Mid-Year Check In, and Goals for this Year

Hello everyone, I wanted to make a brief post checking in on the status of this project, where it's going, and how the philosophy behind it all.

Priorities

The priorities of the New England Buddhist Poetry Exchange have always been niche. The goal is to create an opportunity for New England area meditators, poets, and Buddhists to incorporate poetry writing into their formal practice. This offer extends to anyone who hears about this project, but promotion is focused locally. To this end, the website is simple, the posts are routine and boilerplate, the Zine issues are not posted online, and a level of anonymity is kept up. I am very happy to report that a number of first time poets have had their work presented in the Exchange, and that a few frequent flyers are incorporating this into their regular practice. Despite the modest website and unintuitive first couple months, the project has been quite successful. 

My Writing Momentum

My own personal momentum on the project, and creative writing in general, has lagged recently. I am taking a month and a half or so to focus on my Mindfulness and meditation practice. I was published 18 times in the last year, and put this Zine out once a month for some time. I was rejected about 150 times. That effort has left me somewhat sapped. I am happy to keep this project up during my own pause from writing. This project has also been incorporated into a greater renewal of the Boston area Plum Village community, paired with a hope for a similar showcase for local practitioner's art. I'm always happy to discuss collaboration and receive help on this project.

The Future

With all that said, the bi-monthly pace of this Zine feels quite sustainable, as does a rate of 2 or 3 workshops a year. I'm keen on repeating workshops or creating bespoke ones for specific venues, but I'm not as keen on promoting them myself. So it's a bit, "have workshop, will travel." I've begun to think about the next one, and my feeling is it should focus more on the process of writing a poem after or during formal meditation. As before, it will be held in person first, then over Zoom. 

My other hope in this project is to make the website even more clear, and to make signups for the workshop easier as well. Since the project began, I've implemented Google Forms for submissions and subscriptions, stickied a welcome post that I keep updated, and streamlined the distribution process. The Zine currently goes out to five or six Sanghas per issue + a smattering of individuals who in turn share it with their communities. I have also discussed creating a nice collection of the current collection of issues with high quality graphic design, which would be available through participation in the various Sanghas, not posted online.

Well, that seems like a good mid-year check in. I will post another one of these in three or four bi-monthly issues. Happy writing everyone, and Mega Metta!

Jade K.