A friend once told me that when he hears the word rumination, he thinks of pigs.

Not in a bad way, more in the way pigs root for truffles. He imagined them with their snouts to the earth, urgent but patient, plodding yet focused. That image totally redefined the word for me.

Before then, I had thought of rumination as something still. Heavy. Almost stagnant. But my friend’s truffle-hunting pig reframed it: rumination as animation. A kind of messy pursuit. A movement that’s spiraling, not stuck.

Later, when my partner gifted me a plush pig, I named him Rumi, short for rumination. That it’s also a poet’s name felt like an additional win.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I prepare to teach a one-day class this Sunday called Rumination as Route: Crafting Non-linear Personal Narratives. It’s a space for writers who don’t always think in straight lines, and who maybe circle a memory again and again, trying to make sense of it.

In this class, we’ll explore different ways of ruminating, of putting intention behind our focus while letting in a little of that truffle-hunting scramble. There’s value in the digression, the double-back, the way our stories don’t go from A to B but somewhere wilder and more true.

If that sounds like your writing brain too, I hope you’ll join us.

[Here’s a short video related to this post, btw.]

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Rumination as Route: Crafting Non-Linear Personal Narratives

Date & Time: Sunday June 1, 2025 @3-5pm EST
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost: $60
Register here: https://thenotebookscollective.com/event/rumination-as-route/

Hope to see you there!

= José =