Ambition, Ambiguity, and a Workshop

Mar 22, 2022

Vincent van Gogh. *Factories at Clichy,* 1887.

To get straight to it, I pretty much lost all sense of ambition December - February.

The drive, which has been almost constant throughout my life, to do more, learn more, try more, be more simply was not there. In the past, when I wasn’t feeling particularly driven, I could still lean into discipline to hold myself accountable to what I thought I wanted. That was gone too.

So I rested. I read books that I wanted to read. Watched TV shows and knitted and just generally did what I felt like. I took naps and maca. I didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t feel like taking photos. I didn’t feel like sharing. I didn’t feel like doing house projects or creative projects. I didn’t feel like working (although I did do that).

Mostly, I just let myself be in that space without pushing for more.

I said yes to a few really great things during that time of ambiguity, though, and I’m really happy to share one of them with you now.

Telling a Concrete Story: A Writing Workshop on Industrial Fiction

Sundays, April 10 - 24, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Liz was one of my first and best friends at university. She hosted the potluck where Sebastian and I met (and decided to be Samson & Delilah for a halloween party, at which I cut off all of his hair on the dance floor and kicked off a fast-ticking series of events that led to the family that we have today). We shared a dorm room our sophomore year, and I remember her curled up on the top bunk around her laptop, grappling with AutoCAD and making packing lists for her study abroad term in Cameroon. We dreamed of collaborating to create a bakery / art studio somewhere on the west coast, but our lives shook out in very different directions.

Now, almost 20 years later, we found a way to make those paths meet in the form of this writing workshop!

Liz is an environmental engineer by training and infrastructure-focused product director by practice. I create and hold space for communication and connection as a writer, teacher, designer, and strategist. And we’re collaborating to offer a virtual 3-week industrial fiction writing workshop in April!

We are facing climate change and public health crises with increasing frequency and impact. Now more than ever, we need to inspire momentum in overcoming the challenges that come with such rapid and wide-spread change. Industrial fiction is one way to imagine our way into that reality. Where science fiction explores the new worlds possible with scientific and technological advances, industrial fiction probes new paradigms only possible with industrial progress, such as advances in new technology deployment, policies and incentives, or coordination structures. This type of storytelling communicates science and technology in a different way– by illustrating its effect on the human experience. Join us as we envision ways that storytelling can (re)become one of our common building materials.

We’ll read Etgar Keret, Jess Walter, and Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum. We’ll learn some things about concrete and imagine new built realities.

This is a workshop for anyone who is curious about writing short fiction, no experience or expertise in the subject matter required! Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

Open Tab Count: 65

I just ordered a copy of Mother Tongue Issue 2, which includes my dear friend Elena Megalo’s illustrated story (and also a piece by Kimberly Harrington, who writes one of the few newsletters that I still subscribe to). Elena sent me an original from this series to hang in my studio and its such a poignant reminder of my shadow.
I wish my children were still tiny enough for the charming capsule collections put together by my friend Emma Wolf for her new project, Good Mood Kids! She’s curated collections of sustainable & ethical brands that take the guesswork out of dressing little ones size 0-24 months — and created a circular fashion eco system by way of a buy-back program for when they outgrow everything too quickly!
As I mentioned, I’ve been watching a lot of TV. Favorites include: Somebody Somewhere (one of the better representations of Kansas I’ve seen on-screen, and heartbreaking); Joe Pera Talks With You (you’ll fly through and then wish he’d just keep going); The Righteous Gemstones (ridiculous but accurate mega church comedy).

One of my favorite things about writing a blog was the conversations had (and friendships formed) in the comments section.

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