Edition 70: An update and a booklet
Despite my best intentions, the past few years have not included writing much here. There are a lot of reasons and excuses, but it mostly comes down to the fact that while I think about leadership and my journey through it regularly, it has become less of something I want to write about.
So this has become more of a space for me to write when I do have those thoughts, and to share things I have made, like the booklet you may have come to expect from me every year.
I am writing now, in the light of my kitchen table on New Year's Eve, to send out that yearly planning booklet again.
But I've also come to a conclusion. It's unfair of me to promise to you and to myself that this will ever be the weekly missive on leadership and growth that it once was. What I think this can be is an occasional letter from me, with no set schedule. That is counter to everything I know about successful newsletters, but this was never meant to make me millions or even vaguely famous. It was, as I have said before, a place to learn out loud. I will never stop learning, so I don't want to close The Middles entirely.
I have no qualms if you unsubscribe because you like some amount of regularity. I will still release the booklet every end of December, and now and again, I will write as inspiration strikes, probably on a slightly more personal nature than prior.
Here is the link to download the 2024-25 Charting booklet. As always, please feel free to share, remix, whatever, as long as you give credit.
One more thing...
One of the other reasons I've decided to change things about The Middles permanently is because I have a new project that I'll tell you, dear reader, about first. For the past year and change, I have been at the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford. I've written about my challenge, my journey, and some of my conclusions. I am about 6 months past the end of the fellowship, and I am continuing to freelance because whatever I do next, I want to continue the work of exploring how complex identity is, especially in today's world.
In the name of learning out loud, I'm starting another project, Weft. I have yet to publish, but I will in the new year. I have many ideas on how to use this space to explore identity, complexity and the fabric of our multi-faceted humanity, and I want to pour my energy into that. It is a newsletter for now (in part because that is the fastest path to publishing I know), but I hope some day it'll be more.
I would love it if you would subscribe, and of course, please send along all the thoughts, questions and ideas you may have about this project.
Recommendations
Reading //
I by far exceeded my yearly goal of 50 books (58 if you count audiobooks!), so a list in no particular order of the most memorable.
- Death Valley by Melissa Broder (I read a lot of grief-themed books, but this was the most realistic and yet also magical)
- Such Kindness, by Andre Dubus III (if you liked A Man Called Ove, this is one for you)
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (another feel-good)
- Yellowface by R.F Kuang (they are quickly becoming a favorite author)
- Broad Band by Claire Evans (a feminist history of computers and the internet)
- Writers and Lovers by Lily King
- All Fours by Miranda July (I am a woman in her 40s after all, it was required reading)
- The Humans by Matt Haig might be the only book I liked that had a non-female main character. Does an alien count?
- Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (A lovely historical novel)
- A number of Maisie Dobbs books, but Journey to Munich was my favorite. It is Jacqueline Winspear's mystery series and a cozy read, always, for me.
Cooking //
Polenta is my favorite when it's colder. This recipe for polenta with mushrooms and bacon was incredibly easy. Best if you use fresh, wild mushrooms, though.
Using //
My doctor has me watching my diet (again). I've actually paid the money for Macrofactor because it's not as diet and calorie focused as others.
Loving //
Also in the name of health, I have become even more attached to my water bottle. It's an Owala Freesip, and possibly the only water bottle I've ever liked.
Adorableness
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