Newsletter Therapy
Advice to help you send bangers every week.
We appreciate a bold stance
Hey Reader! In this polarized era, in which every word anyone utters is a potential sign of ignorance, devilry, or confrontation, is it okay to be political in your newsletter? Let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, I wrote something in a newsletter about the guy who is currently in the White House. He was there back then too, and let’s just say that I was not, and am not, a fan. I don’t remember exactly what I said; it was in passing, not my main theme. A reader wrote back and...
Remind me - what's the point?
Hey Reader! You know how I usually start this email with a personal story? I entertain you with some morsel of reality or a banal incident from my life? And you are wildly entertained and deeply touched? 🤣🤣🤣 Well, the news is bleak AF this week, and my body is stiff and sore, and honestly I’m not sure what I could possibly find to say that’s even mildly entertaining without going to the dark side. But I do know what I want to say about newsletters. That there is a point to all these words....
Coffee is for closers
Hey Reader, Perfectionist tendencies. *sigh* Once upon a time, if you had told me that I was a perfectionist, I’d have responded, “That can’t be true - I’ve never done anything perfectly in my life!” Which just goes to show that I had no idea what that concept was all about. 😆 Now I know better, and I recognize when perfectionism rears its judgy head. Just recently I was asked by someone I’m working with to produce a little personal video. She was very clear that I was NOT to spend oodles of...
Are we puttering?
Hey Reader! I spend a lot of time in the yard. The garden. The yard which is a garden. That space outside? 😄 For the past 20 years I’ve been transforming my large front yard and very large back yard into something other than what they were when I arrived at the house. Namely large rectangles of poorly maintained grass, with a few horribly pruned shrubs sitting in a row. I resist calling myself A Gardener, because I refuse to do the things I think a REAL gardener would do. Like remembering the...
Number me up!
Hey Reader! I’ve been a single parent since my kids were three and six; basically they were just old enough to be pissed at me for breaking up their (theoretically) happy home. 😬 At the time, I was a working artist, painting a line of glassware that I sold to galleries across the country. It was fun! But not wildly remunerative, and definitely lacking any and all benefits that would lead to financial stability. So eventually I closed that business and went to work for… a non-profit! Because...
Why wait?
Hey Reader! I’ve been a champion procrastinator for decades. By which I mean a gold medal, top of the podium, national-anthem-inspiring queen of doing it later. Often much, much later. I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to discover that procrastination is just another sneaky outlet for anxiety. When I’m scared or stressed or uneasy I retreat to my vast list of Things I’d Rather Be Doing and abandon that one thing that would actually move the needle on my peace of mind. But I’m getting...
Tales from the Arcside
Hey Reader! When I tell you to start your emails with stories, which is exactly what I'm doing, you may wonder what in the world you’re going to write about. You may even think that you don’t really have any stories, and that your life is dull and hardly worth writing about. You would be wrong. 😁 ANYTHING that happens can be a story, which is really just a narrative with an arc. It doesn't have to be a huge rainbow-hued arc with a pot of gold at the end; it can be a small gentle arc leading...
The long and winding road
I have a day job. Because I live in the United States of Dysphoria, where we think we’re doing everything right but are decidedly not, I need someone other than me to pay for my health insurance. So three days a week I drive to my local IKEA store and sell beds and mattresses and design and sell closet systems. It’s pretty good work. I love my team, and retail is a good fit for my ✨sparkling✨ personality and tendency to chatter with anyone about tattoos, movie preferences, the derivation of...
dyslexia, repetition, and happy ducks
Hey Reader! Remember early in the pandemic, when there were We’re All In This Together signs everywhere? Damn I loved that. I miss those quiet days when ducks walked in the middle of the street. Call me Pollyanna, but I’m an inveterate optimist. 🙃 And the truth is that we ARE all in this together, whether we’re talking about the global economy, or people who share your identity, or your neighbors, or the group that lives in your house. Like it or not, we’re a species that thrives in community...
Mistakes were made
Hey Reader! Today is a good day. In fact, it's a very good day. Why? Because today I'm letting go of shame and embarrassment. So this is what happened. Recently I went to a networking event - maybe I saw you there? I told everyone and their baby about my new, superfantastic newsletter called Newsletter Therapy. 🥳 I may, in fact, have bragged about how good I am at writing newsletters people love to read. And then I flashed my brand new QR code so they could all sign up, because who doesn't...
Advice to help you send bangers every week.