Welcome to 2026 and Season 2 of Literative! We begin the new year by reading Joy Harjo's "For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet," a poem about loss and restoration, about wandering and welcome. Joy Harjo reminds us to treat our spirit like a beloved child and celebrate its recovery by helping those still searching.

Be sure to join us in January for our New Year’s series, “Normal Plus.” We'll begin with a powerful tool for identifying and removing creator's block, courtesy of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.

Links for Joy Harjo

Poem: For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet

Collection: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

Website: https://www.joyharjo.com/

Photo credit: Karen Kuehn

Additional Resource

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32, KJV)

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Year's end is a busy festive time, but it can also be a sad and lonely one for people who are grieving a loss. If you’re having a Blue Christmas this year, this episode is for you. We'll read several passages from the poem In Memoriam in which Alfred, Lord Tennyson reveals the journey that enabled him to write, "’Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all."

Resource:

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. In Memoriam A.H.H.

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In the first season of Literative, we learned that we need to make some space for inspiration and serendipity. In Season 2, our motto for January is "Normal Plus," borrowed from Sophie Kinsella's novel What Does It Feel Like? This thinly fictionalized novel recounts Kinsella's own battle with brain cancer; instead of a bucket list, the heroine adopts a strategy of "normal plus," upgrading her ordinary routine to include more small pleasures. We'll do the same in the New Year, taking lessons for small changes from our reading list.

Resources:

Adachi, Kendra. The Lazy Genius Way.

Burkeman, Oliver. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.

Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.

Kinsella, Sophie. What Does It Feel Like?

“Obituary: Sophie Kinsella,” JoJo Moyes, The Guardian (11 Dec. 2025).

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