October desk (2025)
A year from now, here are five things from this week that I'd like to remember:
MONDAY
There is a thought that I keep close to my heart and consider often: There are so many beautiful things waiting for me on the other side of my fear. I am careful to welcome new people and experiences, despite the chance of rejection, because just as likely is the chance that my vulnerability will introduce me to a brighter world—one where I feel comfortable being fully seen and understood.
I’ve built up resilience against rejection knowing that if someone is incapable of accepting my honesty, it’s because they are engaged in a battle against themselves, not against me. Vulnerability creates a renewable energy—each time I open myself up, I am encouraged by how this simple act can bring me closer to someone else. When I give another person the chance to see me, I also give myself the opportunity to love myself more. The wins are worth the wounds—each time I share a part of myself and see the hint of recognition in someone else’s eyes, I see myself, again, for the very first time.
—from How it Feels to Find Yourself: Navigating Life’s Changes with Clarity, Purpose, and Heart, my book of illustrated essays
TUESDAY
On Artists and Hopelessness by Beth Pickens; Helen Keller’s moment of realization; the artwork of ATAK.
WEDNESDAY
Words by Georgia O’Keefe that have stayed by my side this week:
“I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.”
“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven’t time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
“I wish people were all trees and I think I could enjoy them then.”
My studio mate Georgia O’Keefe, made by artist Krista Coons (2025)
THURSDAY
To celebrate the upcoming publication of my journal, Learn to Let Go, I invited a few people I admire to share what they’re letting go of, and what they’re learning in the process.
Today, I’m featuring journalist, cartoonist, and graphic novelist Malaka Gharib. Malaka is the author of the beloved I Was Their American Dream and It Won’t Always Be Like This.
What are you letting go of?
MG: I became a parent two and a half years ago and I’ve had to learn how to say no a lot more…to hanging out with friends, to the social life I was used to, to a lot of the free time I had to making art, reading, writing and seeking inspiration through art, music and film.
What did you gain?
MG: I learned I was spending a lot of time with people who didn’t matter—and actually, I was learning for the first time to seek inspiration from the present and to live fully in the moment. In a lot of my artwork and writing, I am writing about the past, but with a child, you learn to appreciate the joys of every passing moment because my time with him is so fleeting.
Many thanks to Malaka for sharing so intimately with us. You can follow Malaka’s work here and check out her books here.
P.S. Last week’s interview was with the lovely Carolyn Yoo:
In case you missed it, I spoke about acceptance, letting go, and making books with Radim Malinic on the Daring Creativity podcast.
We’re only one week away from the publication of Learn to Let Go, and I’m happy to share that for a limited time, Bookshop.org is offering a 15% on all orders with the code LTLG15. A good time to grab a copy or two or five!
You can also purchase from another shop listed here, or if you’re overseas, the UK edition. Thank you, always, for supporting my work.
FRIDAY
One: from The First Elegy
Yes—springtime needed you. Often a star
was waiting for you to notice it. A wave rolled toward you
out of the distant past, or as you walked
under an open window, a violin
yielded itself to your hearing. All that was mission.
But could you accomplish it? Weren’t you always
distracted by expectation, as if every event
announced a beloved? (Where can you find a place
to keep her, with all the huge strange thoughts inside you
going and coming and often staying all night.)
—The First Elegy by Rainer Maria Rilke
See you next week!
xx,
M
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