Archive (Page 4) • Monday Monday

How to Tell the Truth with Fariha Róisín

November 29, 2023

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I’m joined by my dear friend Fariha Róisín for a conversation at the intersections of writing, politics, care, and...

Painting the fire place

November 28, 2023

Yesterday I did not protect my Monday as I am known to do. I enjoyed my day, filled with new friendships and walks and being supportive of other artists, but...

The Importance of the Personal Essay

November 22, 2023

I’ve been writing personal essays for over a decade, and I believe that my personal essay practice allowed me to leave social media.So in today’s episode, I...

Waking up at 5:30am to write

November 20, 2023

Photo by Ellen Rutt, me standing in front of Lake Michigan at Christmas Cove wearing a hat that says CeramicsIn the past week I have woken up five out of...

Leaving Instagram or Exiting the Portal of the Validation Loop

November 15, 2023

Welcome to season two of Common Shapes! Since last season, I took a big step in my life and logged out of Instagram for good.So in this episode, I’m going to...

Writing the Personal

November 13, 2023

Photo by John HansonI didn’t leave Instagram and tumble downwards into a void of nothingness. I left Instagram with an email list I’d been building for...

Channeling new ideas

November 6, 2023

Ellen Rutt with painted shape in the meadow in Northport, end of Summer 2022My daily ritual is to get in the sauna and do my morning pages. Sometimes this...

The effort it takes to begin

November 1, 2023

Dropping in mid week to invite you to Flexible Office, my digital co-working space that begins tomorrow November 2 with a Visioning Session to help map out...

The ghosts of love

October 30, 2023

My press on nails from my angel costume are starting to fall off one by one. I should soak my hands but I don’t, I let them break and crumble and awkwardly...

Standing in our values

October 23, 2023

UPCOMING WAYS TO BE TOGETHER :Photo by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Heidelberg Project October 2023Crafting Hidden Marketing Gems In Your Newsletters : Live...

Blessings ripple out

October 9, 2023

Photo by Chloe SellsThe cosmos are hanging on while the rain starts to freeze and the temperature drops. Blowing in the wind outside the window while I type...

Friday Thread : Becoming and Staying Radicalized

October 6, 2023

WHAT ACTIONS, STORIES, GROUPS, MOTIVATIONS KEEP YOU RADICAL?What books, podcast, documentaries, novels, movies keep your spirit alive with rage for movement...

October 2, 2023

Almost a year ago I bought a house. It felt like the biggest miracle ever as a self employed artist, queer, non binary, unpartnered person with no...

Friday Thread : Social Media Addiction

September 29, 2023

HOW DO YOU HEAL FROM SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION?What practices or rules do you place on yourself so that you may be present in your life?Is it worth staying for...

I quit Instagram

September 25, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES and other essays consider becoming a paid...

I saw my breath today

September 19, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES and other essays consider becoming a paid...

Hiding my best writing

September 11, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a paid subscriberYou can also...

Not so book smart

September 4, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a paid subscriberYou can also...

I grew a tomato

August 28, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a paid subscriberYou can also...

Success on Substack

August 21, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a paid subscriberYou can also...

May the leap from the top be swift

August 14, 2023

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a paid subscriberYou can also...

Alone on the shore

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you love reading and learning in this space and want access to my advice column YES YES consider becoming a...

As the flowers find their names

In the summer heat it feels as though my brain is cooked in cough syrup. Like it is just soaking in there and the thoughts can’t come through to the top....

The plants become themselves

At my house I am surrounded by the plants that came before me and the plants that were already there. Those are two different ways to say - the plants that...

Embracing Your Everchanging Job Description

Making this podcast brought me into a business ecosystem crisis. Very little of my output changed, but my inner understanding of my work needed to shift.So...

Running out of ideas

I have run out of all my ideas.I don’t have any good ideas for classesI don’t have any good ideas for quiltsI don’t have any good ideas for podcast...

