Whether you’re a long-time community member of SmallStack and Small Robin Press, or if you haven’t even heard of us before, we’re really happy to have you here!

This post is split into two main sections—First, I’ll give you all the details about how to submit to our open call. Second, I’ll fill you in on how YOU can help support this upcoming book, our artists, and Small Robin Press, your favorite independent publisher. (wink)

Subscribe now

Small Robin Press, a re-cap of who we are

Small Robin Press is a tiny, independent publisher of books created by those who struggle to be seen elsewhere. We encourage creators from marginalized communities to submit their work and let their voices shine. Whether you’re BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, disabled, an immigrant, or at the intersection of several communities, Small Robin Press would love to see your submission.

To find out more about our submission requirements, or to submit your artwork for the current anthology cover, please visit the Small Robin Press DuoTrope listing. Submissions are always free.

Small Robin Press uses an anonymous submission process through Duotrope to reduce bias and let your art speak for itself. Whether you’re a seasoned submitter or new to the process, we really do want to hear from you. While we won’t be able to say yes to every submission, please don’t count yourself out. Your voice matters to us. We want to see your creations.

Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now!

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Spring 2026 Anthology Artwork Submission Prompt and Guidelines

Theme: Walls—real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Genre: Any art medium

Fee: always free

Pay: No submission fee, $150 payment for selected cover art

Submission timeframe: December 6, 2025, through January 9, 2026

Response: 30 days from the close of the submission period

Submit your work!

Walls: A Creative Prompt to Get You Started

Whether breaking through a wall, scaling it to freedom on the other side, or sitting at the top as you take in the view, walls are structures where great stories happen. Walls are not neutral; they divide and imprison, they enclose, they exclude, they liberate.

Walls welcome weary travelers and define sacred spaces. Walls guard wounded hearts. And let’s not forget, walls don’t just have one side to them. In fact, some walls, like hedgerows, can become their own ecosystems and communities from within.

Small Robin Press is looking for the perfect piece of cover artwork for an anthology of creative nonfiction stories about walls. Some of our essays are literal interpretations, some emotional, some entirely ethereal. Your art will surround these stories, deliver them into the hands of our readers, and speak volumes for those searching with their eyes.

While we have boundaries in our submission requirements, your art on this theme should be boundless. Work submitted should explore our Walls theme in an eye-catching way, but don’t let that limit you. Art of all mediums is welcome. We highly encourage creators in the margins to submit their work for consideration.

Small Robin Press champions intersectional voices. If you find yourself at the crossroads of disability, neurodiversity, queerness, poverty, ethnicity, or race, your voice belongs here.

We highly encourage artists who have not previously had publishing experience to submit their work. We recognize the very real barriers in the publishing world. Our press exists to confront those barriers by extending a hand to small creators with big voices. Publishing with Small Robin Press showcases your creativity to a community of over 5000 readers looking for precisely the kind of thing you create.

Submit your work!

How can YOU make a difference?

Starting a publishing company at a time in global history when stories are suppressed, grants have dried up, and generative AI runs rampant means that the barriers we face are huge. Paid subscriptions help us compensate our contributing authors and artists. Your choice to fund this work also helps us build and maintain all of the infrastructure to communicate, grow, and make space for this vibrant community. We appreciate every dollar you send our way.

Donate to Small Robin Press

What else can you do?

• Buy our book! Our first anthology, You Are Enough, is a gorgeous collection of small voices in praise of connection and community.

• Say something about us on Substack, BlueSky, or other social media to help spread the word about what we do and why others might want to join us. (@smallrobinpress.bsky.social)

• Partner with us to promote our open submissions and the publishing of each book. Reach out to us at info@SmallRobinPress.com.

• Share this post with your friends, fellow writers and artists, and readers who will love the books we print.

Share

Small Robin Press is proud to be 100% reader-powered and reader-funded.

You make these books happen. Thanks for being in our corner.

Many thanks from the Small Robin Press Team!

Hello, lovely community! Looking back over our last few posts, we realized that we’ve been talking a lot about us—what we’re doing, what we’re publishing, what’s up next. What can we say, we’re excited!

This week, we’re turning it back over to you. As Substack starts to feel more and more like social media (ugh), we keep hearing from small creators who feel like they’re shouting into the void, pouring out their hearts and creative energy only to be ignored by the algorithm in favor of larger, increasingly homogenous voices.

That’s not how we roll at SmallStack and Small Robin Press.

Forget the Algorithm. Let’s Lift Each Other Up Right Here.

Today is our first Brag & Tag, a quarterly-ish community chat that’s dedicated to lifting each other up the human way—one friendly shout-out, “hear-hear,” and pat on the pack at a time.

Ways to participate (feel free to do one or both):

• Brag about something you’re proud of in the comments—big, little, doesn’t matter. Don’t be shy. Share links if you have them. Shout your achievements loud and proud. We’ll hear you and celebrate with you!

• Restack this post and tag a friend—share the love and give a shout-out to a friend. To tag them, restack this post in a Note and type the “@” symbol followed by their name. You can also leave a comment and send them the link to this post.

Leave a comment

Tag, you’re it!

Have you subscribed to us yet?

SmallStack was born as a place for small creators to be seen and loved, and our roots will forever honor the best parts of being—and staying—small. Our community is even better with you in it.

Subscribe now

Being a small business in this world is no joke. It takes hard work, organization, and a lot of determination. Here at SmallStack and Small Robin Press, we’re going through all of the early steps of figuring out how to earn our way without burning out, how to embody our values, and how to adapt to a landscape that is both unfamiliar and sometimes outright hostile to creative types. Maybe you’ve felt it, too—the heavy disappointment of AI encroaching into art and writing, the narrowing of “acceptable things” in the publishing world, the hustle to find subscribers and people who care about what you have to say.

Last year around this time we had just launched the SmallStack Library, and our entire Team needed a nap. Out of that moment Nap-tober was born, and we all took a well-deserved rest after driving hard into our labor of love.

We’ve accomplished a lot since then. We ran weekly Featured Posts, hosted a bunch of great SmallTalks with the whole community here, and we even published our very first book! And for a moment we felt that the timing was just right to come back to you and ask for your financial support for our next inspiring project. After all, community support is the only way some dreams can thrive.

But something about that ask doesn’t sit right with us today. It feels frivolous to ask you to donate to creating a book when our government has already been shut down for weeks, when SNAP benefits are not there, and when many federal employees are working without paychecks. Yes, we know that telling stories and creating beautiful books is important to feed our souls and stoke our imagination, but it’s critical to feed our bodies and support the communities that are a part of us first. Right now it is most important to put food on the table and care for one another.

We’re donating to help feed our neighbors

Small Robin Press donates at least 10% of our subscription funds to a charitable organization every quarter. We donated $60 to the American Library Association at the start of this year, and we sent the Trevor Project $135 for the second quarter.

Right now there are millions of people in America who are facing the very real prospect of not enough food on the table for themselves and their family members. Food banks and pantries around the nation are stretched thin, and they need our financial assistance now more than ever.

Food Lifeline is one of many charitable organizations working hard to address hunger in local communities. You can help by donating food, funds, or your own volunteer labor at a local organization near you.

This quarter we are donating $100 to Food Lifeline, and we hope you’ll join us in supporting an end to hunger everywhere.

Your support of SmallStack and Small Robin Press makes a difference in our lives and in our community, and we’re proud to donate a portion of our proceeds every quarter to causes that make big impacts with small gestures of kindness. We’re so grateful you’re part of this.

Donate to Food Lifeline

Have you subscribed to us yet?

SmallStack was born as a place for small creators to be seen and loved, and our roots will forever honor the best parts of being—and staying—small. Our community is even better with you in it.

Subscribe now

Your stories make a difference in this world, and we’re here to take them from an idea to something that you can hold in your hand. If you’re not the kind of person who wants to get published, we’re hoping you are the kind who buys real books from independent publishers, especially stories from small writers just getting started.

For those of you who are already subscribers, we are humbled by your generosity and grateful for your presence with us. Thank you!

With generosity, The SmallStack Team

This is it—the call is open, and we are ready to hear from you.

Whether you’ve been counting down the days (like we have), or if you haven’t even heard of us before, we’re really happy to have you here!

