Open in app

Sign In

Write

Sign In

Janna Sobel
Janna Sobel

98 Followers

Home

About

Published in

Human Parts

·May 26, 2022

Burn

A story about our lights, for dark times — For Asa with a good flame. Waiting for a train on a wood plank platform high above Sedgwick Street, another train passes going the opposite way. At the back of very last car, standing outside of the closed caboose door, is a man. He doesn’t look authorized to be there…

Strangers

7 min read

Burn
Burn
Strangers

7 min read


Sep 11, 2021

The Impossible Thing

When what might save the world is the last thing we want to try — Flight A song’s been ringing in my ear while I’ve been writing you this letter. It has taken a while. To write it, I mean. Six months, maybe seven. I’ve gone slow because I want to get it right, because there’s something in it that I really want to give you…

Listening

24 min read

The Impossible Thing
The Impossible Thing
Listening

24 min read


Published in

Curious

·Nov 4, 2020

The World Before I Know

Before I check the election returns, my ear keens to the way my neighbor closes her hallway door. It tunes in like a radio dial to a man clearing his throat on the sidewalk below… to how a garbage truck accelerates in the alley… how much pressure on the pedal…

Election 2020

8 min read

The World Before I Know
The World Before I Know
Election 2020

8 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·Sep 16, 2020

A Way to Listen

Real Remedies for Revolutionary Times — There’s a poem of a book called The Other Way to Listen by my favorite author, Byrd Baylor. It sits on my shelf in the parable/teaching story/wisdom-for-every-age section, squished in next to Till We Have Faces, The Prophet, Tracy’s Tiger, and Daughters of Copper Woman. I’m thinking of it because…

Listening

24 min read

A Way to Listen
A Way to Listen
Listening

24 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·Mar 31, 2020

You Don’t Need a Crisis to Give Yourself Permission

We often wait for an emergency to justify taking care of life — and it’s a pattern we can’t afford to keep repeating — I was on the Chicago Red Line train that derailed in 2013. It slowed to a stop when two rear cars jumped the rails, their heavy steel wheels splintering through the wooden tracks, three stories above the ground. I remember the height, because news crews shimmied up nearby fire escapes…

Life Lessons

24 min read

You Don’t Need a Crisis to Give Yourself Permission
You Don’t Need a Crisis to Give Yourself Permission
Life Lessons

24 min read


Sep 19, 2019

Being the Bird

Usually I am serious about the morning. The necessity of routine requires all my attention. If I’m doing it right, my morning routine requires getting a good 8–9 hours of sleep prior… but that’s up to the me of yesterday. However disciplined she was or wasn’t, the morning part involves…

Joy

6 min read

Being the Bird
Being the Bird
Joy

6 min read


Aug 17, 2019

Teeth

Listen up because I know the code. Get on your bike without shoes, and ride as fast as you can on a summer night, north, under big dark trees. Wear a baseball cap even though the sun is gone. Listen to some rock and roll. Like, Automatic or Sixes and…

Creativity

3 min read

Teeth
Teeth
Creativity

3 min read

Janna Sobel

Janna Sobel

98 Followers

Janna writes and performs, teaches and coaches. She runs the show HereChicago.org and the game IntuitiveTreasureHunter.com. Find her at jannasobel.com.

Following
  • Ian Belknap

    Ian Belknap

  • Siddharth Chatterjee

    Siddharth Chatterjee

  • Wendy A. Schmidt

    Wendy A. Schmidt

  • G Correia

    G Correia

  • Charles The Scientist

    Charles The Scientist

See all (38)

Help

Status

Writers

Blog

Careers

Privacy

Terms

About

Text to speech

Teams