Notes from the field

Five things of note, from the awkward gap between essays

1. The compulsion to over-think/plan/learn before doing

Something I’ve noticed in my essay writing process is that every single time I’m working on a new piece, that topic starts to crop up everywhere. It shows up in podcasts in my feed, and in conversations. Other writers start tapping into it, naming tangential ideas I’ve been circling in my own writing. I swear it happens every time, like we all met for coffee at the same secret wellspring.

Just recently,

Nic Antoinette

wrote about being someone who regularly tells themselves they need to learn more before they can do the thing—which, SAME. Here’s a snippet of the full piece, which has helped me crystalize my own thinking for the piece I’m working on:

Something I think about a lot, as a person who is oriented around trying to close the gap between what I say I want and what I actually do, is the question of why I often default into assuming that what I need to close any given gap is information when what I really need is action.

For me this often shows up as ‘needing the perfect plan first’—a Notion workspace, a list of YouTube videos to watch, a fully engineered system—before I feel like I can start doing the thing. Are you this way too? (Tell me I’m not alone!) Or if you’re not, share your secrets!

2. My analogue renaissance

I recently reached the conclusion that I had Too Many Notebooks™️ in my ecosystem. The "correct number” for me is a moving target, and changes often . . . but I know myself well enough to know that when there’s something in my brain that I want to capture and deciding where to put it feels like panic-static in my body, something needs to change.

As much as I’ve loved my trusty planner for years, I’ve shelved it for now (luckily it’s undated, so I can bring it back anytime!) and returned to my version of the Bullet Journal method. I use it for both my tasks and weekly planning AND my personal notes/lists. One notebook to rule them all!* Fewer decisions! For now, it feels like relief.

* There is, of course, an asterisk. I have one other notebook in play these days. A newcomer to my ecosystem, born out of an actual need—one I didn’t know I had, but practically whacked me upside the head in the process of writing this next essay I’ve been working on.

Here’s a teaser, in the shape of a YouTube video. (Skip to 12:11 😉)

3. Pam Houston on noticing what glimmers

Last weekend I attended an incredible writing workshop with Pam Houston where she talked about “glimmers” and the role they play in her writing process. A “glimmer”, according to Pam, is anything that evokes a vibrational resonance in us. (This is a term she’s become known for, and she talks more about them here if you’re intrigued.)

Pam also spoke about the power of paying attention, and how understanding why something feels like a glimmer in the moment isn’t nearly as important as rocognizing the glimmer, and writing it down. Something she said toward the end of the workshop has stayed with me:

“The subconscious shows up, and it delivers the goods. The subconscious is totally at work as I’m out in the world seeing things—and then if I bring them to the page, they reveal themselves.”

I’m so curious, do you have any sort of practice for capture the ‘glimmers’ in your own life? Is it something you’re interested in, either as an artist or as a person?

4. A tip for more meaningful gift giving

‘Tis the season to re-share what might be my favorite gift-giving wisdom I’ve ever come across! All credit to

Jenny Rosenstrach

who shared this brilliant tip last year from a reader named Tracy.

Instead of asking her adult children to hand over lists of things they wanted, Tracy sent them each a questionnaire with questions about their lives:

"It resulted in the coolest responses and really helped me come up with good gifts and ideas for how to make the holidays more meaningful. For instance, in one response, my youngest son mentioned he wanted a yule log class we had taken during Covid Christmas to be a yearly tradition. Another son noted that after recent a move to a new town, he still didn't really know what the best local restaurants were. So I researched restaurants for him and gave him a collection of gift cards to new restaurants and coffee shops."

How do you approach gift-giving this time of year? Are you a stick-to-the-wishlist-er? A think-outside-the-box-er? Some combination of the two? Something else entirely? And if you have any gift-giving wisdom to offer, please do share!

5. A poem for hard times

This one seems to be making the rounds—I believe the poet Maggie Smith shared this on her Substack recently, and then it resurfaced earlier this month inside my writing community. A favorite from the great Ellen Bass, who just … has a way. 🤍

Until next time,
Michelle

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The Webs We Weave is a free weekly-ish newsletter on staying connected to ourselves, making connections in our creative work, and feeling more connected in the world.

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When I feel fragile, I look to sequoias

What's Feeding Me 🐛 vol. 7