Welcome to the Sunday Summary for the week of 3 January 2022-8 January 2022.
The 2 Rules team took a little time off to recharge. We’re back now and ready to bring you more incredible writing, along with some website updates. Make sure you’re following us so that you get all of the announcements–new website features along with updates when we publish your favorite writers. We want to publish your stuff, too! Check out our submission guidelines and get in touch or send us your stuff.
As we return to our usual schedule, it seems that this week has some recurring themes–teaching and learning. We didn’t plan that, it just kind of happened. It’s nice when things come together like that though. We started this whole project as a way to help people grow as writers, and to be able to spend a few days featuring work about teaching and about learning is a good reminder about the heart of our mission and vision.
Monday
“In one moment I understood how words can take up space just like a body.”
On Monday, Erika shared another poem, “Unlaced” about finding your own voice and teaching and learning with friends. Writing communities can help with both of those things–writing doesn’t have to be a solitary activity and there’s a lot to be gained from writing with a community. You can rely on for feedback, encouragement and inspiration. Erika knows that her journey as a writer has been helped by being a part of a writing community and encourages you to join one like the one we have here–keep watching the 2 Rules website for upcoming information about forums and groups, too. If you liked this poem, you can check out another one from Erika here.
Tuesday
“I’m not sold on the idea of getting old and dying; but I am having fun getting wiser.”
The 2 Rules team often talks about and writes about self-care and mental health. We believe that mental health is health and that caring for it is no different than caring for any other facet of ones health. On Tuesday, Adam addressed burnout–ways to prevent it and ways to manage it when you are experiencing symptoms. Adam and Erika are committed to maintaining an ongoing and open discussion about mental health at 2 Rules and will continue to feature writing about mental health from a variety of writers and perspectives. If you want to read more from Adam, Erika and other 2 Rules contributors, many of our mental health related posts can be found here.
Wednesday
“Even now, I still cannot forget that night. The night that I cried all the way home.”
On Wednesday, 2 Rules contributor Huiwen Shi gave us a heartfelt piece about teaching during the pandemic, and the struggles an educator faces trying to truly touch their students via distance learning the way they could in a face to face environment. We have a chance to see the pandemic classroom through the teacher’s eyes, to know the lengths that a devoted educator goes to to reach her students and the anguish that can happen when even those lengths don’t feel like enough. Wen contributes monthly to 2 Rules of Writing, and you can read more from her here.
Friday
On Friday, the usual Watch/Listen/Read included some recommendations and another volley in the viola wars, but most importantly, a tribute to a passionate and influential educator. Adam’s tribute to a beloved music teacher is full of wisdom and tenderness, and includes a recording of a beautiful arrangement of “Amazing Grace.”
Saturday
Our feline friends are well trained machines… but who taught them?
With all our talk about teaching this week, our feline friends have questions about your teachers. Go check out this week’s Big Cat, Little Cat and answer their question about teachers and your writing process. And then, if you can… go tell that person how important they were to you. We never seem to have enough time to do enough of that, and I think we can all use a little something good right now?
Make sure you‘re all caught up with your favorite 2 Rules writers and features by checking out all of our Sunday Summary posts.