May Day, like any other day, is a day you can quit your job, so I did that, I quit my job. Yes, again. The difference between quitting your job on May Day vs. any other day is history.

Aside from the history, which I highly recommend getting into, this particular quitting hits different. I didn’t quit in order to snap into place in a similar position with slightly better pay or benefits. I quit because…1

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In any case, I am now a freewheeling agent and I’m looking for work. Below (scroll way down), you’ll find a list of the things I can do and how to contact me about doing them.

One thing making it possible for me to take this leap into freelancing is a new side gig with StoryCorps’ One Small Step Program through WERU Community Radio.

WERU is one of five stations selected nationally to participate in this program and it just launched today. This is very exciting!

Created by StoryCorps, One Small Step is an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. The initiative brings strangers with different political beliefs together for a conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people, bringing communities together, one conversation at a time.

One Small Step is based on contact theory, which states that a meaningful interaction between people with opposing views can help turn “thems” into “us-es.” Since its launch in 2021, over 3,400 people across 40 states have participated in a One Small Step conversation.

My official role within the project is outreach, matching participants, recording interviews, and helping to archive them in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. I’ll be working alongside collaborator, talented multi-media producer/storyteller, and friend, Chris Battaglia. I’m excited and curious about what working on this project will feel like and thrilled to work with both WERU and StoryCorps.

New Work in the World

A trip to Farmington to talk to this guy about some birds. All things being equal (they are not always equal) the story will be out in August.

Currents

Earlier this month, my seven-year-old and I hopped in my car with a bag of pretzels and drove down to Brunswick to see IzumonookunI—a stunning performance by Aretha Aoki, Ryan MacDonald, and their child, Frankie.

Earlier in the day, I’d attended a virtual memorial for a friend whose death doesn’t fit in the container of a sentence.

Earlier in the week, I ran into Crssy by the water, as one does, and we got to talking about narrative and structural fengshui. Admittedly, I know nothing about feng shui other than the most basic received ideas but I like this and want it for everyone—days and nights organized around the arc of values and stories rather than profit margins. To grieve and celebrate and process and delight through dance/performance. To witness through walks or sitting and staring. To have time to follow instincts. For our instincts to bring us together.

I won’t have time to tie this all together. I was so tired earlier this evening I yelled about the bandaid wrappers on the floor but bandaids came out as “batteries” and I couldn’t find a flashlight strong enough to reach the water in the river. I won’t name all the things. We know they’re there.2

Maybe by quitting, once again, I’m making space and time to stitch all these pieces together. Or write individual stories about each of these things. That would be good.

The Things I Can Do

As mentioned, here are the things I can do (that you can officially hire me for) through my website.

Content Writing

Need content for your website, blog, or print publications? I can help you showcase your impact, products, and mission.

Research

Send me down a rabbit hole. There’s no place I’d rather be. I excel in diving into research and emerging with digestible, well-organized material, whatever your ultimate goals for the research may be.

Interviews

You need someone to be interviewed. I am a good listener. It’s a great match. After the interview(s), I provide transcriptions. This a great offering for companies, nonprofits, or family members looking to record stories.

Website Tinkering

Words / SEO / design / restructuring / guidance / design (not coding) / refreshing content / etc.

Editing

For when you've been looking at something for so long you can no longer see it for what it is—proofreading, copyediting, etc.

Clients can be businesses, organizations, schools, families, or individuals. Projects of all sizes are welcome, even just ideas—we all have to start somewhere!

Rates are sliding scale and bartering is accepted.

Probs you already know this but I donate 10% of my income from writing each year (in 2022, to Eastern Woodlands Rematriation and Out in the Open).

Feel free to share this with anyone you like. To get a conversation going, either respond to this email or send me a message via my website.

I’m scared to take this leap but also, I looked at the water coursing through the swollen river tonight and remembered I know what I want: batteries.3

Merci Merci Merci

I started this newsletter a year or so ago. Since then, an unbelievable (to me) number of folks have shown a not insignificant amount of support that I am extremely grateful for—this support also makes it possible for me to quit the grind and know that there’s something there to catch me. Thank you.