A gentle close to the week

With 5 things that made life brighter and better. / Issue 1,504

Oh, hi friends!

Gretchen Rubin shared in a recent newsletter that April 10th was 100th Day.

You get it. The 100th day of the year.

On one hand, I’m glad for this information.

On the other hand, Why, Gretchen, why?!

Did I want the reminder of days passing? Hrm. Not really.

But then I click-clicked through the last few months on the calendar.

I was searching for proof that all those 99 days existed, and that I presumably filled them with…things.

Huge surprise: I did! Much more happened than I first remembered.

And the same is probably true for you, too.

Take a second to go through them, if you feel like it. You dealt with some major stuff, I’m sure. You are trying very hard, to work or to rest or to live.

And I think, on this 101st day, we can celebrate both the rocky starts and the smooth patches, the paths taken and the burdens left behind.

We deserve one big inhale and one big exhale before moving on.

That’s a gentle—and definitive—close to the first 100 days.

5 Things That Made Life Brighter & Better This Week

1. What Inspires Kara Cutruzzula? (Hey, that’s me!)

I loved doing this interview with the always inspiring Michelle Hickey on her Substack. Because I’m, let’s say, unusual, I showed off my color-coded Google Drive and the creative cave where I often work in the dark. And I still can’t get over the graphic she created (see above) — it’s like my customized vision board!!!

What themes or ideas recur in your work, and why do they hold such meaning for you?

Kara: My work is fundamentally about revealing the extraordinary within the ordinary. While my journals and newsletter encourage readers (and myself!) to approach each day with a fresh perspective, they're also tiny nudges saying: now what should we do with our day?

In my musicals, plays, poetry, and film and TV work, I write about the complexity of artistic lives, ambition, and searching for connection in the modern world.

I love high-concept storytelling that starts simply and grows into something profound and bittersweet. I'm also obsessed with writing for actors who might be overlooked—women in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s; character actors who should be romantic leads; quirky, authentic performers.

And because of my journalistic background, with every project I ask the question: Why this story? Why now?

^^ Answering these questions back in January have 100% helped guide the first chunk of my year. Thank you, Michelle!!

---

2. In theaters now, The Ballad of Wallis Island is such a lovely, gentle, funny movie. Also made me want to rewatch Once.

---

3. Spring theater season is in full swing—we’ve seen six shows in the past week! Whee! Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress at Classic Stage Company was a standout. Closes this weekend!

---

4. Colin and I ate here a few months ago, but since it’s apparently still winter in New York (why so cold???) I’m dreaming of returning to Okdongsik on East 30th Street for gomtang, pork soup in a clear broth. It’s a one-item restaurant (OK, they actually have two) and for the indecisive eaters among us (me) that alone feels like a gift.

---

5. Spring cleaning also has a chokehold on me, except my version is focused on puttering and decluttering. A friend of Brass Ring, professional organizer and coach Linda Samuels, has a new decluttering and organizing workshop coming up on April 22 and April 24. Readers of this newsletter have worked with Linda and couldn’t be happier! More details here.

Have a lovely weekend, all you smart and and kind people. If you’d like to share something that made your week brighter or better, I’d love to hear about it…

Know someone who could use a bit of encouragement today? Send this note their way!

Screenshot, fwd, carrier pigeon—whatever might give them a boost.