Kate Seward

Writer at I Had No Idea This Would Happen

Creative at Freelance

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Articles

Stopping and smelling the roses really works

2 weeks ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

I’m pretty surethe beach rosesbehind my houseare telling me, as the saying goes,to stop and smell them. So I do. Option 2:Listen to beach roseswhen they tell youto stop and smell them. ***I wrote this on a quick walk I took between proofreading an 11 page, single-spaced client proposal, and editing and giving feedback on a three page 1.15 spaced draft of a future Substack post. I had been sitting for so long, I could practically feel my butt becoming bigger and flatter from all the pressure.
Poem: Lemon

4 weeks ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

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Poem: There is something

1 month ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

There is somethingabout the patch of sunabout the hush of treeson the edge of summer,all there is to love and appreciate and admire,right now, in this moment,
How I mother

1 month ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

At the Mother’s Day Paint and Sip we drink grape juice from plastic flutes and watch our toddlers dab watercolor on little canvases. My daughter is so happy I’m there, she presents me to the room as if doing Show and Tell. Miss Alejandra, her favorite teacher (it’s daycare but we call it school), hands me a paper cone with paper flowers and “Happy Mother’s Day” written on it in glitter paint. I think, holy shit, I’m someone’s mother. It’s a state I’m always in and also outside looking in, amazed.
On apologies, all apologies

2 months ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

I almost called this Motherhood/Sisterhood/Friendhood/Daughterhood/Womanhood, because I feel like we apologize so much of the time, it’s basically a reflex. Whenever my two year old says, “I’m sorry,” for no discernible reason, I always ask her why. I probably should ask myself the same. Anyway. Last night I accidentally turned off this light with a pink bulb that my daughter likes, and when she protested, this is what I said. It stuck with me.
On routine

2 months ago | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

Given the chaos of what’s happening in the world, plus the chaos of what’s happening in my personal life—looking for a university teaching job, looking for immediate freelance work to pay the bills, doing the work I have from my one freelance client, doing some exercise so I don’t completely lose it—I failed to register that National Poetry Month has begun!I love National Poetry Month. I’m a poet, so, duh.
On permission and broccoli soup

Mar 14, 2025 | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

I’m having one of those days and maybe weeks where I get home from picking up the baby at daycare and as soon as I start chopping the shallot for the broccoli soup I remember all the tasks that remain to be done, the miles to go before I sleep.
On being kind

Mar 3, 2025 | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

Today I’m going to remind myself(every five minutes it seems)that there is no magical orderto doing thingsthere is only the doingthe actionand acceptingit will all get doneat the right timein the right waywhatever that meansbut the point isit will get done. So let’s hit it, and go slowly,calmlyand with gentleness. Joy Machine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
On midlife crises

Mar 2, 2025 | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

Fun fact: middle age isn’t a number,it’s cellulite on the backs of my upper arms,looking at my legs in yoga class and seeingthe knees of an elephant,only I’ve stopped going to yogaand started lifting weightsbecause my doctor told me I needed towhen she put me on hormone replacement therapy,because: middle age. Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Joy Machine to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
How to manage fear

Feb 25, 2025 | kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward

Last night I read an article that freaked me out so much I never actually fell asleep, just lay in my bed in kind of a resting doze until 6:30. Because I was up early enough to have time to meditate, I did, all while totally distracted by the content of the article I’d read the night before and the songs from the Moana and Frozen soundtracks that my daughter was listening to. The world is a hard and scary place right now. There is a lot to be afraid of. And I was and am very very afraid.