Let’s do one big Friday push
Oh, hi friends!
Who pushes you?
Your brother? Your sister? Your parents? Your boss? Your best friend? Your work spouse? Your spouse-spouse? Your accountant? Your cousin? Your dog? Your teacher? Your tutor? Your subway conductor? Your aunt? Your uncle? Your dermatologist? Your run group? Your grandpa?
Finding people who expect you to do your best comes with one side effect. It makes you do your best.
Eventually, ideally, you’ll need less of a push and can get there on your own.
Meanwhile, consider this a little push-push nudge-nudge in the direction you want to go on this Friday.
"Confidence is the successful repetition of any endeavor."
The wise and wonderful Debbie Millman’s advice on not feeling out of your depth. From Tim Ferriss's podcast. Here’s the streaming version and here’s the iTunes version. She's just so calming!
I accidentally stayed up until 4 a.m. reading this profile of the multi-hyphenate Donald Glover. This quote stuck out, from when he was ten years old: “I realized, if I want to be good at P.E., I have to be good at basketball. So I went home and shot baskets in our driveway for six hours, until my mother called me in. The next day, I was good enough that you wouldn’t notice I was bad. And I realized my superpower.” Oh, and this one: “Glover explained his periodic career changes by saying, ‘Authenticity is the journey of figuring out who you are through what you make.’” Amen.
Very good breakdown on how to start a podcast.
Tiffany Haddish is probably my favorite celebrity. This GQ profile doesn’t disappoint.
What life is like when you’re a refugee in a red state. My friend Abby Haglage’s reporting from Omaha is one of the most powerful pieces I’ve read this year.
Excited for this book Creative Quest by Questlove, out next month. He has a lot to teach us.
I was really inspired to learn about The Possibility Project, a social/emotional learning and theater program for NYC teens who are considered at-risk, in foster care, or court involved. They also run a program for young men directly on Rikers Island. Through the creative process, they work together to write and perform an original musical from the stories of their lives and their ideas for change, creating a theatrical roadmap for change. They design and execute community action projects that make an impact on issues that are important to them. The outcomes are amazing: 92% graduate or receive a GED and 90% go on to attend college. They have a show the second week of April!
Gotham Writers Workshop is having free open houses with one-hour classes over the next two weeks! Everything from screenwriting to poetry writing. Good way to dip in a toe or two. (h/t Miriam Datskovsky)
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara