Monday Matter: Back to school, the witch's broom and a new giveaway (!!)

Your weekly Foreign Bodies roundup

Every Monday, I send subscribers and gift recipients of immigrant mental health and storytelling newsletter Foreign Bodies stories I recently inhaled and adored. This is also a chance to do some housekeeping and give shout-outs and all that jazz.

First things first

A little housekeeping

Enter to win 'What My Bones Know' by Stephanie Foo, a memoir of healing from complex trauma

I am so excited to reignite Foreign Bodies giveaways with one of my favorite reads of the year: Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma, a searing first-person account that digs into the little-understood science behind complex PTSD with humility, humor, and so much love and care. I was lucky to meet Foo when she became a Carter Fellow years ago and it has been an honor to watch this book unfold and garner the praise it so deserves. Entries for this giveaway will be accepted through 8 p.m. EST Friday, Aug. 5.

PSA: This giveaway is open to all sign-ups. Each entry for paying subscribers or those with comps (gifted subscriptions) count TWICE. If you’re interested in subscribing but haven’t yet—click here!

I’m off to school! 🎒

As I’m typing this, it’s 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in Atlanta and I’m trying to wrap up any loose ends and deadlines before I make the trek up to spend a week with writers, teachers and like-minded readers for graduate school. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think I ever saw myself going back to school again after undergrad. The traditional classroom setting was never for me; I’m not a great tester nor am I all that eloquent when put on the spot. I tend to fare much better with slower, quieter, more thoughtful written work and research, which is why journalism and writing has always been so appealing. So when a former colleague reached out to me about joining a nontraditional master’s program for professional writers, I didn’t automatically brush off the opportunity. My immigrant parents were, well, elated. I still have a lot of feelings about American/Western exploitation through meritocracy and higher education, though. But I am looking forward to the camaraderie and learning and the much-needed guidance I feel I’ve been missing these past several years. Anyway, life has been chaotic in preparation for this upcoming week, so here are a few things, people, moments etc. that have been giving me some peace lately:

• painting again

• being recruited for editing and writing opportunities

• turning down said opportunities when they don’t serve me well

• Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE

• friends who check in

• friends who subscribe to this newsletter! I never expect this, but it’s always a lovely surprise.

• Rhodia notepads

• voice notes

• Atlanta

• rainstorms after heat waves

• surprise visits from Najja

• this pet/house sitting app

• my folks

• my hair stylist of 10+ years

• empty coffeeshops on early weekend mornings

• Lady, Billie and Scamper

A musical start to your Mondays 🎧

One song to groove to, cry to, drive to and share

Look, I just wanna dance to this all week, alright?

Resource(s) of the week

Something helpful and interesting and cool (*storytelling opportunity)

• The impact of displacement on refugee health: An explainer for clinicians and immigrant advocates from Medical News Today examining a new World Health Organization report that’s concluded many migrants and refugees face poorer health outcomes than local populations