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3 weeks 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.
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3 weeks 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.
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1 month ago | 
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.
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1 month ago | 
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.
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1 month ago | 
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.
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1 month ago | 
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.
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2 months ago | 
kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward
Now that the 15 Days of Chill are done, I’m not sure where to take this Substack moving forward. I don’t know if I will keep going with writing prompts, I don’t know if I will paywall them, I don’t know if I should go back to publishing other things. I started posting the class because I wanted to treat my Substack as though it was an actual job, an experiment, but the results are inconclusive.
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2 months ago | 
kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward
My mentor, the writer E.L. Doctorow, was one of the kindest, most supportive, and most talented people I have ever met. He is someone I am lucky to have known. We stayed in touch for many years after I graduated from my MFA program in 2003. When I finally finished my novel, he sent the first draft to his agent, which was one of the best and most coveted agents in the business.
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2 months ago | 
kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward
One of the reasons I like a daily writing practice is that it's a good way to empty my head of the garbage that's floating around in there. And by garbage I mean: limiting beliefs, anger at other people, frustration with the state of my life, comparing and despairing, wishing that things were different. Writing is also a way to calm myself down. My mentor in graduate school once told me that I was angry and that my anger would fuel my writing. He meant it as a compliment.
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2 months ago | 
kateseward.substack.com | Kate Seward
Day 13. If you’ve been doing these, you’re almost done. If you haven’t, but you’ve been reading, I appreciate that more than I can say. Let’s just celebrate the fact that we’re here, continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Another word for chill is serene. It's a lovely word, full of softness and grace. And I am hoping that these writing practice have been helping you achieve, however briefly, moments of softness and grace. What do I mean by softness and grace? By serenity?