This post is split into two main sections—First, I’ll give you all the details about how, what, and when to submit to our open call. Second, I’ll fill you in on how YOU can help support this upcoming book, our authors, and Small Robin Press, your favorite independent publisher. (wink)

Subscribe now

Small Robin Press, a re-cap of who we are

Small Robin Press is a tiny, independent publisher of books written by those who struggle to be seen elsewhere. We encourage writers from marginalized communities to submit their work and let their voices shine. Whether you’re BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, disabled, an immigrant, or at the intersection of several communities, Small Robin Press would love to read your submission.

To find out more about our submission requirements, or to submit your essay for the current anthology, please visit the Small Robin Press website. Submissions are always free.

Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now on our website!

Buy our Book!

Spring 2026 Anthology Submission Prompt and Guidelines

Theme: Walls—real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Fee: always free

Pay: No submission fee, $50 payment per author

Submission timeframe: October 1 through November 30, 2025

Response: 60 days from the close of the submission period

Submission Guidelines

Walls: A Writing Prompt to Get You Started

Whether breaking through a wall, scaling it to freedom on the other side, or sitting at the top as you take in the view, walls are structures where great stories happen. Walls are not neutral; they divide and imprison, they enclose, they exclude, they liberate.

Walls welcome weary travelers and define sacred spaces. Walls guard wounded hearts. And let’s not forget, walls don’t just have one side to them. In fact, some walls, like hedgerows, can become their own ecosystems and communities from within.

We want your stories about walls: real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt. Tell us of walls you’ve left behind and walls you dared to exist on the wrong side of. Tell us, too, of walls you’ve scaled, broken, or broken yourself upon. The wall might actually be a glass ceiling, a broken/unbroken fourth wall, or it might be a literal barrier keeping someone in or out. What social, cultural, and institutional walls have you encountered, fought, or even found yourself building?

While we have boundaries in our submission requirements, your writing on this theme should be boundless. The essays we select are ones that break our hearts, delight and open our minds, and push us into new—possibly even uncomfortable—places. Works must be creative nonfiction, and we look for the craft of storytelling to shine through.

Small Robin Press champions intersectional voices. If you find yourself at the crossroads of disability, neurodiversity, queerness, poverty, ethnicity, or race, your voice belongs here.

We highly encourage writers who have not previously had publishing experience to submit their work. We recognize the very real barriers in the publishing world. Our press exists to confront those barriers by extending a hand to small writers with big voices. Publishing with Small Robin Press showcases your voice to a community of over 5000 readers looking for precisely the kind of thing you create.

Submit your work!

How can YOU make a difference?

Starting a publishing company at a time in global history when stories are suppressed, grants have dried up, and generative AI runs rampant means that the barriers we face are huge. Paid subscriptions help us compensate our contributing authors and artists. Your choice to fund this work also helps us build and maintain all of the infrastructure to communicate, grow, and make space for this vibrant community. We appreciate every dollar you send our way.

Subscribe now

Donate to Small Robin Press

What else can you do?

• Buy our book! Our first anthology, You Are Enough, is a gorgeous collection of small voices in praise of connection and community.

• Say something about us on Substack, BlueSky, or other social media to help spread the word about what we do and why others might want to join us. (@smallrobinpress.bsky.social)

• Partner with us to promote our open submissions and the publishing of each book. Reach out to us at info@SmallRobinPress.com.

• Share this post with your friends, fellow writers and artists, and readers who will love the books we print.

Share

Small Robin Press is proud to be 100% reader-powered and reader-funded.

You make these books happen. Thanks for being in our corner.

Many thanks from the Small Robin Press Team!

Subscribe now

What a summer we've had! We published an anthology. We officially launched Small Robin Press. We pulled a few late nights, had some laughs, and maybe even shed a happy tear when we held that first book in our hands. We're just getting started. Today, we're excited to announce that submissions for our next anthology are opening on October 1.

This post has everything you need to know to submit, and you’ve got just enough time between now and the start of October to write something really outstanding.

Wait, What’s Small Robin Press Again?

Small Robin Press is a tiny, independent publisher of books filled with the voices of writers who struggle to be seen elsewhere. We encourage writers from marginalized communities to submit their work and let their voices shine. Whether you’re BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, an immigrant, or at the intersection of several communities, Small Robin Press would love to read your submission.

To find out more about our submission requirements, or to submit your essay for the current anthology, please visit the Small Robin Press website. Submissions are always free.

Check out our very first book, You Are Enough: a small anthology, available now on our website!

Buy Our Book

Spring 2026 Anthology Submission Prompt and Guidelines

Theme: Walls – real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Genre: Creative Nonfiction

Fee: always free

Pay: No submission fee, $50 payment per author

Submission timeframe: October 1 through November 30

Response: 60 days

Submission Guidelines

Walls: A Writing Prompt to Get You Started

Whether breaking through a wall, scaling it to freedom on the other side, or sitting at the top as you take in the view, walls are structures where great stories happen. Walls are not neutral; they divide and imprison, they enclose, they exclude, they liberate.

Walls welcome weary travelers and define sacred spaces. Walls guard wounded hearts. And let’s not forget, walls don’t just have one side to them. In fact, some walls, like hedgerows, can become their own ecosystems and communities from within.

We want your stories about walls: real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt. Tell us of walls you've left behind and walls you dared to exist on the wrong side of. Tell us, too, of walls you've scaled, broken, or broken yourself upon. The wall might actually be a glass ceiling, a broken/unbroken fourth wall, or it might be a literal barrier keeping someone in or out. What social, cultural, and institutional walls have you encountered, fought, or even found yourself building?

While we have boundaries in our submission requirements, your writing on this theme should be boundless. The essays we select are ones that break our hearts, delight and open our minds, and push us into new—possibly even uncomfortable—places. Works must be creative nonfiction, and we look for the craft of storytelling to shine through.

Small Robin Press champions intersectional voices. If you find yourself at the crossroads of disability, neurodiversity, queerness, poverty, ethnicity, or race, your voice belongs here.

We highly encourage writers who have not previously had publishing experience to submit their work. We recognize the very real barriers in the publishing world. Our press exists to confront those barriers by extending a hand to small writers with big voices. Publishing with Small Robin Press showcases your voice to a community of over 5000 readers looking for precisely the kind of thing you create.

Submit your essay

Help us keep making books and supporting small artists

If you are interested in supporting this anthology please consider donating to Small Robin Press. It takes many hours of intense labor to write and edit beautiful essays, to craft them into book form, and to build all of the supporting spaces where readers can find this vital work.

Small Robin Press believes that artists deserve to be paid fairly for their time, their dedication, and their skill. Your donation keeps the books printing, the writers writing, and the Small Robin Press Team livin’ the dream.

Donate and Support Small Artists

Buy our book!

Small Anthology, Big Love

You Are Enough began as a collection of essays from our SmallStack guest post series. We invited this community to create something new, sincere, and insightful about being small, and we received touching pieces about love, acceptance, grief, joy, creativity, and community.

"All we have is small," by , chips away at the barriers we construct around perfection and how long it takes to achieve our own impressions of success. 's "Is Substack better than therapy," and 's "A new diagnosis" each tackle how we heal through our connections with others, even-especially-when that healing challenges our identity. "Small is where the best connections are made," by , "Enough to be happy," by , and "Beyond questions big and small" by use introspection and delightful imagery in embracing small as its own choice in the face of growth metrics. They help us view the world through the lens of laughter, wonder, and gratitude. Would any book about small stories be complete without a bakery and a moment spent in wonder at how monkeys and humans form friendship through communication? ’s "The stay small recipe," and ’s "What monkeys can tell us about community" show us that hunger and curiosity brighten our journey of discovery toward understanding small.

Buy your copy!

You Are Enough was produced entirely (and so, so lovingly) with volunteer labor, so we have decided to sell it at cost. We will sell future books for a profit, first and foremost so that we can pay our writers and cover illustrators, and also because we’d like to continue publishing books — lots of books!

Announcing Small Robin Press

For the past few months, we’ve had an ongoing discussion about the future of SmallStack and where we wanted to go next. We always knew we were building more than a library. The shape of something bigger hovered just out of sight, a felt sense of possibility we couldn’t yet name.

We dreamed of starting a publishing company one day, of creating a space where writers without large platforms and Big Five book deals, who had perhaps looked at traditional publishing and thought, I don’t belong here, could find a home that would let their words take wing. This dream felt very far away until we realized that through our work with SmallStack, we’d been planting the seeds all along.

In June 2025, we officially launched Small Robin Press. But don’t worry! We’ll still be here on SmallStack as your friendly neighborhood Robins, though we’re learning to “branch out,” too1. The SmallStack Library isn’t going anywhere. Our mission to lift up small voices, both on and off Substack, feels more alive than ever.

