Posts | What I Learned From..

Album cover: Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl (2025). Taylor Swift poses submerged in teal water wearing a jeweled, netted costume resembling pearls or scales. Red glitter text reads “The Life of a Showgirl.” The image evokes glamour, performance, and

What I Learned From The Fate of Ophelia About Hidden Languages

11 days ago • 7 min read

Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you, it's because they think you're one of us. You can subscribe here. “There with fantastic garlands did she come of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples…Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet Ophelia, painting by Sir John Everett Millais, 1851-52 What I Learned From … When Taylor Swift drops a track called “The Fate of...

A close-up photo of a hand with long, glossy red nails and ornate rings gripping a black pen. The hand rests on a white notebook with faint writing lines and some illegible cursive writing visible. The foreground is dramatically lit, with a blurred backgr

What I Learned From Marginalized Snails About Mutiny

18 days ago • 7 min read

Marginalia isn’t mess—it’s meaning. From medieval monks to modern margins, here’s why annotating your books might make you a better writer. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you, it's because they think you're one of us. You can subscribe here. “When your heart speaks, take good notes.” — Judith Campbell What I Learned From … Margins are made for mutiny. If a book doesn’t have dog ears, highlights, and the occasional “WTF” scrawled in the corner, did you even read...

A narrow limestone cave passage with a low ceiling covered in prehistoric red, black, and yellow animal paintings. The figures stretch across the rock in sweeping outlines, some appearing like bulls or horses, faded but still visible after thousands of ye

What I Learned From A Dark Cave About Our Oldest Urge

25 days ago • 6 min read

Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “A cave has two great things to teach you: Light is sacred; silence is to integrate with eternity!” — Mehmet Murat ildan Hall of Bulls, Lascaux II (Photo Credit: The Center for Public Art History) What I Learned From … It started with a dog named Robot falling into a hole underneath an uprooted tree. Marcel Ravidat was just 18 years old, out...

Warm fall still life on a wooden table: a glass mug of creamy coffee beside pinecones, acorns, dried leaves, an open vintage book, a candle labeled Whiskey, and two small knitted pumpkins. Cozy browns and oranges evoke pumpkin spice season.

What I Learned From Pumpkin Spice About Finding Your Flavor

about 1 month ago • 6 min read

Beyond the latte lies a richer history. How a 3,500-year-old spice journey from Indonesia can teach us to create work that’s more complex and alive. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foreign land? I loved to smell them when I was a boy.” — Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Photo by Natalie Goodwin What I Learned From …...

A close-up image of two sharpened colored pencils—one red, one blue—pointing at each other diagonally. The red pencil lies on red paper, and the blue pencil lies on blue paper, forming a crisp contrast at their intersection.

What I Learned From Blue Pencils About Disappearing

about 2 months ago • 6 min read

The real work of editing happens in blue: the messy, invisible layer of questions and shifts that makes the final red checkmark possible and powerful. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “Of course it takes skill to be a poet! But an editor? A pair of shears, a blue pencil, and a paste-pot!” — Alice Corbin Henderson Photo by Tamanna Rumee What I Learned From … When you say...

A close-up of a woman’s hand holding a wooden weaving shuttle mid-motion on a loom. Her face is out of focus in the background as she threads vibrant blue yarn through a half-woven textile. A powerful, grounded image of craft in action — every thread pull

What I Learned From Flawless Tapestries About Defiant Legacies

about 2 months ago • 7 min read

Arachne made a goddess furious, Minerva tore her tapestry apart. This myth has everything: perfection, defiance, and the price of telling the truth. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. "Let her contend in art with me; and if her skill prevails, I then will forfeit all!" — Arachne, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Photo by Kelly What I Learned From … Oh, foolish hubris! The Greek/Roman myth...

Close-up of a beaver peeking above the water, showing off its bright orange teeth and wet whiskers. The background is a soft blur of green reeds and water, creating a slightly comical and curious expression on the beaver's face.

What I Learned From Beavers About Forcing the Flow

2 months ago • 6 min read

What eight beavers taught us about creative resistance, alignment, slow-building ideas, and why your best writing might not wait for the paperwork. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “We tiptoed the tops of beaver dams, hopped hummocks, went wading, looked at spring flowers, tried to catcha snake, got lost and found. How fine it was to move at a meandery, child's pace.” — David...

What I Learned From Iron Gall Ink About Work That Lasts

2 months ago • 6 min read

The ink that wrote history is erasing itself. What iron gall teaches us about making work that lasts without destroying its foundation. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “Nothing is permanent in this wicked world—not even our troubles.” — Charlie Chaplin Photo by Pixabay What I Learned From … For the past two millennia (give or take a few centuries), if you wanted your words to...

A bundle of dried vanilla beans tied with twine rests on a wooden surface. The dark, glossy pods are slightly wrinkled and textured, with some loose beans scattered around the bundle. Photographed in Sri Lanka.

What I Learned From Vanilla About Faking It

2 months ago • 6 min read

Vanilla isn’t basic. It’s rare, slow, and hard to create. A story of scent, struggle, and what writers can learn from the world’s most faked flavor. Welcome to What I Learned From…If someone forwarded this to you because they think you're one of us, they’re probably right. You can subscribe here. “I am not plain, or average or - God forbid - vanilla. I am peanut butter rocky road with multicolored sprinkles, hot fudge and a cherry on top.” ― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star Photo by Sidath...