On consistency, creativity, and saying yes to more
A smidge of birthday reflections / Issue 1,467
Oh, hi friends!
These emails are usually very short and daily. I am mindful of your time, I hope, because I want us all to be mindful of where we spend our hours, how we direct our attention, and what we let into our worlds.
But this one is a return, so slightly less short! I took a week off—Colin and I went to Calgary and Banff and Lake Louise, seen here:
…and we hiked on a glacier and I had an idea for a new play and we cleared our heads and I rode a horse named Orbit up to a tea house where we ate coffee cake and then rode the horse back down—and taking time off also reminded me why I usually write this newsletter every day.
Doing something often is easier than doing it rarely.
We came back and unexpectedly, I had a ton of new subscribers here (hi!) thanks to
, who I didn’t know before this, kindly recommending this newsletter in a Substack Reads round-up.Coleen wrote:
Kara Cutruzzula is the back-pocket cheerleader, angel on the shoulder, and sorely needed Monday-morning pep talk that everybody needs. Sometimes she gives you six sentences, sometimes she gives you more than that. Sometimes it’s just her talking to herself in an endearingly neurotic—and recognizable—monologue. She often makes you laugh, and will always make you feel less alone. I heard about this little gem of a Substack at an artists salon, and I love seeing it in my inbox first thing, because I know it’s going to see me right back.
Reading this I thought, Wow, how kind. Then, Yes, that’s exactly the goal of this newsletter.
This is a very satisfying feeling, to set out to do something, and then to watch it actually happen.
This is also rare. Which is why I return to this space, over and over again. Because it often accomplishes its goal (hopefully, more often than not).
Also, randomly but not, today is my birthday! I’m 38. Isn’t that great?
October 1st is a wonderful birthday (she writes, selfishly) because it invites both the promise of a new month and the close of a year. This time chunk has always been a rich and fulfilling creative time. Fall is the best!
Facebook Memories (eek) just reminded me of the short plays I put up around this time years ago.
Back then, I knew less yet risked more. Did that change happen to you, too?
And now the birthday allows me to reflect on the year...
Maybe it was getting brain-wormed by Slow Productivity early in 2024 or my nonstop self-pep talks or committing to a rigorous running plan or asking people for help with my work or basically saying, over and over again, "To get somewhere you've never gone, you have to do things you've never done," and then really believing that and really living it, or maybe it's witnessing friends and strangers constantly pull off creative miracles, or maybe it's the dark reminder that each year is never promised to us, but handed over like a rare and surprising gift, or maybe it's all of the above, but: I feel a wonderful sense of energy and forward momentum right now, and that is what I try to share with you in these letters.
My newsletters rarely contain "news," but always, hopefully, a bit of connection. Because I see you working hard, too. And I am on your side.
Another realization: I write daily in an attempt to keep the river flowing. When I don't, there's suddenly too much to sift, sort, and share. (Again, does that happen to you?)
Breaks are necessary, but it's another lesson of the year. Find what feels true to you. Then do it often. Sometimes it can be that simple.
Thank you for being here on my birthday, new friends and old friends! I promise these letters are rarely this long, yet today, this one felt true to me.
When I think about the next year, there are so many scenes and songs and stories I want to write and share, and people I want to work with, and friends I want to see, and so many burgers to eat, and shows to experience and and and—
More of everything, please.
I hope you might use this letter as a nudge to go for more of everything—all your good things—too.
Happy Birthday, Kara! 💜
Happy Birthday! New reader here : )