First, Backstory In the first minutes of a writer’s conference in NYC last September, I met an editor who changed my relationship with my own head. Editors have rearranged my head space […]
The No Poo Chronicles: My Fight Against Shampoo Absolutism
Will Making Art Make You Suicidal?
Are artistic people prone to suicide and depression? Does being a writer cause despair? Is there anything we can do about it? Listen as two award-winning writers and writing professors discuss the […]
On Mattering
God walks out of the room when you’re thinking about money. –Quincy Jones I think a lot about mattering. Do I matter, how can I help other people know that they matter, […]
4 Shows to Watch When You’re Depressed
First I thought of the title of this post, because when I’m depressed, I find myself binge-watching shows on streaming tv. Then I listed the shows I wanted to talk about, and […]
An Ordinary Life
To be happy, I need to hold on to the thought that I am ordinary. It sounds wrong, I know, when everything tells us to be extraordinary, when everything we aspire to […]
Depression, Medication, and Creativity
Right now, as I’m typing these words, I feel like I don’t have “it.” “It” is that elusive quality we need in order to write. We know it when we feel it, […]
On the Need for Solitude
I sometimes think I never wanted kids because, somewhere in the pre-teen core of me, I knew I was a person whose need for solitude was great. Feeling guilty about wanting to […]
An informal review of Matt Haig’s book _Reasons to Stay Alive_
So I finally got around to reading Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive. I follow him on Twitter, and a friend sent me a couple of quotes from him at important moments. […]
The Problem of Suffering
I’ve been concerned about suffering since I was eight, and I went to a friend’s Baptist church with her. They had fun games about remembering things from the Bible, and—always the showoff […]
Meditation Monday: Interview with Taryn Prescott
My former student and beautiful writer, Taryn, on meditation in her life. Enjoy! –Katie When and why did you start meditating? – I didn’t start meditating earnestly until I was probably […]
The Gloria Sirens 