#9 Knowing when to quit, when to change and when to say sorry
Find yourself in these stories
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When we stumble upon a writer whose style, themes, or voice resonate with us, it's as if we've found a kindred spirit—a companion whose words awaken something within us. The connection we feel with their work can be profoundly inspiring, fueling our own creative aspirations and encouraging us to explore our own unique expression. Whether it's a poet whose verses touch the depths of our souls, a novelist who weaves intricate narratives, or a nonfiction writer whose ideas challenge our understanding of the world, the impact of their words can be profound.
Enjoy this week's reading.
Too much of something good is still too much
On why slow living is a thief, and how I’m reclaiming what it’s taken
Over the course of nearly eight years, I was lucky enough to have hundreds of conversations about slow living for The Slow Home Podcast (RIP). I interviewed authors and doctors, parents and farmers, psychologists and meditation practitioners, people who carried their rubbish around for weeks, people who stopped wearing shoes, people who swore off money, people who made all their own clothes. Homesteaders, tiny house dwellers, urbanites, permanent nomads, off-gridders and people who made their home in a house in the suburbs.
The Case for Tapping Out
And the wisdom of retreat.
On Easter Sunday 2020, my husband, Mark, I and hiked up a Catskills mountain trail called the Devil’s Path. We signed in at the trailhead ledger. Some notes from other climbers mentioned icy patches at the top, but I didn’t think much about that. The early-April weather was beautiful, and the views were increasingly stunning as we climbed the mountain. We were glad the trail was a loop, so we could see new terrain for the entire hike.
A White Teacher Asks His Former Students for Feedback
What it means to apologize-- and be an educator in the real world
Haunted by his eight years in the classroom, podcast producer DJ Cashmere returned to Chicago to interview his former students. Cashmere had been a young White teacher in a majority Black and brown “no excuses” charter school. It emphasized hard-line discipline and high test scores. He wondered: Was it worth it to his students? How had his own shortcomings affected their lives? And what happens when, post-George Floyd, a school rejects its own practices?
back to the velvet underground: stevie nicks, “gypsy," and ghosts
i literally wrote this sitting on my floor
In the stretch of fall and winter of my 23rd year, I spent six months following Fleetwood Mac up and down the East Coast. It’s a longer story than I can tell here, one I keep promising, or maybe threatening, to write about a time in the twilight of the Obama era and the dawn of my young adulthood when I saw the classic Rumours five perform more than half a dozen times in the span of just a few months.
10 ways to beat imposter syndrome
And how my own doubts gave birth to a Jedi!
It was September 2018 and I had been invited to attend a story conference at Skywalker Ranch in California. Yes, that Skywalker Ranch.
I was with four other writers — Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older and Charles Soule — and the combined might of Lucasfilm Publishing’s editorial and Story Group. Our task… to develop a new era of Star Wars that would support years of books and comics.
Oh, nothing too daunting, then?
Out of the Box
Who are you?
On my year-end review, she wrote attention to detail. Not that I was good at attention to detail, though. She wrote that I was bad at it, that I had an attention to detail problem. That I had to be more careful and check and re-check my numbers over and over again. Like, an infinite number of times. Every document that leaves your desk should be accurate, mistakes are not acceptable, she said. It sounded like an ultimatum.
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See you next time! :)
Thank you, Luiza, for including Who We Are To Each Other! I love your approach to curating great Substack posts. 💫✨
Thank you, Luiza, for including my humble substack in this great list. You're right, we need more of what you do here to discover new, hidden writing talent. Thank you again, I'm checking out all your recommendations! :)