Oh, hi friends!
My sweet mother just texted me from California: “Are you ok? Missed your newsletters. Taking a break?”
Hi, Mom!!!
I’m not dead.
I just kinda needed to…not do anything…for a couple days. You ever feel like that?
I just kinda…chilled. Worked. Saw a movie by myself. Ate a sweet potato. Stared at the unrelenting rain we’ve had in New York for four days. Thought about what I’m doing and not doing and all I could be doing.
It’s funny. This feeling doesn’t come when you’re in the middle of the tornado, but only after the chaos is over.
So I tried to think about the chaos for a second.
On Monday, I had my last class in the BMI Workshop. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll know that since getting in last September, writing and learning about musical theater has (rather unexpectedly!) become a priority for me (in addition to a source of joy and, occasionally, agita!).
Every Monday for nine months, I walked a few blocks to 7 World Trade Center after work, went up to the 30th floor, and listened to songs and presented songs and then went out to a nearby bar and talked about theater and mis-accented lyrics for hours. It was the highlight of my creative life. I also had a lot of homework.
So that’s done! For now. We resume in September.
I had the reading of my play. That’s now sitting in a “what’s next?” phase.
Also, in the last few months I was also writing…a book?! It’s a motivational journal. It’ll come out next spring. I’m really excited to tell you more about it. But guess what? I finished that, too!
I still have my daily work at MONEY, I still have my freelance assignments, I continue to write this newsletter five days a week, and hold a monthly gathering for creative friends.
But I guess what I’m admitting is…
I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF.
LOL.
Relax.
Enjoy your summer.
Do something for yourself.
Eh.
I feel my best when I’m creating something or exerting myself. Then I can relax…a little.
Taking a break from the newsletter wasn’t even relaxing, to be honest. If anything, it reminded me how necessary it’s become over 583 issues (!) — it gives me the act of creating something small, every day.
So who knows?
Maybe I’ll start a new play.
Or hum a song on the subway.
Or strike up a new collaboration.
Or redesign this newsletter.
Or write a fiction podcast.
Or search for my Next Big Thing.
Or perhaps a series of Small Fun Things.
All I know is…I feel my best when I’m doing something. Not when I’m thinking about starting something. And definitely not when I’m staring at the rain.
What makes you feel your best?
Do you know?
Are you putting your energy toward those things lately?
Whether you’re in the middle of a tornado, or on the other side, it’s good to remember what you need — and what you can always return to, again and again.
So...thank you! This newsletter helps me feel my best. And let me know if there's anything that I can do for you. I'm here.
I loved this.
Was Late Night made specifically for me? I think so. Saw it this week — in a reclinable leather chair in a near-empty movie theater on a rainy night — and it was just as good as the trailer.
Support this new musical, and two of the most talented writers I’ve ever met, and you’ll say you Knew Them When. I can’t even tell you how good it is.
Just look at this new species of “cat fox.” (h/t Adrienne Vogt, Matt Bemer)
Wanna throw a green wedding? Here’s where to start! A story by my wonderful friend and colleague Tari.
Gloria Vanderbilt died this week. She lived an extraordinary life — which I chronicled in this obituary for The Daily Beast. (Yes, I write obits, too.)
Ava DuVernay is amazing.
How Nina Totenberg gets it all done. (Great RBG anecdote in here!)
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara