a little thing to direct your day
Oh, hi friends!!
If your mind is wandering or feels like it’s all over the place these days — as mine is — why not give it a comfortable place to rest?
Find a phrase or sentence or statement to come back to, even if it seems like a stretch.
This feeling is temporary.
I have everything I need in this moment.
There is more than enough time in the day.
I am healthy and wealthy.
I am content.
When you find yourself going down the road of “what if” and “why” you can stop, turn, and return to this phrase.
Just for today? Let’s give it a try.
“Remember, the writing is the important part. Resist the impulse to shape or judge your work and worth as a writer according to illusory, capricious metrics—instead, hone your faculty for curiosity; learn to follow what truly interests, excites, perplexes, or pains you; put it in the poems.”
I appreciated this thoughtful interview with Hannah Aizenman, poetry coordinator for The New Yorker. (Have I shared it before?!)
The “illusory, capricious metrics” she’s talking about include publication, notoriety, awards, etc. Hone your faculty for curiosity instead.
Something You Might Like?
You know I love a trick to make life a tiny bit easier. Well, here’s one: plastic wine glasses! It’s not gauche — is it? — but if it were, who can see them anyway? I bought these for Colin as a Christmas present; we don’t have to worry about them shattering and getting tiny glass splinters everywhere and can throw them in the dishwasher at night. WIN-WIN.
PS — If you'd like some low-pressure accountability in the morning, please join me and my brother Eric for the 10:11 Club — every weekday at 10:11am ET, we're starting our day together and working toward one goal until noon. Join us anytime with #1011club on Instagram or hit reply and share what you'll be working on!
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara