Hello friend,

I got my septum pierced and I love it! People have been asking when I first decided I wanted a septum piercing, which short-circuits my pride and puts pressure on me to have the “right” answer. In the past, I would give whatever answer felt easiest to digest, but my therapist and I have been talking about speaking authentically, so I tell them the truth: I want to be a 40-year-old with a septum piercing.

Honing in on my adult personal style has taken some time, but it’s finally coming into focus. Knuckle tattoos of a full moon and Libra symbol, a septum piercing that will eventually be rose gold to match my signature dangly earrings and wedding band, flowy linen tops, and high-waisted yoga pants. Alternative-comfort-chic? I’m not sure what to call this personal style evolution, but it feels right.

The closer I get to 40, the more I’m magnetized to things that are not just nourishing or productive (though I want those, too), but are playful, weird, and creative. As such, I'm building a personal curriculum about creativity this year. 

You’ve probably heard the prompt: to find more enjoyment in life, remember what you liked doing as a kid and do more of it.

My thing as a kid was creativity. I spent my afternoons immersed in JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, knew all the words to “The Sign” by Ace of Base, which I heard on Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown, and I went through packs of colored pencils at an alarming rate. I dyed my hair pink my freshman year of high school and wore a wig to play my clarinet in the school band concert after the band teacher got in an argument with my dad about how I’d mess up the vibes of the show. Shout out to my dad, who was a badass and let me dye my hair pink in the first place and wasn’t going to make me dye it back for some grumpy authority figure’s boring taste!

I also loved grunge music. Sprawled out on my bedroom floor with my paints and canvas, I created to the sweet sounds of Veruca Salt, Nirvana, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. I regret only learning about riot grrrl music in college, because teenage me could have used a righteous place to put my closeted-lesbian-in-a-small-town anger. I got through my teens thanks to loud music, a room full of art supplies, and parents who supported my dreams of going to college to study poetry.

My commitment to athleisure might prevent me from being labeled a punk now, but teenage me checked the box. I’ve been thinking about punk because one of my favorite newsletter writers, Liina Koivula, talks about it in their letter Lifeguard of Love (see this and this). I love the way Liina unveils their nostalgia and brings us along for reflections on what home, writing, and punk look and feel like. I think it’s punk to speak authentically and make choices that align with your values, two things I’m always endeavoring to show up for, and creativity feels very punk to me. 

Tarcher Press sent me a copy of Austin Kleon’s new book, Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again, while I was halfway through drafting this newsletter. What absolute perfect timing! And they included a snail print by Austin, which I hope he knows fits so well with my slow and mindful approach to productivity.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Don’t Call It Art that I want to keep in mind during my renewed exploration of creativity. I hope it ignites a spark for you to lean into the things you loved to do as a kid, and to enjoy them freely now as an adult:

“Our world is awash in information. What it’s lacking is wonder. We think we need more information, when what we really need is to spend more time figuring things out on our own, fumbling about, exploring, getting lost, playing through our frustrations, and discovering something of our own.”

Thanks for the reminder, Austin!

Update on Aiming for Effectiveness vs. Efficiency

Last month, I shared a free workshop about aiming for effectiveness in place of efficiency when setting goals, and I recorded a whole podcast about my process of choosing four goals for June and July. Here’s a short update on how things are going:

• Work and Coaching: I onboarded a very cool coaching client who I’m excited to support throughout the end of the year on multiple writing projects! I love my job! If you want to work together, learn more here.

• Writing my book: Oh my goodness, I had a very productive “1,000 Words of Summer,” where I wrote a total of 14,303 words from May 30 to June 12. Inspired by my progress, I am continuing with a goal to work on my book every day in June. I’ll keep you posted!

• Caring for my body: I shifted my protocol from cardio to focus on strength training for my lower body, and have found a lot of relief from my back pain. My next goal is to incorporate short walks back into my days to see how my back responds. Wish me luck!

• And my personal curriculum: I’m listening to two audiobooks, Maria Bowler’s Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting a Life Beyond Productivity (her writing style is so satisfying!) and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down The Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. I’m trying to ease into my studies and have fun with it. I’m giving myself an A+ at the fun part.

Curiosities

• My talented friend and previous Honing In guest Bee Scolnick interviewed me for her podcast, Call Your Coven! We talked about productivity and witchcraft and it was a delight. Watch on YouTube here or listen where you get your podcasts!

• Bee is offering a great mid-year Numerology Reading support for the rest of 2026. You can sign up here. I can’t wait for my reading next week!

• Austin Kleon’s self-titled newsletter makes my inbox feel like a treasure chest! It’s stuffed full of what feels special to him right now with links so we can enjoy it, too. I wasn’t surprised when I saw that Austin had written a guest post for Jillian Hess’s Noted newsletter about his coolass notebooks! (I interviewed Jillian for Honing In earlier this year.)

• I secured two Phoebe Bridgers tickets to her Boston show during an incredibly stressful presale and wow, that sense of urgency and scarcity was intense. If you also experienced the mad dash to click buttons precisely at 10 when the sale opened and hope it all worked out, I salute you. See you in October, Phoebe.

Take care and talk soon,

Dr. Kate

Email: kate@katehenry.com

Website: katehenry.com

Thanks for reading! If you found today’s newsletter helpful, I invite you to share it with your friends and colleagues.

If you’re not a paid subscriber, you can support me and access bonus newsletters and monthly co-working by upgrading your subscription below.