Thoughts on unicorns.
My writing journey and on connecting with your authenticity.
Before I get started with my thoughts for today, I wanted to do a quick check-in. Are you enjoying this newsletter? Is it something you look forward to reading? If you feel this way, would you consider forwarding it to a friend (or five, or ten!) and encouraging them to subscribe? Every subscription helps support my work as an artist. And, if you don’t like this newsletter but you’re just here because you're nosy about my thoughts, I’m still so glad you’re here :).
If you’ve asked me for a book recommendation over the past year, my first question would likely be, “Have you read Beautyland yet?”
I read a lot of books. I read books for my job, I read books for pleasure, and I read books with my book club.
My hands-down favorite book of the past year and maybe of all time is Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, a fellow Philly author. The writing is so clever, the grief so raw, the observations so acute.
This past Friday, I hopped on the El with a bunch of friends from book club, and we headed down to Center City to witness an author event with Marie.
She read from her new collection of short stories, engaged in discussions about the craft of writing, and answered questions from the audience.
I tried to keep it together, but the way she spoke about grief and love was so moving that I couldn’t hold back ugly tears (shoutout to Elisha, Jill, Kate, and Allie for sharing in and bearing witness to the ugly cries and to Allie for bringing tissues.)
And while her words about grief and life will stick with me for years and years, she told one specific story that moved me the most.
In her collection of short stories, there’s one about a strange unicorn. When asked about this character, Marie talked about a period in her life when she was entrenched in grief. Her father had passed away, her writing hadn’t “performed” well, and she felt like giving up on her craft. Sitting in a gallery in Paris, she took in the Unicorn Tapestries and was struck with inspiration to write about this unicorn character.
In that moment, she told us, she made a promise to herself to create and write the stories that gave her life, and to hope that if she is staying true to the creative acts that spark joy and curiosity, that she will be doing her life’s work, whether anyone reads it or not.
Guess what? A lot of people have read her curious, quirky, heartwrenching work.
It sounds so simple: Create what brings you joy and what sparks your curiosity, and worry less about what others think. In practice, it’s not so easy.
The day after my talk with Marie, I took the El downtown again for a full-day writing workshop. I got to hear from friends, like Eric of Neighborhood Literary, and participate in panels and sessions that were so inspiring and helpful.
I’m in the messy middle of my novel-writing journey. What started out as a joy-filled act layered with curiosity has devolved into sending emails to agents and bracing for rejection left and right.
Had I not heard Marie’s talk the night before this workshop, I might have focused too much on vanity metrics or stressed over whether I’m delusional in even thinking I’m allowed to call myself a novelist.
But I want to embrace the unicorn philosophy.
I want to stay curious…to make things that feel authentically “me”… and to be ok if the things I make never see the light of day.
I want to find the joy in the craft.
Inspiration
🎧 I loveeedddd this episode from my friends at Switched on Pop. Sound logos are super fun and this journey was hilarious!
🎧 At the writing workshop on Saturday, I made a friend! She is another woman who is smack dab in the middle of querying her first novel, and we’re going to become accountability partners.
Creative
🌟 I’ve been working on lead sheets for the songs I wrote for the Adaire school play. Some other music educators are going to form a band with me to play live at the show! As I was working on the chorus of the final song, I couldn’t help but laugh at the synergy between the words I wrote and the words I’ve been dwelling on for my own craft.
🌟 I’m teaching three grad classes this summer at Temple University and West Chester University. If you’re a music educator looking to dig into Songwriting, Composition, or Content Creation, send me an email and I’ll share the deets!
Thanks for subscribing and reading. I hope you see a unicorn this week.
Connect with my work elsewhere:
🎧 listen to my podcast with Kimberly McGlonn
💻 order my children’s book, Rosie Rocks!
📚 visit my fair-pay publishing company, F-flat Books.
🎤 get songwriting support through Songwriting for M.E.
Love love love! 🦄🦄