Literary Pixie

Hey Peeps,

Happy New Years! It’s 2024! Yay!

Well, mostly? I know many people are nervous about this year. With US Elections as well as the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine, there are many people murmuring about World War Three coming. To be honest, I’m nervous, too. When you hear “good” people saying, “the only way is to kill them all” – you know shit’s bad.

Another Sammy would have flown to Ukraine or the Middle East to volunteer. The chapter-where-I-thought-I-could-save-the-world ended painfully in July 2019 after flying to Greece to volunteer with people seeking refuge and asylum! While I met some amazing people, I came to the conclusion that if everyone just took care of themselves and the people around them then we’d all be fine!

Thus, I set on a mission to learn how to take care of myself in the 21st century and try to teach those skills to other people.

Instead of working on this mostly alone, I’ve decided to start sharing about what I’m doing and who I’ve been working with!

In 2019 when I set upon my mission, I was ashamed of where I was in life. I stopped publishing my writing. I thought if I could just figure it out enough, I’d be ready to start publishing again.

I was 25 years old. In 5 days, I will turn 30, and I still haven’t figured it out. This is a wack century!

I’m starting to accept that I will never know enough.

So I have two choices:

1. I can share with you (through writing and publishing) my flaws and failures and fears and do this together
2. I can continue to feel isolated and misunderstood, which I’ve felt ever since I stopped sharing my writing

Thus in the energy of the new year, turning 30 and meeting up with mortality, I’ve opted for the first one!

Literary Pixie is back to share Sammy Ginsberg’s writing, and hopefully the writing of others, too!

I intend to publish a seasonal newsletter to keep ya in the loop about thangs and stay connected. This is the winter newsletter. I’m not sure what will be in each one. Still figuring that out. But I wanted to start! I start teaching tomorrow until June 12th, and thus I will not have any time until Spring Break (March 25th-29th) when I’ll try to send a Spring Newsletter.

I’m not sure what I’ll be able to write during Chapter Finish-My-Masters-While-Living-At-Treehouse, but I’ll be sharing it on here!

Below you’ll find:

I am so grateful for all of your support and compassion on this journey! I wouldn’t be where I am with so many beautiful and joyful memories without you. I hope to keep making more, and supporting each other on our journeys’ while navigating the planet we call Earth. Recent events in my life have reminded me how precious our time is here.

Sending you so much love and good energy!

Sincerely,

Sammy

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2024 Goals

I like to divide my goals into professional and personal goals. Below is a picture of my vision board! We did a workshop at Treehouse yesterday, and it was so nourishing (organized by Build Your Life). So grateful to be back!

Professional Goals

Personal Goals

1. I will earn my Masters in Secondary English Language Arts Education at California State University – Northridge 2. I will submit an article to be published in the California Teachers of English Journal based on my research that I’ll be presenting at the CATE Conference in 2024. 3. I will be voted as Head of the English Department at my school. 4. I will help coordinate a literary community/ecosystem in Los Angeles. 5. I will write and publish lifestyle, arts, and culture articles on Literary Pixie again and receive press passes to write.

1. I will communicate clearly with my support system (aka you guys!) about my goals, life events, routines, and needs to best support each other during this chapter. 2. I will create a weekly, monthly, and seasonal routine where I connect with the people that matter to me (aka you guys!) and get all my wellness need met 3. I will choose my chosen family for this chapter of my life and communicate my needs/expectations and start asking for them, as well as prioritizing those relationships.

Social Media as a Business Card

A couple weeks ago, I published a rather “dramatic” post on Instagram. I shared about how isolated I was feeling and that I had decided to take a break from social media. I said I would return on December 19th. I did not return on December 19th. As I write this, I have not been back on.

The last few weeks have been so much more peaceful without Instagram. I had been going around saying, “I use Instagram as a business card” but now I’m really going to.

I will check it monthly just in case. However, the best way to get in contact with me is email (seeliterarypixie@gmail.com) or text/whatsapp!

Winter Events

My 30th Birthday (January 13)

I’m turning 30! If you’re in LA and free on Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm, email me and I’ll send you the details.

I hard procrastinated on this because I don’t want to turn 30, as well as overthought it x1000 because of my social anxiety and the passing of my beloved Grandpa Derek, but alas! I’m doing something.

AWP 2024, Kansas City, Missouri (February 7-11)

Association of Writers and Writing Programs is in Kansas City, Missouri this year and I’m going! This is my first time and I’m super excited. Going with a group of poets from LA!

If you’re gonna be there, please get in touch so we can have a coffee!

CATE Conference 2024 (February 29-March 3)

This year, I’m presenting at the California Teachers of English Conference in Los Angeles! I am super super super excited. This is a big deal for my teaching career.

When I worked at SAGE Publications, I used to manage the Education Research Twitter channel. This is what inspired me to change roles. I didn’t want to market research, I wanted to be doing the research.

Now I am! I’m presenting on Saturday. If interested, always welcome!

I love you, Grandpa!

On December 12th, one day before his 89th birthday – my Grandpa Derek passed away. Grandpa Derek is one of my favorite people and one of the inspirations for me becoming a teacher (Grandma Myra and Evy and Louise, too)!

He is a very special person to me and it is hard to think that he is not here with us. I prefer to think he is post-body!

So grateful my Grandma Myra is still here with us. She is wonderful and strong person who said, “I want us to be positive. I’m just grateful I had a wonderful husband and a good life.”

I’m trying to have the same energy, to be grateful for the good memories In the end, that’s all we’ll have.

Oh, and photos and travel journals Grandpa created (ever the historian).

Chapter: Finish My Masters at Treehouse

I like to think of my life as a story with chapters. In 2023, I had four chapters. I had a lot of change for reasons I’ll share later.

This chapter I am calling “Finish My Masters at Treehouse”. From now until June 12th I will be living at Treehouse in Hollywood, teaching in Los Angeles and finishing my Masters at CSUN.

Because of the amount of work I need to do each week (45 hours of teaching + 10 hours of school + 8 hours of commuting), I have a very strict routine.

As a teacher, I make so many decisions every day that when I get home, I am too tired to make choices. I have found that weekly routines are super helpful. I believe that in order to enjoy the journey, one needs to get all their wellness needs met on a weekly basis. Then you are less focused on the destination, and find joy in the process being the destination.

In the past, I only allowed my wellness needs to be met as a reward for getting to destinations. This was disastrous and painful. It was like waiting until getting to the top of Mount Everest to get water. So dumb!

I have created a system for planning and implementing my routine, which I am very very proud of!

All systems are go again!

If you’d like to be part of my routine, then message me! The things I do weekly are:

• Go to yoga and fitness classes two to three times a week using ClassPass
• Go hiking and be in nature
• Having a co-working space and writing group to share my writing with and do my homework with on evenings and Sundays.
• Meal-planning and grocery shopping, cooking, and eating plant-based food made with love.
• Going to interesting intellectual and cultural events like concerts, plays/theater, films, museums, gallery events, talks, lectures, poetry readings, etc.
• Reading books and talking about what we are learning about from what we read!
• Zumba and fun dancing events to get our cardio on!
• Mental health and group therapy stuff!

I’m based in Los Angeles (West Valley & Hollywood) – so you’ll have to be here to be part of my routine!

Some photos from December