Episode 132: The Hiatus Explained

Dear Listener,

For the past few weeks I’ve been writing this email to you in my mind. I’ve been mentally laying out the story of Commonplace—how, when and why I started it, the amazing people I collaborated with to make the show, the amazing people with whom I recorded conversations, how Trump’s 2016 election transformed the making of Commonplace from a personal dare to an resolutely political platform, how making Commonplace gave me purpose, passion and community that accompanied me through eight years of raising my children, reading, teaching, writing my lectures, SoundMachine and my novel, months of serious anemia ending in an unwanted hysterectomy, COVID, my divorce, a cancer scare, my increasingly serious and joyful practice of Buddhism and yoga nidra, falling in love, having my heart broken, starting the Commonplace School for Embodied Poetics, becoming friends with Commonplace listeners and students, starting Hey It’s Me with Mike Sakasegawa, stepping into the nightmare of my son’s cancer diagnosis, and now, a second Trump presidency… 

I have so much to say about the Commonplace journey and community, so much to say about what I’m looking for, going forward, for Commonplace, but today is day #3 of being in the hospital with my son, and everything is completely upside down! All of the reasons I need to put Commonplace on hiatus make writing an in-depth newsletter about the above totally impossible. 

So, until I have the time and mental capacity for more, HERE IS EPISODE 132, recorded for Hey, It’s Me and for Commonplace by Mike Sakasegawa and me at the end of December about why I need to put Commonplace on hiatus and how I feel about doing so.

More soon (I hope). 

Until then, so much love and gratitude to you,

Rachel

P.S. Leigh Sugar is almost finished completing transcripts for all the back episodes. When she has completed this work I will pause all billing on Patreon. If you’d like to pause your subscription before that I won’t be offended in any way!