It’s six in the morning and I am sitting on top of my trusty Tacoma. I am writing down one sentence, following the premise of Chris La Tray’s One Sentence Journal, which is as simple and brilliant as it sounds: a compilation of individual sentences long and short that describe an endlessly nuanced world. I am inspired by this idea — writing one sentence every day and watching what blossoms. 

And so, this is my ritual:

I wake up, make coffee, awkwardly climb on top of the truck, observe the morning, and jot something down. I write about bird chatter, about the mouse that likes to run into the middle of the road, about kids biking to school dressed as dinosaurs, the unnamed color of the mountains, the sound of snow sliding from the roof, the dream I can almost remember. I have written about turmoil, about bats, about how much I hate blue cheese. Plants, asphalt, pockets, the experience of dust. I try to write before the day takes hold of my mind. The practice of sitting in the same place at the same height, at the same time of day, gives me a solid perch to create from. Once I am there, the pen does the rest. 

This is my ritual. What’s yours? 

With warmth,

Zoey Greenberg
Editorial Apprentice at Freeflow Institute

We are thrilled to congratulate Freeflow Institute alum Emma Loewe on the publication of her new book, Return to Nature! "After years of reporting on leaders in the environmental movement, sustainability journalist Emma Loewe found that most of them could trace their activism back to a transformative experience in nature. In response, RETURN TO NATURE: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us (HarperOne; on-sale: 4/12/22) explores how to make these meaningful moments happen more often, and use them to fuel heartfelt activism. In today's screen-obsessed world, this book makes the case that sustainable living starts the moment we step outside." Congratulations, Emma