This newsletter is a treat
Over the July Five Things break I wrote down some of my dreams for Five Things. One of them is to have a celebrity guest writer. Not so the audience can grow astronomically or anything, but maybe just to say it happened.
I know people who know people, but I don’t necessarily know people, if you catch my drift. I’ve been in the Gaines’ driveway. It would take two texts to get Bill Self’s cell phone number. I continue to think that if Lebron James knew me in real life, he would want to be my friend. He would come to the house warming party; probably just drop by, he’s busy, I get it, we would find ways to make time for our friendship later.
Instead, the Bill Self of my life, if you will, and in some ways a celebrity to me, Jenna Brack is here guest writing Five Things for us. Jenna taught an extra-curricular creative writing back in Fall 2019 that absolutely changed my life for the better. Her class helped me set up rhythms of writing; gave me the courage to call myself a writer. I’ve benefitted immensely from her one-on-one writing coaching. And I am just beyond honored that she took the time to write for my newsletter, and I think you’ll like what she has to share.
Jenna doesn’t have any upcoming classes, but you better believe I will tell you when she does. She does work with individuals writers, and if that is something you’re interested in, there is a contact form on her website.
I did just want to share for the good of the order, that after a long six months of looking, I found my Outdoor Voices dress yesterday. Monday, during the move, I saw a box from the attic that I had not seen in a minute, and had a moment of wonder. Wednesday, I forgot about this box and ordered a new dress because marketing works and they sent me a “happy half birthday” e-mail. Then yesterday I remembered the box, found the box, found the dress. Well, well, well.
Sign up to get the Outdoor Voices dress of newsletter issues below.
This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter.
Welcome, Jenna!
Hello, Katherine’s newsletter readers! I’m delighted to be here with you. I have a background in teaching English, but I’m currently focused on writing and encouraging other writers + creatives. I’ve decided to simply share five things bringing me joy—writerly and otherwise. In no particular order, here they are:
Number One: Poetry
Over the summer, I took a much-needed break from writing prose, and enrolled in a poetry workshop taught by my friend and mentor Callie Feyen. For most of my life, I did not consider myself a poet, but I have been finding so much joy in reading and writing more poetry!
Here are a few poets I have read recently: Melissa Reeser Poulin (whose work inspired this essay), Luci Shaw, Anna Kameinska, and my friend Landon Porter, who just published a collection! I also read Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, a beautiful poetic memoir.
If you’re looking for a poetry-writing resource, we read Tania Runyan’s How to Write a Poem in the workshop, and I found it accessible and helpful. If you prefer podcasts, I sometimes listen to The Daily Poem.
Number Two: Collecting pens and dental floss
I had to report for jury duty this summer, which motivated me to clean out my purse. (I wanted to know how many stray socks or fingernail clippers were floating around in there before they appeared on the courthouse security camera ...)
If you are familiar with the Strengthsfinder test, one of my top strengths is Input, which means I am a collector, of sorts. Normally, I prefer to collect ideas, but sometimes I accidentally collect things. On the day I cleaned out my purse, I discovered I had been collecting two things in mass quantity: pens and dental floss. No exaggeration, I had FIFTEEN pens and SIX full containers of dental floss in the bottom of my purse.
I sent a picture to my mom, who suggested I must be a writer with good teeth. I told her that actually I am a writer who does not know where she put her dental floss (also a mom who has been taking her kids to the dentist and keeps accepting free samples).
I thought this exercise might make a good writing prompt, if you’re up for it: clean something out (your purse, a drawer, a closet) and write a few paragraphs about what it says about you. If you do this, I’d love to hear what you discover!
Number Three: Weird lattes
As if there hasn’t been enough loss in the last year and a half, this summer I had to give up caffeine, including my beloved coffee. The news was a bit devastating to me, but when faced with health situations beyond my control, I decided to give it a try.
Since then, I’ve been on a quest to find suitable warm-drink substitutes. I hate to report that there is truly no replacement for coffee. My doctor recommended chicory root, and it is NOT THE SAME. However, I have enjoyed some of these mushroom-based drinks, and in the mornings, I am currently making a cup of brewed cacao in my single-cup french press (another thing which brings me joy!).
If you’re a Kansas City local, I have recently discovered the beet latte at Billie’s Grocery and am ashamed to confess how many times a week I feel compelled to purchase one. (I know, beet lattes sound gross, but I have been quite surprised.)
I hope I can return to drinking coffee someday, but for now, I’m finding some joy in weird lattes. Here’s to discovering good things in surprising places.
Number Four: Writing-related newsletters
As dedicated readers of Katherine’s (amazing!) newsletter, you already know we’re in an era of good newsletter reading. Here are a few others I’m enjoying, each with writing-related themes:
The Habit by Jonathan Rogers: This email gets sent every Tuesday, full of musings on writing, or sometimes mechanical writing tips. (Side note: I once took his Flannery O’Connor writing class and enjoyed it.)
Slant Letter by Stephanie Smith: This one lands in my inbox sporadically, but when it arrives, it is always on time.
Ashlee Gadd: Ashlee is the founder of Coffee + Crumbs and the Exhale creative community. Her newsletter isn’t always writing-related—sometimes about motherhood or faith—but Ashlee is currently writing a book, so I find writing encouragement there.
Finally, a shameless plug: I have a newsletter in which I write about writing. However, in spite of my better intentions, I’ve only sent it out once in the last year, which leads to my next thing …
Number Five: Growing Slowly
Lara Casey, CEO of Cultivate What Matters, has a phrase she often repeats: “It’s okay to grow slow.”
This phrase has been rolling around in my head all year, even as I struggle to live it out. I don’t always choose a word of the year, but in January, the word patience kept coming to me. I was initially quite resistant. Who would sign up to learn patience?
But the pandemic has forced me into new levels of simplifying (as we each know, in our own ways). As someone who loves complexity and tends to have a few-too-many plates spinning, moving more slowly has been a challenge, at times. But I am finding the wisdom in it, and slower growth is starting to bring me joy.
If you find yourself in a season of slow, whether forced or by choice, and you need a reminder that good things will not pass you by, please consider this a permission slip from a fellow traveler: perhaps in the very place where you feel you are moving too slowly, you are right where you need to be.