Dear Reader,

I have come to an important and profound decision. At this time I will not be folding Pilates into my job. I will not attempt to monetize teaching Pilates or continue on with my teacher trainings on the reformer. I am pleased with my mat trainings and studies and will continue to go deeper there, but will not pursue a comprehensive certification while I am also : in grad school full time, working full time, cultivating a partnership, and attempting to have a life full time.

Me and Pilates

When I found Pilates I found something so much deeper than an exercise regimen - I found a system for moving that minimized my pain, helped me take myself less seriously, and brought me into a complete state of embodiment.

As with most things I become extremely excited about and want to invest in monetarily or with my time I assume I must wrap them into my job because how else can I justify the investment. This aches me to share, as this is clearly a mind warp of capitalism. We are absolutely allowed to take the money we make from our jobs and invest it into any sort of hobby, joy, passion project, or non earning pursuit we want to. This strangely feels like a complete revelation to me, and one I am still letting sink into my bones.

You would have really thought I wrote the book How to Not Always Be Working , alas the Capricorn Moon prevails.

For now I have decided to deactivate my YouTube channel. I know we were having fun there, and I was having a lot of laughs editing videos. I plan to keep experimenting with Pilates and dance videos in Cody’s World - which is my new offering for paid subscribers of this newsletter.

I feel so much freedom in this choice. So much more clarity about what my job IS and IS NOT. I feel so excited to continue researching Pilates, going down rabbit holes, and deeply dedicating my life to the practice. One of the projects I am working on this semester in grad school is an Independent study on Somatics and Poetry and I’ll be doing some research there on the method. I can bring it anywhere! Everywhere! Spend as much time with it as I want. But I do not need to let it consume my work life or charge money to make it be worthy of that time spent digging into it. This work is a big part of what is in Cody’s World as well if you’re interested in following along.

I knew I was taking on too much by filling my fall schedule with trainings on top of getting an MFA and work but I didn’t know how else to make sense of the Pilates shed I already bought and the intensives and everything else I put money into. It felt too selfish to say I had invested in so much just for myself and my in person community to use, like I had to find a way to make it my job.

Then I read through my next book, The Practice of Attention, one last time as I am finishing the copy edits, and read the chapter on the practice of hobbies. Yes - I wrote a chapter all about this exact thing and couldn’t believe what I had done. Or rather, I could believe it. I have done this many times and to great degrees of success. I found quilting, turned it into a hobby I loved for many years, and then in 2020 turned A Quilt is Something Human into an online class that eventually made me enough money that it afforded me the privilege of buying a home. I do not regret turning that hobby into my job.

But I have also known not to start a quilting business on Etsy, take quilt commissions, or have a quilt booth at a farmers market. Not because that isn’t worthy and important work, but because that is not my work. My work is the act of teaching creative practices and creative business. Not making quilts to sell, not teaching Pilates.

I will continue making videos at Public Access Pilates, I will continue to share my findings here in the newsletter, and you dear reader may notice no difference.

But I will have more time to focus on my income generating work, and know when to put it down. I will know when I am practicing something that supports my work, and when I am doing my job. I will put down said job and crawl into a pile on the couch with Katy and June. I will not spend every single one of my free weekends working toward a certification at the same time as being in grad school. I will not push myself to the edge. I will not burn out. I will see the cliffside before I am there and pause and say, I want to pay attention to the life that is in front of me. So I may better love those around me. So that I may be of better service to the world.

Dancing

The root of my entire creative practice is being a dancer, something I have a BFA in and spend much of my life studying. I make almost no money dancing or even teaching dance. This is ok with me. This doesn’t make me feel like less of a dancer or less worthy as a dance teacher. Sometimes it is my job, but for the most part it is not. It can weave in and out.

Pilates may meander through the lines of my writing, as it already has. It may show up in a session in my home, with a friend, or in a zoom with a dear one who needs support. But I will not create a whole new business of doing the practice and selling the service. What a relief.

I hope for you dear reader you find what you love and what makes sense for your earning, not just what you can squeeze into your job. I hope you can create clear containers that support the research, that support the curiosity. May your search be a part of the hopeful generosity that is behind every turn of this work. The work of rejecting what capitalism and systems of oppression have so ruthlessly taught us about ourselves.

May your hobbies be luscious and just for you. May they support the work but not be the work. May their transformative qualities naturally evoke a sense of delight in all those who come to know you.

Paying Attention To :

This morning from my dear friend Chelsea Granger : Want to buy a beautiful art print that directly supports a teenager in Gaza organizing for his family and community? There are two versions Print for Yazan - Etsy and Print for Yazan 2 - Etsy Each print comes with a piece of Yazan’s beautiful writing.

Always returning to these sounds when I write, dance, walk, think

https://open.spotify.com/track/7x1ct7... week in Cody’s World :

Future Visions :
→ Went through and updated the Future Visions database pages with my projects : Prompts, Patterns, and Small Press - explaining more about what each one is and timelines of working on them
New Dance Experiments :
→ New videos from my residency at Atland
Grad School :
→ More prep week updates
→ Created a task database that I linked to all the weeks and months of each class (this was SO helpful)
→ Made a separate page for my professor to show them what I am working on for Somatics + Poetry and linked to that

Become a member of Cody’s World for $5/mo or $35/year and get access to my full Notion Universe - you will automatically get an email with access

CLASSIFIEDS : Your heirloom quilts, transformed into the ultimate cozy housecoat, crewneck, vest or weekender bag. Designed & sewn by Elijah Nykamp in Suttons BayResist the urge to plan everything on a tiny screen, and get the world famous Book of Hours. Astrology day planner with sun/moon/eclipse/mercury info.Want deeply connected queer intimacy without sounding like a therapy speak robot? Take the quiz to decode your intimacy block and reconnect today.Enter into an art raffle to benefit Palestinian families and get a chance to win multiple beautiful prizes. Open through 9/8/25

Want to include a classified ad for September? Click here to read more

Are.na
Email : info@codycookparrott.com
Website : https://www.codycookparrott.com

Note : There will be no Monday newsletter next week. The people tell me it is a holiday and you won’t be on your computer. So I was smart and didn’t sell classifieds or plan to tell anyone about anything. I am taking a break. I hope you can find a small break too.