Give Yourself Permission To Play
The first step to a bright future is fueled by imagination.
This is the time of year when everyone tells you to slow down. To rest. To rejuvenate. And while we should be doing all those things that start with R (Relax! Recover!) I want to talk to you about noticing, and its corollary, observing.
Creativity isn’t about some special talent or some innate genius. Creativity isn’t something that can be taught. Creativity is about creating space. Creativity is about slowing down and noticing. It’s about hearing what your body and mind are trying to tell you.
Creativity is about giving yourself permission to play. Allowing yourself to do something that doesn’t have any inherent value to the world (that is, it doesn’t make money). Creativity is about spending your precious time on something that isn’t about caring for others. It’s about shutting the door. It’s about listening.
Some questions to spark your creativity (and make sure that you’re slowing down enough to notice):
Did you notice how your body felt the last time you saw your [mother, dad, sister, lover, fill in the blank]?
Did you observe your lover’s body language when they walked out the door?
What gestures was your best friend making when she told you that story that changed your life?
What time of day was it when your life was heaved into before and after? Describe the weather that day.
What did it smell like when you walked home that day?
Describe the sound of the silence between you.
Creativity isn’t about the perfect cabin in the woods with the perfect notebook and the perfect pen by a fireplace that magically gets lit. It's about those voices in our heads droning on about how no one will care and everyone will laugh at us and be mad at us and we’ll be failures and nothing we do will matter, and yet, we continue writing anyway.
That’s my hope for all of us in 2025. That we say, “Fear, you’re a liar,” and keep writing.
I'm imagining a future where we have the time and openness to play in the sandbox of our writing.
I'm imagining a future where we can lose track of time.
I’m imagining a future with no destinations.
I’m imagining a future where we don’t compare ourselves to others.
I’m imagining a future where capitalism and the patriarchy don’t suck us onto the treadmill of never-enoughness so we don't have the time, or the will, to create.
I’m imagining a future where the voices in our heads quiet the fuck down for five minutes so we can think. And breathe. And write.
In community,
Ruthie
It doesn’t get much better than these 90s-inspired barrel pants.
You won’t believe these are vegan nachos. And while you’re at it, order the mezcal marg.
The guy sitting next to my friend and me ordered the aged cheese flan so we did too—and we didn’t regret it.
Next time I want to go somewhere elegant in New York City, I’ll head here.
Who doesn’t need a merino polo?
This burnt orange Books are Magic hat is calling my name.
Apparently this liquid s’mores hot chocolate went viral and somehow I decided not to order it when I was in Union Square.
A new bookstore opened by a friend just outside NYC – yes please!
Apply for my 2025 Book Incubator kicking off this month! More details here. Application here.
Sign up for my Six-Week Kickstarter that starts Thursday, 1/16. I’ll be offering two times slots from 3-5pm ET and 6-8pm ET – a perfect place to dive back into a writing project or start a new one. You’ll generate work using my tried and true exercises and prompts and it’s the perfect antidote to writer’s block.
Register for Spark Studio, a new subscription-based writing program designed for more flexible schedules and all budgets.
Inquire about 1:1 coaching for a more private, customized approach.
Learn more about the different ways I work with clients.
I will raise a toast to that future, too!