—the direction that you take at this very moment—and watching over us all.

I only ask that you listen to and absorb what water has to say—to all of humankind, and to you.”

rebeccakuder

What Happened Was by Katharine Haake

I recently read What Happened Was by Katharine Haake.

This book is hypnotic, and laden with story-truths that I can’t look away from. Somehow it’s reassuring even as it deals with devastation. Somehow there’s optimism here, despite the end of everything. I think it has to do with hope.

From p. 107: “People hope the things they hope. You can’t do much about that.”

(Yes, exactly—for which I am grateful!)

rebeccakuder

Dispatches from Utopia

My latest essay, “You Never Know: On Memory and Memoir and Packing Light,” is now online at Reading and Traveling. This piece is among the fabulous Dispatches from Utopia that we Wayward Writers wrote at (or after) camp in the Catskills in April 2024.

My piece centers on the gap-filled memories of the 1972 inaugural Rainbow Family Gathering, which I attended when I was five, with my young parents.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity and space (at the Mutual Aid Society in the Catskills, a new utopia forged by Adrian Shirk and others) to unearth & investigate these bits of light, and grateful to Ariel Gore and the amazing, badass campers for their curiosity, hearts, and willingness to play.

rebeccakuder

Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book

Dear Everbody,
Great news!
Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book is now available!
Read more about why you will want this book.
Learn how to buy online at Literary Kitchen, or visit the independent stores mentioned below.
Love,
Rebecca

NOW AVAILABLE:
at Epic Book Shop or Dark Star Books in Yellow Springs, OH
& at Secret World Books in Highland Park, IL
& Online from Literary Kitchen!
(Subscribe to the BLOG for updates.)

**

You’re invited to play!
Devote 30 days to creative freedom; unlock the long con of confidence; and dissolve self-doubt.

Even if you’ve been living with insecurity all your life, today can be different. This book offers a flashlight to guide you through the wilds of self-doubt. Between these covers you’ll find fun and creative strategies to quiet your negative self-talk.

You’ll write, draw, imagine, demystify—and maybe even befriend—the inner critic. You’ll set boundaries and gain room for creativity and joy. Using ingenuity and self-care, these activities let you play your way toward creative liberation.

**

Praise for DEAR INNER CRITIC: a self-doubt activity book:
“Rebecca Kuder writes magical fiction and memoir with a voice so confident and agile, you’d never imagine she struggled with an inner critic. When I heard that she was not only well acquainted with self-doubt but had found ways to befriend it and play with it to the benefit of her art and happiness, I knew I wanted in on the secrets. This guide is a gift. Let Rebecca Kuder’s genius guide you to ignite your own.”

—Ariel Gore, author of The Wayward Writer (Summon Your Power to Take Back Your Story, Liberate Yourself from Capitalism, and Publish Like A Superstar)

rebeccakuder

quiet, but things are happening

photo of cup of tea and boots overlooking pond

I’ve been quiet over here, but very busy.

In 2023, I took a fabulous year-long online writing class with Ariel Gore called Mavens of Mythmaking. Some highlights:

  • I completed a short story collection called What To Keep, for which I am seeking a publisher.
  • I finished a full revamp/revision of my novel The Watery Girl. This year, I will seek publication.
  • The memoir about my childhood home continues to emerge and evolve—in fragments and fractals—which, I am learning, is how this thing is meant to be written. Some day it will be a book.

My newest book, Dear Inner Critic: a self-doubt activity book, grew from years of renegotiating my relationship with the inner critic. Many readers have attended workshops and reframed self-doubt with me. Thanks for your good company! (Who knew a handful of tricks would grow into a real book?!)

  • This book is built from L-O-V-E. My keenest hope is that it will help people free the creative urge. (If I have anything to offer humanity, this book is it.)
  • On the journey toward creative liberation, I have trodden this self-doubt path myself. The tricks in this book have changed my life.

Soon, Dear Inner Critic will be available from the Literary Kitchen (literarykitchen.org). Please subscribe to my blog or follow my instagram for more information.

rebeccakuder

Sears Eldredge (RIP)

(Sears Eldredge, Earlham Sargasso, 1986)

I am so grateful to have known and worked with Sears Eldredge, who I learned this week has recently died. Sears was wonderful, kind, and imaginative. He was my teacher, director, and mentor at Earlham College, and has always been a source of inspiration in the creative quest.

A couple years ago I read his wonderful book Mask Improvisation, and I could hear his musical voice in the sentences. Not only about mask performance/study, this book would be a pleasure for anyone who is interested in character and the psyche, and shows an early awareness of what we now call somatics. A beautiful and rich resource.

(RIP, dear Sears. A true artist engaged in the world. You can read his obituary here.)

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RIP Sinéad  O’Connor

Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live, 1992, tearing a photo of Pope John Paul II.

(Content note: sexual abuse)

I am a survivor of childhood sex abuse.

When I was nine years old, I was molested by an adult. I wrote about the abuse in an essay here. (And I’ve written about it on my blog.)

I am grateful to all the love surrounding me and other survivors who are healed and healing, so that we can survive, so we can be healed and be healing. Beyond Sinéad O’Connor’s music itself (which is a potent container for my brokenness and rage more generally), being a survivor is one reason I am feeling the impact of the death of Sinéad O’Connor.

I remember watching Saturday Night Live on October 3, 1992, when she sang “War” by Bob Marley (which she had adapted to include indictment of child sexual abuse). And then tore apart her mother’s photo of Pope John Paul II. Her invocation, her voice, her conscious action. How she was standing up for children. I remember seeing it happen live on SNL, and how I felt then, how courageous and powerful she was, when I was only beginning to comprehend how my abuse history had impacted my life and my living. I believe that my abuse was passed on to me (via another human’s un-metabolized trauma) due to abuse which had happened within the context of the Catholic Church. I remember how, back then, even though survivors were beginning to emerge from the shadow of shame, still, how hard it was for me to speak about what happened to me. But I did. Later I confronted my abuser. That confrontation was an important part of my healing. Over many years, I have been able to move through and metabolize the trauma. I have been very fortunate in this journey.

I remember how I felt back then, and I celebrate how I feel now.

Sinead O’Connor spoke and stood for many of us who are survivors. I am grateful to have existed when this human and artist also existed. If you don’t understand why people are feeling her death, here is one reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLyEPeWjNk

(This post was repurposed & woven into my essay, “Everywhere is War,” which you can read on Nuts and Bolts from Sonya, Sonya Huber’s e-newsletter.)