On embodying the 4 of Cups

Publication updates + an extended social media break

Hello friends,

I have a few updates and some thoughts to share with you today. I’ll just jump right in.

You can find The Rebis on the shelf at SF Bay Area stores

You can now buy The Rebis at Feathered Outlaw in Alameda; Pegasus Books on both Solano Ave and Shattuck in Berkeley; Green Apple Books in the Inner Sunset; Dog Eared Books in the Mission; and Folio Books in Noe Valley!

Seeing the magazine on the shelf brings me so much joy. I love the idea that someone might stumble across it while browsing through the aisles, that people I’ve never met before might be drawn to the name, or the cover art, or the concept of the Wheel of Fortune. Feel a resonance when they flip through the pages.

Glamour shots of The Rebis out in the wild

If you live somewhere with a local metaphysical shop, or indie bookstore, and you think The Rebis would feel at home on the shelves there, please let me know! I’ve been reaching out to stores outside of the Bay Area, but the best way to connect with independent shops is usually through a connection or by physically walking into the store (which has its limitations).

We’ve donated $2340 (!!) to social justice orgs through sales

I founded The Rebis as a not-for-profit publication and am really proud to report that through sales, we’ve been able to donate $780 to each of these organizations: The Sogorea Te Land Trust, a Bay Area Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people; The National Network of Abortion Funds, which works with over 80 organizations to remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion access; and Liberated Capital, a donor community and funding vehicle aimed at moving untethered resources to Black, Indigenous, and other people-of-color communities for liberation and racial healing.

If you’ve bought a copy of The Rebis: a sincere thank you for helping to make an impact. If you haven’t bought a copy of The Rebis, now’s the time! It makes for a great holiday gift for the tarot-curious (or tarot-obsessed) person in your life. Or anyone who enjoys creative writing, art, poetry, and musings about universal interconnectedness.

I’m taking a break from social media and creative work

Today, I shared on my personal Instagram account that I am taking a break from social media for the next month.

A few weeks ago, I pulled the 4 of Cups: a figure sitting with their back against a tree, refusing to move, refusing to reach out and grab the golden cup dangling from the sky. They are practicing stillness, surrender. Perhaps they’re meditating. Perhaps they’re waiting for that “full body yes” before they move forward.

The 4 of Cups resonates deeply. I’m experiencing what it feels like to pause at a creative crossroads. I’ve been focused on bookstore outreach and order fulfillment for The Rebis, alongside community building, personal relationships, parenting. And all the while feeling like I have to have an answer for what comes next. But I haven't had the energy or focus for another big creative project. Haven't felt inspired to write for myself, or for this newsletter, even though I have a lot on my mind.

Instead, I’ve been immersing myself in other people's stories, thoughts, creative content. Sometimes it feels wonderful, refreshing, activating — cool water on a blistering hot day. I come alive when I'm introduced to new ideas. I feel inspired, pulled in many directions, see so much potential for collaboration. But it also feels murky — as though I'm in dense fog, unable to see my hands stretched out in front of me. In these moments, it's harder to hear my own voice, harder to know which opportunities to take, which vessels to pour myself into next.

Getting off social media (especially now) feels right. I’m going to be traveling throughout Portugal over the next few weeks, and want to be fully present for that experience. Want to pay attention to what I see around me, to what I feel inside of me. Want to listen, make space. Ask questions and not seek answers right away. Reconnect to my intuition.
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I’ve written at length about recovering from burnout, about untangling self-worth from my output, about turning the volume down on my inner critic that says I’m not doing enough, working hard enough, making more of an impact. About embracing pleasure. About unlearning perfectionism. I’m trying not to compare my capacity for creative work to others. I'm training my nervous system to feel more at home in a receptive, passive state. Teaching myself that it's natural to embrace cycles of rest. Telling myself that I'll grab hold of the cup when my body feels ready.⠀

Thanks for being witness to my journey, for reading and for supporting me and The Rebis. Whenever I have updates to share, I’ll share them here with you.

I love you all.

— Hannah