Out of the Blue

You already have more material than you think. This workshop is about learning how to recognize the patterns, themes, and questions that keep returning in your creative life. Through guided prompts and reflection, we’ll uncover what is already alive in you and asking for attention, then begin growing it into possible directions for future work.

Creativity thrives in the way you notice, gather, and respond to your days. This workshop explores how to bring a creative sensibility into everyday life by paying attention to what moves you, following your curiosities, and treating ordinary moments as magic. Through a series of thoughtful exercises and conversation, we will explore how creativity is already present in your life and how to shape it into a practice that feels natural, sustaining, and your own.

Since lifting the paywall, I’m revisiting a few favorite paid posts. Here’s a mashup of my thoughts on making friends as an adult! But first, an announcement: They’re each two hours on a weekday evening (easy peasy!) in the East Village, which will be blooming and bustling on a spring twilight. I want you to be there! Here’s what they’re all about: Creativity thrives in the way you notice, gather, and respond to your days.

Hi Blueberries! I have two in-person evening workshops coming up in NYC. They’re each two hours on a weekday evening (easy peasy!) in the East Village, which will be blooming and bustling on a spring twilight. I want you to be there! Here’s what they’re all about: Creativity thrives in the way you notice, gather, and respond to your days.

I’ve read that phrase a million times, and I’ve said it close to that number. And, I agree! …I think? Though what exactly I’m agreeing to has changed dramatically over the years. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work. I cannot answer that for you, nor do I care to litigate the finer points of the digitally-mediated direct-to-consumer micro-subscription content ecosystem we have somehow all agreed to participate in.

Last month, I visited a college friend. In our early 20s, he was curious and silly, mischievous and magnetic. In our late 30s, he is all of those things, and ALSO a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church! (Imagine the outfits!!) As wise, gentle, and insightful as he is, it’s startling to see your ol’ buddy from freshman year—the proto-hipster, prankster, and heartthrob—now as a priest.

Once upon a time, I had a CrossFit phase. Mind you, I never actually attended a CrossFit class. (Are they called classes??) I just got really into the idea of it.

At the moment, I have seven newsletter drafts in storage, to which I add a word or phrase here and there every few days, but my thoughts don’t grow healthy enough to provide nourishment for a post. I’m feeding my writing with scraps and weeds—not nearly enough vitamins for sustenance. I’m in a liminal space—a season I’ve written about and romanticized and mythologized on and on.

Happy Snowstorm Weekend, to those who observe! I must admit I dread these extreme weather predictions, no matter how many hours of sledding they may provide, because I’m continually burdened with the thoughts of human and animal creatures suffering in the cold. This is how my gooey brain works, and it really puts a damper on the whole “cozy day at home” thing.

I’ve kept journals my whole life, and started blogging as soon as I figured out how to create a galaxy background for my Geocities page. This year, I’m dusting off some essays from the online archive that I shut down a decade ago. Old work can still find its breath in a new place! Today’s throwback: A reflection from my 20s on living in Washington, DC—a city that took time to grow on me, but has enchanted me ever since.