WRITING ISN’T ALWAYS ABOUT US

Writing newsletters can be tough because we think it always has to be us us us…. me me me… look at all the things I got going on! But it’s so fun when we show this world we’ve built, talk about the people in our creative orbit. Tell the stories of how we got where we’re at, and the people who made it possibiel.

GET OUT OF THE WAY

Noah Kalina from “Newsletter #178 – The Chicken Camera.”

“Sometimes the best thing we can do as artists is simply create the conditions for interesting things to happen and then just get out of the way.”

Creating the conditions for interesting things to happen. Yes. That’s why I started my newsletter back in 2021 (here’s the first post). Write about the stuff I want to write about. Maybe other people will enjoy it.

From that, interesting things have happened from Social Media Escape Club.

TWO INTERVIEWS

I did two interviews today:

Being yourself, human marketing and more with Tim Bailey

The longevity of email newsletters, playing the long game, and more with Mario Fraioli of The Morning Shakeout

I’ve found I really enjoy having conversations like this. For better or worse, Substack makes it stupid easy to do a live interview via the app, which means the image quality is superb, and the audio quality is pretty good, too.

PEACE AND EASE IN EVERYTHING

“when you’re living according to your values, immersed in nature, and putting your talents toward things that matter to you, life becomes easy.

There is no cognitive dissonance, no exhaustion, no fear, no guilt. There’s peace and ease in everything, and a rhythm to it. The sense of freedom that comes from refusing to wear the itchy mask anymore gives you energy and optimism, which you channel into your projects.”

Katherine Pomfret

From ‘The path to a zero-bullshit work life.’

RUNNING IS MY CREATIVE PRACTICE

My Social Media Escape Club project takes a lot of energy, but it’s a good energy. It’s regenerative, to a degree. But I can let it take over, too. There’s just always something more to do, to write, another video to make, an interview to schedule.

My creative practice used to be making music, but these days it seems to be running. Yeah, I guess that’s not art, but for me it is. It brightens my day. Gives me energy. I’m inspired by other runners. I get a lot of great ideas out there on the trails.

Climbed over 5,600′ this week, my most ever. I turn 49 next month. Telling you… climbing these hills along the Appalachian Trail is my creative practice. I love it so much.

Put me on a flat surface to run 30 miles a week? Kill me.

But make it 5,000′ of climbing, and I’m in.