Newsletter SampleOver the last month my life was impacted by two incredibly kind and generous actions taken by two people who didn't have to help me.
On December 3rd, Austin Kleon shared about my Better Conversations Calendar in his newsletter. (He'd already shared my "Alternatives to How Are You" illustration last spring, and he was so kind to share about the full calendar when I told him I created an entire year-long calendar extension of the original illustration).
Austin’s newsletter led Priya Parker to place an order for it Yes, I about fell off my chair when I saw that The Priya Parker, one of my professional idols, had ordered my calendar.
I sent them both gift-wrapped packages with effusive thank-you letters, feeling completely touched that two luminaries in the creativity-n-community landscape were interested in a project I was doing. I never expected what happened next.
On Friday, December 17th 2022, I sold out of all the calendars that I had and was ready to coast into the Christmas holiday week feeling a happy sense of accomplishment and knowing that there was nothing left on my to-do list for the rest of the year.
Then on the morning of December 20th, Priya Parker posted a 4-minute unboxing video of the calendar, talking about why she ordered it, what she was looking forward to about it, and giving her 55,000+ Instagram followers a page-by-page walkthrough of it. 🤯 She said this was the first unboxing video she's ever done. Did I ever expect she would do something like this? Nope. Was I shaking, sweating, and crying happy shocked tears? Yep.
A story about remarkable unexpected kindness
Parker, an absolute pillar of all things connection, and whose work I completely admire, was now sharing and talking about my work. 🥰😭
Orders started flooding in and eventually I picked my jaw up off the floor. Never mind the fact that, as I mentioned, I had already run out of calendars. Then, when contacting my printer to order more, I found out that the global supply chain shortages had made ALL the paper stocks I needed unavailable and they were going to be closed for a while because of the holidays too. Long story short, I had to wait a few weeks to even reprint more calendars, hoping that all these new customers and their gift recipients wouldn't mind waiting to get their calendars and presents until sometime in January. They've now all been happily sent to brighten everyone's mailboxes.
The point of this letter is: Two kind, creative, community-minded people with enormous power, clout, and reach did something they didn't have to do by lifting up the voice of someone like me. It made a huge impact on my life, my work, and not gonna lie — a sense of validation that the work I'm doing matters in a bigger way than I even thought.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Austin and Priya. 🙏🏾
In honor of their kindness and generosity, I want to pay it forward by highlighting a few folks that I think deserve to have more light shined on them. These are projects and products that I’m a fan of, made by other small entrepreneurs who are putting beautiful, inspiring, fun, useful, or creative work into the world. 💖
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do ...
Be more creative everyday
The Daily Project Deck by Molly McLeod (she/her) helps you strengthen your creative muscles by working them out every day. Molly is a creativity coach, artist, and designer with an activist heart. In the Daily Project Deck, each Project card offers a specific creative exercise that you combine with a Time card to build a daily art challenge. Or, you could start with an Inspiration card which gives you an open-ended prompt to help you develop a project idea of your own.
Work-life balance for real
Part workbook, part advice manual, part love letter, How to Not Always Be Working by Marlee Grace is a beautiful doozy. The author Marlee (they/them) is a queer quilter, dancer, and writer. This wonderful tiny book helps you create clear boundaries around what your work and non-work times are, and define how you recharge and protect the sacred parts of your life that you never want work to intrude on. If you feel overly “plugged in” or overwhelmed by social media, or feel like you're never quite sure where work ends and where the rest of your life begins, read this — especially if you're a creative person whose creative practice exists in both the work and non-work parts of your life.
Offering reassurance in style
I get more compliments about my Vaccinated pin than almost anything else I wear. It's one small thing I do to help strangers around me feel a little more at ease. The pin is made by Solbeam Studio, a small woman-of-color-owned design studio making pins, patches, and stickers in San Diego CA.
Winter hats for people with a lot of hair
If you know anything about me, you know that I am always cold. Having a crown of big natural hair has never jibed with keeping my head and ears warm in the winter because I can't fit into “one size fits all” hats. Beautifully Warm, a Black-owned company, makes satin-lined winter hats that protect the tresses of folks with hair like mine. I got a sunny yellow beanie and have been strongly eyeing their Culture Cap. And this other one made by Moda Embroidery (which I got in teal) has a ponytail-holder skylight in the top that lets my afropuff fly free while keeping the rest of my head snuggled up. Only had to wait my whole life to find a hat that's affirming for my hair texture.
Comics that are keeping it real
Obviously I love comics and illustrations (my book is filled with them!). One of my latest faves is Oyin & Kojo, created by freelance artist Sarah Akinterinwa. I was already a big fan, but Akinterinwa sent me over the moon when she represented the struggle of having fibroids in one comic. I've also been thrilled to see that as The New Yorker attempts to diversify the artists represented in their magazine's comic illustrations, Oyin & Kojo have been getting some much-deserved time in print. Check out the Instagram and if you like it, you can give a donation to the artist here because Hearts & Likes on social media don't pay artists' bills. (Image: Oyin & Kojo comic by Sarah Akinterinwa)
Well and good
Last but not least, I wanna shout out two people who gently keep me aware of my health and wellbeing. Steph Papadakis (she/they) at Gut of Integrity and Saori Okada at Mogami Wellness. Saori first caught my attention with her educational posts about what ikigai really means (it is not the Venn diagram that's so popularly shared here in the States.) Her mission at Mogami is to empower and liberate people through wellness coaching and traditional Japanese art experiences rooted in authentic Japanese cultural principles that appreciate the mind, body, and soul. At Gut of Integrity, Steph helps strong-willed womxn and gender-nonconforming folks create more power in their lives. In addition to knowing a ton about gut health and coaching people through grief, Steph can give you practical tools to tune into your intuition, to glow from the inside out, and to understand what’s been holding you back so you can move powerfully forward in every area of your life. She's an all-around powerhouse.
That's all for this week! If there's someone that you think would enjoy this letter and/or be inspired by the great work being done by the people highlighted in it, share the love and pass it on. ❤️
Cultivating friendship
To close this out, here are two recent friendship articles I collaborated on that I hope you'll find supportive:
13 Texts To Send Someone Having A Bad Day [Bustle]
How to Rekindle a Friendship After Years Apart [Shondaland]
XOXO,
Kat
