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Dear Comrades,

I feel so full. Since writing my last newsletter, I’ve had five events. I feel like I just recovered and returned to myself last night, just in time to write my newsletter today.

I always write my newsletters the morning before sending them. I have tried to write them ahead of time, though I am never able to do so. Sometimes my newsletters flow out of me quickly, in just an hour or so, and other times I am working on it until the very last minute (my personal record is 3 minutes out from my desired sending time).

My newsletter is one of the backbones of my writing practice. Another backbone is my routine of writing letters to and from myself, specifically for the sake of deepening my ongoing conversation with myself about my life in general, and my writing in particular. I teach my letter writing practice in a series of three signature letter writing classes, which I will discuss in this newsletter.

I experience divine parts of myself while writing letters to and from myself. In my letters, I converse with, and keep track of all the various versions of myself. By way of letter writing, I provide myself with care, support, and understanding only I might offer myself.

I feel inclined to share my practice. I want to share my practice with everyone, which is why I have three signature offerings. I truly believe we would change not only ourselves, but also the world by way of this seemingly (and deceptively) simple act of letter writing.

I am already looking forward to my second run of Letter Writing as a Spiritual Practice. I am engaging with my own letter writing practice differently than ever before, specifically for the sake of challenging myself, and learning more lessons about letter writing I can now teach. Please reach out to me directly to sign up for any of my courses.

I am currently teaching the third run of Letters of Our Homes, which has already been a powerful experience. I witness empowerment happen on a weekly basis. The process of awakening to our realities can be maddening, and I aim to offer my letter writing practice as a model of one way we can hold and contain ourselves with creativity.

I feel called to share my strategies and techniques with everyone, especially with my community of Black and Brown adoptees. We do not have nearly enough models of survival. By becoming my own model of survival of my own adoption, I am able to become a model for others, and in doing so we are able to become models for each other.

I experience such cycles of inspiration in every class session. I am deeply inspired by the work my teachings inspire. My own practice deepens because of teaching.

During the first half of our time together, we will write our year-in-review letters. After writing our letters, we will shift our focus to writing a daily poem. Your poem will take the form of a mantra/prayer/ritual for you to carry along with you throughout your year.

I experimented with this class last year. I taught my curriculum with a class consisting of one dear friend, for the sake of giving it a test run. Our experiment succeeded by way of truly interesting results.

I am currently enrolling for this course, which starts on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 3pm EST and runs for 6 weeks. In addition to the secular and nonsecular texts we explored last year, we will hone in on Octavia Butler's concept of Earthseed to guide our own writing. Please reach out to me directly to sign up for any of my classes.

Love, Ryan <3

linktr.ee/ryanartes

Upcoming:

• On Monday, November 24, 2025 at 6:30-8:30pm EST, I am co-hosting an Adoptee Voices Open Mic with Jae Carelli. This event is in-person at pinkFROG Cafe (221 N 9th St, Brooklyn, NYC). Advance sign-ups are full, so I hope you will come witness what is sure to be an awesome evening of storytelling. <3