Station ID Break
AKA the perpetual movement of “what am I doing?”
Welcome to Vera Monstera! Movement is Everywhere. Step into an embodied world where life springs from the power of play and slow-osity. What’s that? It’s like velocity, but instead of speeding in one direction, we dive into spacious, internal rhythms. No destinations, but lots of sights to see. It means the world that you’re here!
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Why, hello, hello! And we’re back! Top of the hour here on a beautiful (insert day of the week). This is Vera Monstera, WTVM Baltimore. The time is right now and the weather is…okay? How are you? No, how are you really?
I’ll be here with you all (choose one):
a) Morning b) Afternoon c) Evening
Again, this is Vera Monstera, WTVM Baltimore. WTF was taken by Marc Maron (well played, sir). But WTVM works just fine for “This is Vera Monstera.” (The “W” in radio indicates stations east of the Mississippi. The more you know!)
Before we get back to our regularly scheduled movement-esque essays and ephemera, I thought I’d take a Station ID Break to say hello and speak into the void for a bit. So, pretend you’re driving and your Bluetooth isn’t working. Sitting with your own thoughts is not an option (ha!), so you turn on the actual radio. Maybe you hear Freddie Mercury’s voice soaring with Queen.
"All we hear is radio gaga radio goo goo radio gaga"
The signals are dim, but through the static, there I am with you on this fine (morning/afternoon/evening). Let’s drive.
This year, I started futzing around with Substack. I told actual humans about it (telling people feels excruciating—why?!). You kindly said “sure!” and leapt into reading the unknown. Fear not, brave reader. You’re in good company! We here at Vera Monstera are 72 strong and growing.
It’s a big deal to slog through your inbox or Substack and—hurdle!—read something. The most astonishing thing is—drumroll!—you’re engaging with this work. Thank you for great conversations, notes, comments and hearts. Lots of things drift down my own unread inbox, so I can say from the bottom of my heart:
1. What on earth are you still doing here? 2. OMG, thank you so much for being here.
Seeing you show up here week after week is beyond gratifying. Dare I say…we’re in a bit of a groove.
I thought my writing was so niche that I would be my only reader. And even I would politely decline to subscribe. I thought it might be too dancerly or not dancerly enough. It might be too woo-woo or cuckoo for the average bear. But we have so many bear fans out there! Hello bear fans!
I originally envisioned Vera Monstera as an amorphous bucket to put all of my wild, untamed things. But the act of piecing Vera together week after week gives me a frame to see how my disparate ventures—writing, teaching, moving, plant tending, puttering, parenting—weave together.
(At least that’s what I’m telling myself about Substack when it distracts me from making revisions to children’s book manuscripts).
So now I want to make the bucket…I mean frame…I mean Vera Monstera…a little bit bigger. Or fill it with some fun, new stuff. But we’ll get into that in a moment.
Hey, there! if you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to WTVM Vera Monstera. Make yourself at home. Maybe we need a catchphrase and some canned laughter. What about, “Get a load of that movement!”
You’re right, I’ll work on it. Are we having fun or what?
Okay, frames. Buckets. Here we go. As Vera Monstera cruises into the second half of its first year, there are 2 branches to look for in the coming months (besides our regularly scheduled programming of movement-esque essays and ephemera):
VM KIDS SERIES
A monthly movement series for kids is in development (that means my little brain is spinning away on it). I’ll use my 20+ experience as an arts educator to create fun prompts for kids to create their own movement stories. Parents are welcome to share any artwork, stories or poems that pop out of the experience. Let me know if you have any ideas to share (and I could use some help workshopping the name!).
Wait. Writing about this series has me thinking out loud here. Should this be like a mini magazine for kids? I’ve always wanted to write for Highlights. And I’ve been looking for a way to share more of my writing for kids on Vera Monstera. This could all just be magical thinking. But. But! Maybe for each post in the series there’s a video movement prompt, a book excerpt of mine, a good kid joke or puzzle (I’ll need your help) and a drawing/craft prompt. Some combo like that. Eh?
GUEST ESSAYS
To deepen the bucket and widen the frame of the essays here on Vera Monstera, I want to include other voices. We want to look at the hidden life of movement from all kinds of angles and perspectives. So stay tuned in the coming months. I’m so excited about this. And I might just get kicked out of my own Substack by the beauty, magnitude and marvelousness of my guests. Just you wait!
Before I sign off, let’s start thinking about Vera Monstera’s birthday, the spring equinox. Yes, it’s way too early to think about spring birthday parties for online newsletters, but it gives me hope and buckles me down in my writing chair (couch) just thinking about hitting a one-year mark on this puppy someday. Thanks again for watching this word baby toddle around in its beginning days. I so appreciate you.
That’s it for this week’s show. I’m Jenny and this is WTVM Vera Monstera. Keep movin’ out there! (No, you’re right. I’ll keep working on the catchphrase).
Did someone say jokes? Here's a dad joke I just made up:
What do you say at the beginning of a dough race? Bready, set, grow!
I didn't say it was going to be good... 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️