Thank you for creating this community

You are the reason this newsletter, my retreats & my classes exist. Thank you so much. Plus, meditations on disappearing so we can rebuild, and what I'm reading online.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. I hope you get to spend this week nourishing yourself and finding gratitude for the people in your life. Gratitude is proven to improve your well-being, and I’d like to spend today saying thank you.

I started this on a whim, and it has since grown into a community of thousands of writers invested in their craft and their well-being. I’m so grateful you’re here. Without you, this would just be a very time-consuming journal. So thank you!

I am so grateful for those of you who have joined me online for Pitch Group, writing workshops, and our 12-week The Artist’s Way group. I’ll say it here first: We’re doing The Artist’s Way again starting in February 2024! Start considering if you want to commit to it.

I’m grateful for your support for my ongoing classes. I’m currently helping a full class of talented writers to outline their drama pilots, in addition to teaching a newsletter class. I love teaching, and it’s only possible because you are here, reading my writing, trusting me, investing in yourself, and committing to your craft.

I am so grateful for those of you who’ve traveled with me to Costa Rica, Italy, and Greece on my Writing & Yoga retreats. These trips are consistently some of the most special weeks of my life, and I’ve developed genuine friendships with several of you from them.

I started a newsletter, but you built it into what it is. Thank you so much.

Teaching a workshop on the Italy 2022 retreat

Burnout + rebuilding

I dare you.

In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible, for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success—do not be afraid to disappear. From it. From us. For a while. And see what comes to you in the silence.

— Michaela Coel accepting her 2021 Emmy

Sometime in the early summer, I disappeared. I had finished hosting a retreat in which my energy was entirely focused on taking care of others, and I spent weeks solely caring for myself: I was living in Italy, writing almost 3,000 words a day on a personal project, and biking to the beach every afternoon. I did my morning pages when I woke up and watched old Italian movies before I went to bed. I cooked rich pasta sauces and drank wine or Aperol spritzes with abandon. I didn’t post any of it on social media. I still sent out newsletters I’m proud of, but infrequently. Not because I had nothing to share but because I did not want to be visible. I craved living only for myself.

Craving escape and visibility simultaneously can be a difficult balance for a creative, who must experience deep solitude but who must also share themselves and their work with the world.

My escape had its downside: I didn’t uphold my promise to readers to write here every week, and naturally, that negatively impacted me and my audience. But I also know that I needed to take this time away. I had to burn out so I could rebuild with a more thoughtful approach to taking care of myself creatively.

As writers, we often have many projects in the air to sustain ourselves both financially and creatively, and it takes time to learn how to balance our energies. Sometimes, getting intentional means taking a step back and seeing what emerges. This is the only way to create longevity, and I want to be here for a long time.

I recently stumbled across a Note from fellow Substack writer Lisa Olivera, which perfectly encapsulated my feelings. In her words, “sometimes taking space away from the work is the most meaningful work.”

Now I’m back to writing here consistently.

I have so many exciting ideas for community building in this space, from my recently launched Pitch Group to big changes for our 2024 Artist’s Way group. And because I took time away to reframe my relationship to my newsletter, I’m confident that I can sustain it all.

Thank you for sticking around this year, for reading, for sharing, for commenting, for liking my posts, for forwarding them to friends, for responding to emails, and for paying for your membership.

I would love to hear from you in the comments, or you can use these as journaling prompts instead:

✨Have you dealt with burnout this year? If so, how have you taken care of yourself?

✨Are you currently craving visibility or retreat?

✨What are you most grateful for today?

✨Here’s what the research says about how gratitude changes you and your brain

✨Seriously, gratitude is good for your health

✨The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story

✨Here are the easiest Thanksgiving desserts to make… it would, of course, still be easier to buy one in the store

✨New fiction from Sheila Heti

✨Zadie Smith recounts the pains of adolescence

✨Emerald Fennell on Saltburn and obsessive desire

✨A spoiler-filled conversation with Sofia Coppola about Priscilla:

✨Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

✨Read Anne Boyer’s extraordinary New York Times resignation letter

✨I will continue to reshare last year’s gift guide because I stand by all these suggestions! I removed the paywall.

✨On Substack, I enjoyed this Culture Study piece that resonated deeply:

How I've Changed My Thinking About Burnout

✨And this piece from Astrology for Writers about how we share our work with our families:

how to (not) talk to your family about your writing

Have a wonderful week! Xo

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