We’re all looking around going, “The world’s a fucking mess.” Right? I know I am. Geez Louise. Thoughts: A. You can look around and go, “The world’s a fucking mess… so what’s the point of me writing and publishing anything, let alone that thing that really matters deeply to me?”

In Be About Something, I talk about how going public with your writing allows you to collect vital feedback that helps you refine your Big Idea quickly. Way more quickly than batting the idea around the racquetball court known as your brain.

It took me a long time to arrive at this place where I root for the Death of Nice. When I was a little girl, my mom was a lot of wonderful, admirable things. But she was not nice. Which embarrassed me. Why couldn’t she just be nice to my friends’ moms?

I struggle with the Tape, which is my name for the voice in my head that basically screams WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE every time I write something that I intend to publish. I still deal with that voice every week when I’m writing this letter. It’s part of the process.

I was listening to the radio in my car a year and a half ago. (I could have sworn it was December 2019, but the internet says 2018 which is… huh.) Anyway, I was listening to the radio in my car a year and a half ago when I came across an interview with N.K. Jemisin.

My voice when I write for you is a combination of 3 things: My personality My expertise My experience Like this! Venn Diagram: (If you know me, you know that I actually believe the concept of voice is more complicated than this. Because I make EVERYTHING MORE COMPLICATED. See: personality.)

A few weeks ago, I shared about a 16-minute documentary, Ten Meter Tower. I know you didn’t watch it, OK? You should watch it. I mean, read this email first but then click on the link at the bottom to watch.

Very little is actually being asked of us, as white people. To start, we are being asked one thing, really: Sit through an entire conversation where we hear about and examine how we are benefiting from racist systems that were created to protect and serve us.

Hey, I have some resources to share with you, which I’ll link at the bottom. First, let me explain why I’m sharing them. … I have watched this Toni Morrison interview clip before, and I caught it again yesterday: View this post on Instagram If another non-Black person asks me “what should I do about it?” this is the face and the answer you’re gonna get.

Story time! Every once in a while I see a business-y advice post or email like this: 1. First, make a list of all the things you find tedious, frustrating, or annoying but that you have to do to run your business. Accounting, scheduling, writing all those blogs/emails/newsletters, learning how to use new technologies that you’ve been putting off forever. …