Look at these ridiculously fresh + juicy Creole tomatoes in New Orleans, where I’m spending a couple of days before hitting the Florida panhandle for more beach time.
Hello!
At the end of June, I realized that three of the things I’m currently the most grateful for—my writing group, my accountability partner, and my monthly book club—are all things that directly arose from my taking intentional action.
Here’s what I mean:
Writing group: I was looking for other fiction writers to meet with and workshop our novels-in-progress when I met another freelancer through a networking group who just happened to also be working on her first book. I asked if she’d want to start a group with me. She told a couple of others, and our (first bi-monthly, now weekly) meeting was born. I’ve gotten the most insightful, constructive feedback through this group and I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt about my manuscript.
Accountability partner: I’ve talked about this before, but ICYMI: This year, I wanted more structure around my writing practice. I reached out to an old friend of mine, who is working on her own writing projects, and we decided to meet once a week via Zoom. For the better part of an hour, we go heads-down, mute-on, to work on whatever we’re doing and then share about it after our “deep work” period is up.
Book club: I’m always in search of ways to get people I enjoy together and make new friends. Last spring, I had an idea to start some kind of in-person salon, where people could meet up in Houston and talk about different published articles or current events. After thinking about it for a while, I decided a book club might work better, and I invited a few friends. We met for the first time last summer as a group of four and kept meeting every month, rotating homes, as we grew to a group of nine. This is currently one of my favorite sources of community, and I love that it pushes me to read new books I wouldn’t have otherwise.
I’m sharing these three things today because I’d never realized there was a common thread between them before, and I thought maybe it might inspire you to take just one—however small!—intentional action toward something you want in your life.
It takes time, of course, but it’s really gratifying to see that you’ve done something to create abundance in your own life!
Annnnd…*drumroll* 🥁
This has also inspired me to create a new space for accountability within Will & Way! If you’d like to be part of a no-pressure, no-frills Slack group and receive a daily reminder to work on your project, you can opt in here and we’ll start August 1. More details on the form page!
In other news, check out my latest published work:
Quite possibly my favorite piece of work yet—an interview with Arsham Parsi, the Executive Director of the International Railroad for Queer People
How employees can deal with change fatigue
Why it’s okay to go back to an old employer (hey, I’ve done it!)
The “Sober Sexpert” on why sobriety is universally interesting
And here's what else is on my radar this month…
Watching:
I guess I’m in a cult mood, because I watched Shiny Happy People and The Secrets of Hillsong. I thought both were interesting, informative, and alarming.
I’ve been revisiting old 80s/90s movies with my stepdaughter and finding some of them so, so weird. For example: Splash! I had such fond memories of this one, but it is not what I remembered at all. To start: Why did he immediately take her home so they could sleep together when she couldn’t even speak, in a children’s movie?!
Silo on Apple TV - curious where the buildup is leading
Reading:
I read and recommend The Humans by Matt Haig, about an alien sent to Earth to neutralize a threat to humanity. I told you my book club gets me out of my usual comfort zone!
I also loved Central Places by Delia Cai, about a Midwestern-raised Asian girl who brings home her white boyfriend for the holidays, and the soul-searching that ensues.
This is such a beautiful graphic essay, and her mom chiming in in the comment section was so touching
This cost of living calculator blew my mind
When your friend starts posting like an influencer….
Needed this primer on expiration dates to stop me from throwing away all of my mom’s, well, everything
A long but interesting profile on Drew Barrymore, which kind of made me want to watch her show
After not realizing that I needed to start looking at summer camps for my 7-year old stepdaughter SEVEN MONTHS in advance, this article hit home
I’m fascinated by all the jokes about “millennial humor”
Listening:
This episode of Maintenance Phase about Brittany Dawn was such a good treadmill listen
Kind of related because the shows share a host, but this one walking through all the reasons The 5 Love Languages book is *not* it, was really interesting as well
A series on the downfall of Sam Bankman-Friedman, crypto charlatan
Hope your summer is off to a good start!
Nikki
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