I remember the first time my heart was broken. I remember sitting on the cracked linoleum floor of the kitchen in my rented university house, thinking the pain would eat me whole from the inside. That I would, in fact, die from it. I remember trying to go out, to put on a face, to […]

  We are in a privileged and sometimes happy position. We see a great deal of the world. Our obligation is to pass it on to others. – Margaret Bourke-White There’s an incredible HBO documentary on Robert Mapplethorpe called ‘Look at the Pictures’.  The documentary parallels the artist’s struggles with his homosexuality along with his […]

“I am not eccentric. It’s just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond of catfish.” ― Edith Sitwell I decided to write this newsletter because for the past few weeks I’ve been more self-hating than usual. I feel like every time I leave my […]

Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You […]

“[What does it sound like when you get stuck?] Fuck. Shit. Don’t. Fuck. You dumb bitch—who ever told you that you could write? That’s what it sounds like.” —Mary Karr Writing is hard. Although it feels like it, you are by no means the only person experiencing the debilitating self-loathing that comes with trying to […]

A few weeks ago, I talked about the importance of having a routine. How writers, artists, entrepreneurs, all follow unique schedules in order to keep a certain rhythm, focus and intent to their days. One thing I didn’t mention about the routine was the importance of rituals. If routines are the rigid structures that keep […]