A gentle close to the week

And 6 things that made life a little better / Issue 1,394

Oh, hi friends!

I told three people yesterday that I'm considering March 1st another New Year. 

Are you into it?

January had a few excellent weeks of focus — oooh harness that fresh energy — and then totally petered out for me. February…what was February? When I find out, I'll let you know.

But there was a lot of clearing out the brush and wrapping things up. 

Let's call it setting the stage.

And now — now! — March.

March feels doable. Accessible. Slightly more urgent.

So consider this an invitation to gently close out all the overloaded tabs of January and February, to start dreaming of additional hours of daylight, to make exciting plans and keep them, and to start again. 

This feels nice, to me. 

Does it feel nice to you?

Let's go on.

6 Things That Made the Week a Little Better

didn’t ride this but one can pretend, yes?

“I have a notebook that I wrote lyrics in; it gave me a bucket. So anytime I opened it, I wrote two sentences or two lines; I would just throw it in there. And I really didn't know what it was; it was just like, ‘Okay, this is a little creative bucket, let me fill that up.’”

So fun and mind-boggling to reread this interview I did with Jenna Britton back in early 2020, now living on her excellent new And Also! Substack. We talked about following your creative urges, giving yourself creative constraints, and paying attention to what actually feels fun. Hilariously, all reminders I needed right now.

But also: Little Creative Buckets are underrated.

• When I was going through my old laptops, I found my old iPod. Didn't have a charging cable, but I asked my Buy Nothing group and a neighbor — who turned out to be a theater actor! — gave me one. Charged it and found my playlists called "Autumn 2005" and "New York New York." The pilot of Gossip Girl was also there. Did you remember that iPods had video?! Listened to my top 25 most played tracks, mostly singer-songwriter types and some Broadway covers from Glee. A time machine in my hand. Lovely. Not getting rid of this one. 

• How I finally got good health insurance. Really enjoyed reading this from Lillian Stone regarding her game-changing two-hour-per-day job!

• Calling all friends waiting on overdue invoices, Tim Herrera wants you to go get paid. It's never too late. And following up isn't annoying — it's your right.

• Years after everyone else, I sped-read and looooved Writers & Lovers by Lily King this week.

• Really good podcast alert: Tim Ferriss interviewed Cal Newport about how to embrace slow productivity, build a deep life, and defend your time. I listened to half yesterday (on 1.5x speed because a 2 hour 20 minute podcast is practically a three-act play!) and will finish it today. If you’re having a hard time parceling out your time, Cal suggested giving yourself quotas instead of having open-ended limits on all activities (like, I am taking on X new clients before the summer and no more); and thinking about your work in seasons (e.g. the summer is for deep creative work).

There were other highlights, but these are some takeaways!

What did you read, consume, witness, or experience that made your life a little bit better this week?

I’d love to hear about it!

And have a great weekend, friends.

Don’t forget to rest.