Hi friend!
Wow! Things got so overwhelming that I did not create a Spring 2026 newsletter.
I did send that email on April 4th at 9:35am, the Saturday of my spring break, titled “I’m Leaving Full-Time Teaching (Finally😳)” that said:
“I’m overwhelmed again, my ears are clogged with so much ear wax that I can barely hear – a symptom of chronic stress on the nervous system; I have decided to leave teaching at the end of the school year. Please be patient with me.”
Lol! Five days after sending that email, I found out that my contract would end in two days instead of June 10th! LOLLLLLL.
Thus I wrapped up my teaching contract on April 15th into financial instability again! Would I continue doing day to day substitute until the end of the school year? Would I apply for other jobs? I had a trip to the UK planned for Verity’s wedding and Sarah’s birthday and to see my grandma – I didn’t want to cancel because of a new job!
Things have been chaotic and overwhelming and messy and beautiful and poetic and so very, very human.
It is nearly July now. FUCK! I think it’s time for an update and reflection.
In this newsletter, I’ll share:
Love youuuuu!
Sammy
A Bloem
She Returns to LA
By Sammy Ginsberg
she is me is back, baby
a poet again
bubble-wrapped in beatific love,
post-school Jack Kerouauc of Disembodied Poetics daze
where human error creates warmth.
it’s okay to not like where you live
and share about it.
it’s okay to not be happy
all the time.
actually, that is poetry.
these human feelings
stifled, repressed, unconscious -
speak them into being
into healing.
we want to see your deranged poet
embrace flaws, give radical permission.
we are all worthy of love
right now
perfectly imperfect
as you are.
Life Updates
- I am starting a nonprofit called 21st Century Writers with my friend Brian, my friend Vera, and my Dad! We just applied for our first grant! More details and an official launch TBD!
- I’m working for Get Lit as a curriculum consultant for the summer!
- The school year ended and I’m not teaching over the summer (however, I’m also not getting paid since substitute teachers don’t get paid over the summer!)
- I’m organizing the Los Feliz Writers Festival taking place August 19-23! Come!!! <3 Trying to fund it so that we can help some unemployed writers!!
- For the festival, I’m editing and publishing a zine called Radically Human! The launch party will be at Barnsdall Art Park from 6:30pm to 9pm on August 22nd!! Submit! Come Party!
- I just got back from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and it was MAGICAL!!
- I’m going to Chicago July 12-20th for a Teaching Institute at the Poetry Foundation!!
- If you want to work for the Los Feliz Writers Festival – apply here! Deadline July 7th! Email if questions.
- Made a list of literary writing things in LA for July!
- I’m considering applying for PhDs in Education and MFAs in Poetry for 2027-2028!
- I might be moving to Cambridge,UK in October until December!
- I’m the St. Andrews LA Alumni President! Woop!
- I’m helping my friend Nicole publicize her book that comes out in September called Diary of a Mad Girl!
- I’m hosting Shut Up and Write in Los Feliz Wednesdays 6:45 to 8:15pm! Comeeee.
Concluding Stability Sammy (June 2025- June 2026)
In June of 2025, I started Stability Sammy, a project to document and support me becoming stable in all forms: housing; lifestyle & health; purpose & contribution; relationships; systemic societal supports; money.
It has been a fucking journey, and clearly, I am still not super stable as I there is a high chance that I’m moving in the Fall! Lol.
However, certain key parts of my life have stabilized allowing me the ability to set boundaries and update my commitments.
I appreciate your patience and grace while I navigate this transition.
I wish I could tell you it was over, but it’s not.
From this process, I have learned and am working to accept that:
- change is constant
- making mistakes means you’re learning. If you’re not making mistakes, it means you aren’t developing. It’s how you respond to your mistakes and critical feedback that is the difference between learning and failing.
- having flaws is what makes us beautifully human
- conflict is not only part of life, but necessary for building trust and learning who we are, what we care about, and what we value
- Compatibility changes, and is entirely separate from how much you like someone, how much you care about someone, and how skilled you are at loving them. These are all different things.
Current Chapter
As my year-long Stability Sammy comes to an end, I am entering a new chapter.
This chapter is called Breaking my Burn Out Cycle! Before one can heal, one has to get stable, they have to be safe. I finally feel safe!
Now, I am trying to use my wisdom to improve the quality of my life and relationships, and prevent myself from burning out again as best I can.
I am having to update and set new boundaries to protect myself and keep me safe and healthy. It’s like that upsetting quote that’s going viral on Instagram which is resonating with dubious scientific backing, “You really need to be a bitch or you’re going to develop an autoimmune disease. It’s that simple.”
I want to say AGAIN, how much I care about you and how much I love you and how much I like you and how valuable you are as a person are COMPLETELY SEPARATE from how compatible are lives are right now.
I keep comparing myself to other people my age, but I need to stop. I feel like I’m meant to be more settled than I am, but it’s not helping me. It’s just making me feel insecure and sad. My life is different. I am different. More than that, it is normal to be different. It is not normal to be the exact same as another person. Barbie dolls are the same, not people.
What I’m Reading
Honestly, just check out my GoodReads! I’m working on my book reviews, but haven’t had time given the organizing needed for the Los Feliz Writers community at present.
Winter Memories
Spring Memories
Mutual Support
Read a book that it’s not about self-care, it’s about we-care! It’s about taking care of all of us, not just yourself. I’ve been trying to do that. Rather than, what do I need? But, what do we both need and how can I help us both get that!
I am human, which means I have a limited perspective, time, and energy; flaws; and loads of blind spots! It’s only through relationships, connection, and teamwork that we can function healthily as a we, as a society!
What’s going on with you this summer? What chapter are you in? Are we currently compatible? Let me know, so we can do this crazy business called being humans in the 21st century together! It’s fucking chaos and a shitshow.
Email mee at seeliterarypixie@gmail.com to discuss or show up at one of the events I’m organizing/going to!
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