Creating Your Offer Ecosystem

Your offer ecosystem is how your creative offerings branch out of your artistry, fit together in the world, increase your income, and expand your reach.In...

The dilemma of self employment

Something I come back to time and time again is asking myself what is the essence of my job. What am I devoted to, what are the reoccurring themes, how do I...

Artists Need Each Other

Izzy Johnson in their home studio, wall print by Lukaza Branfman-VerissimoIt is without a doubt that the reason I float on as an artist and a writer is...

5 Reasons the World Needs Your Online Class

Teaching online classes is how I’ve made the majority of my income since 2017. And it is a great joy of my career to have had such amazing, invested, weird,...

How to Commit to the Life of an Artist with Sky Fusco

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I’m joined by my internet friend Sky Fusco to discuss dedicating your life to art.Sky is an artist, writer, deep thinker,...

How to Commit to the Life of an Artist with Anna Fusco

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I’m joined by my internet friend Anna Fusco to discuss dedicating your life to art.Anna is an artist, writer, deep...

Teaching as a practice

Photo by Mo NeuharthI was on a walk with a friend the other day and mentioned that while I love teaching, I wish I was focused more on my own creative...

6 Tools for When You Don’t Know What To Do Next

I think the great fear of most creative people is that we’ll run out of ideas and not know what to do next.I come up against this time and time again in my...

The desire to stay hidden

Photo by Anna FrissThere is something inside me lately that desperately wants to stay hidden. I can’t tell if it is a true need for the natural cocoon time...

Your art matters

Hello and welcome to the first installment of The Artist Way Book StudySETTING OUR INTENTIONSThis email lays out every step, tool, and practice we will...

Storytelling as a Throughline with Tamara Santibañez

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I’m sharing the mic with my friend Tamara Santibañez for a conversation about oral histories, tattooing, freelancing,...

The magic of the artist date

Chamomile in Mo’s garden Detroit, MIHello welcome to my newsletter today. It’s rainy here in in Northern Michigan and as my digital boundaries continue to be...

Swimming gives me the answers

Lake MichiganToday I want to talk about the serious and drastic measures I’ve taken this week to reclaim my attention and the huge signs the universe gave me...

Finding the Pace of Our Work

This week on Common Shapes, I share four practices for checking in with your creative pace — internal seasons, intuitive sharing, weather systems, and the...

Looking for the in between

Photo by Chloe SellsI am devoted to trusting the in between time. The time between launching one thing and inventing another. The time between going to a...

Thirty five things I know at thirty five

I woke up so grateful to be alive, in the endless gift of life. I am so happy to turn 35 years old today, it feels like a huge accomplishment to still be...

Our Work is a Web with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo

This week I’m welcoming Common Shapes’ very first guest, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo.Lukaza (they/them/Lukaza) an artist, abolitionist, educator, storyteller,...

Doing things with other people

Photo by Izzy JohnsonI want to unlock my creativity in new waysI want to nourish the consistency of my practiceThere is a wasps nest being built at the...

Friday Thread : Tending to our Self Esteem in the studio and beyond

HOW DO YOU TEND TO YOUR SELF ESTEEM?What rituals do you do daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, or yearly to root you into an unshakeable sense of self?When a...

The Art of Newsletters

Today’s episode of Common Shapes is about why I love newsletters and why you (yes, you) should have one.Together we’ll explore the marketing side and the...

This week’s episode of Common Shapes is about the fact (yes, it’s a fact) that your art is of service, no matter what you create.I also share my four...

Fatigue and the digital footprint

Monday Monday is a free weekly newsletter. If you want to support this space and have access to my monthly advice column YES YES, comment on posts, and the...

Common Shapes Podcast

Today I celebrate twelve years of continuous sobriety and my new podcast being in the world! Common Shapes : A podcast about Practices, Systems, and Rituals...

Creating Creative Containers

Today’s episode of Common Shapes is about creating creative containers for our work and convening the spiritual committees that help us make and share our...