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Janna Sobel
Janna Sobel

112 Followers

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Published in

Human Parts

·Nov 20

Ghost

When Sorrow Gets Stuck, and Unstuck — The part of this story that might sound the spookiest is the dream. Or, the fact that I had a sleeping dream that came true in my waking life a couple years later. But that part isn’t spooky to me, because this happens sometimes. Maybe five or six times in…

Grief

14 min read

Ghost
Ghost
Grief

14 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·May 26, 2022

Burn

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. In fact, he looks a little…

Strangers

6 min read

Burn
Burn
Strangers

6 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

23 min read

The Impossible Thing
The Impossible Thing
Listening

23 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

112 Followers

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

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