Dear reader, 

I spend a lot of my time thinking about the function of money, both as someone who is always selling something and someone who lives within capitalism and buys things.

I think this is a lightbulb moment for me, the always selling - while I am not actively writing emails or pitching a new online class every minute of everyday, my website is set up so that you can always buy something. A Creative Advising Session, the paid version of this newsletter, an upcoming online class, and all class recordings.

I hyperlink them in the newsletter so that it is easy for a reader of said newsletter to buy. This is part of being in the ring of selling. I don’t want either of us to miss a chance for connection, which is the honest truth. The other honest truth is that as a self employed artist, writer, and teacher - marketing includes selling and that is how money flows into my bank account and supports my life.

It is my hope that you sell as well. That you tell your audience, clients, customers, and readers how they can have a monetary exchange with you. You don’t have to be shy, everyone is doing it. In fact when you don’t do it, I dare say it takes away from the magic that could be in the world.

At some point I think we conflated selling with manipulation, or being sleezy, or being like a used car salesman. I happen to know someone who sells used cars and he’s also one of my favorite artists, easy to conflate a stereotype without thinking about who might be in those roles.

Using social media again I really notice now more than ever how much we are being sold to. Skincare, fitness classes, online courses, supplements, all in an effort to create more ease. Being sold ease at a cost when I could be drinking water for free.

Last week I wrote an essay for paid subscribers of this newsletter and outlined the eleven ways I have worked to heal my PMDD in the last six weeks. I got some pushback from readers who thought it was distateful to have that behind the paywall. I am always open to learning and growing and being questioned, and this push back helped me to ask myself : what am I selling and when?

In making the choice to keep that behind the paywall I weighed how much I’d spent to get there. I break down some of the costs in the newsletter itself, but it equates to hundreds of dollars in appointments, supplements, and activities not covered by insurance. So to ask someone for a $5 exchange of information I spent researching for years felt correct to me.

If you’re scared to sell something, do it anways. My friend Bear Hebert has taught me so much around the difference of commerce and capitalism and how to sell and market in non manipulative ways. In fact they are hosting Anticapitalist Business School this month which is sure to be amazing if these are the kinds of questions you’re asking yourself.

Another thing I have learned about selling is that you don’t have to just sell your own work, you can lift up the other artists and creators in your life too.

Selling can be it’s own form of creativity, business as a creative practice. If this gives you the ick I totally understand, stick around this newsletter and I’ll do my best to keep unpacking it in the coming weeks.

As I write this I am walking on my walking pad, wearing a weighted vest, with my happy light shining at my face. These objects were all sold to me, and thank goodness! They keep me in my morning routing of writing and working.

Ok last thing I have to sell you today is Landscapes! Today at 1pm EST we have guest teacher Selomé Samuel teaching Creative Money Systems for Writers. Your first week of Landscapes is always free and today you can bypass the waitlist and sign up here. All guest workshops are recorded if you can’t make it live.

When I sell you Landscapes I am not just selling you this workshop or a fleeting moment. I am selling a very special community experience of other writers and entrepreneurs working together to carve out time for their practice.

These thoughts are in progress (aren’t they always!) and I look forward to continuing to dig in. What is the most uncomfortable part of selling for you? What is the most uncomfortable part about being sold to?

I keep coming back to the word maniupulation. I’ve been in spaces where a discount code is running out that actually isn’t, a “live webinar” that is clearly pre-recorded, or someone dangles too good to be true results over my head.

It’s something to swim through, jump in the comments or respond and let me know what’s landing.

→ Double cleaning at night with an oil cleanser and a foaming gentle wash has totally changed my skin. I am really committed to healing my skin barrier right now on my face and limbs!

→ A few months ago I had the pleasure of seeing the new Mary Oliver documentary in theatres - happy to report it is now available on streaming and lands on PBS August 25

→ Abdul won! What a monumental moment for Michigan. Leelanau county, my home, showed they didn’t want to dream of Israel with Haley Stevens, what a blessing. Thinking a lot about what my actions and participation will be in getting him elected this November.

→ This Saturday August 15 at V Gallery is the opening of Jesse Hickman’s It’s Arbitrary

→ My Creative Advising books are indeed open for the month of August and I have a few spots left. Would love to vision and dream with you 1:1 for an hour or have a blast and deep dive for two :)

→ Join me in contributing to the GoFundMe of Tasia Fortune today as a small fleeting way to honor her life

CLASSIFIEDS : 

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[FREE CLASS] Unearth Your Ancestral Commitment: How to stay rooted in your body, ancestors, & the Land w/o people-pleasing or burning out. Join by 9/2 

Turn your small business intentions into achievable steps. Neurodiverse folks love working with me. I genuinely care about your success. Let’s chat!

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