What’s Next and How You Can Help

We’ll be opening submissions for our second anthology this fall. We’ll share more information on the topic, dates, and submission guidelines very soon — if you’re interested in submitting, make sure you’re subscribed to SmallStack so you don’t miss it!

Subscribe now

In the meantime, we’d like to humbly ask for your help as we get our tiny press off the ground. As our values continue to diverge from those espoused by Substack leadership, we can’t in good conscience keep asking for paid subscriptions on this platform. However, you can support Small Robin Press and this community in the following ways:

• Buy our book! Bonus points for sharing a picture.

• Make a donation with Ko-Fi.

• Share this post to help us spread the word.

Share

One Million Thank-You’s

You will be shocked to learn that midwifing a book is hard. Endless decisions, details, checks, double-checks, and probably a few new gray hairs went into its making. We’re immensely grateful to our authors, the SmallStack team, and especially this community for making this book possible. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.

We can’t wait to make the next one.

Robin Taylor and Robin Cangie, co-founders of Small Robin Press

We’ve been away for a little bit here at SmallStack. But that doesn’t mean we’ve just been napping on the beach all summer. There’s been some great work happening around here!

The SmallStack Library just reached 2000 listings!

Check out the SmallStack Library

Whether you’re a small creator or someone who just loves to read and support the work of the amazing writers and artists we host, there’s something for everyone in the SmallStack Library. Our Library has 22 unique categories to help group our listings, and you can also find that next great blog or newsletter by searching through 123 different organizational tags!

Why do we have this amazing Library of listings? The traditional Substack algorithms put the biggest names at the front of the crowd, which makes it almost impossible for us “little guys” to have a chance at finding our people. But here at SmallStack we believe in uplifting small voices. If you have fewer than 1000 subscribers, we would love to have you join our Library. It’s completely free to join, too. Just fill out our super-easy form, and please allow us a few days to update our listings. We’ll give you a shout in a Substack note, too!

Get Listed in the Library

We’re donating to the Trevor Project!

SmallStack donates at least 10% of our subscription funds to a charitable organization every quarter. We donated $25 to the American Library Association at the start of this year, and we’re back with another donation update for the second quarter.

With Pride month just behind us, the best place for our money to go is into the hands of people who care deeply about supporting LGBTQIA2S+ youth and young adults. The Trevor Project provides an incredible amount of community support with their crisis lines, critical research, and educational resources. You can find out more of them by clicking on the link below.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

The support provided by the Trevor Project is essential in light of the current administration’s defunding of the LGBTQ+ line within the national suicide lifeline (available by dialing 988). We encourage anyone who is able to donate to them, spread the word about the great work they do, and let others know about this resource.

We’re so excited to be donating $135 to Trevor this quarter!

Have you subscribed to us yet?

Our subscribers—free and paid—make all the difference to us. The SmallStack Library is a completely free resource we provide through an outstanding (unpaid) team. When you choose to support us financially, you’re saying yes to small publications, to small writers, and to community engagement that matters.

And, as we announced not long ago, SmallStack has become a publisher of real books! This means your funding is even more important than ever. As a publisher, SmallStack has to pay for essential stuff like printing costs and distribution of our books. While we’re getting ourselves up and running, your paid subscription or donation of money to SmallStack makes it possible for us to pay those bills.

Your stories make a difference in this world, too, and we’re here to take them from an idea to something that you can hold in your hand. If you’re not the kind of person who wants to get published, we’re hoping you are the kind who buys real books from independent publishers, especially stories from small writers just getting started.

For those of you who are already subscribers, we are humbled by your generosity and grateful for your presence with us. Thank you!

Subscribe now

You can also donate to our Ko-Fi page once or on a recurring basis.

SmallStack's Kofi Page

We have some pretty dang exciting stuff happening around here, so stay tuned for our next few announcements. Who knows, there might be a book cover reveal showing up soon…

Unapologetically small and proud of it, The SmallStack Team

Subscribe now

Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by Team member . Robin writes:

As a hobby carpenter, I really enjoyed how careful and thorough Daniel’s exploration of cutting and listening to his tools turned out. Is the fine art of measuring well lost to us? Not if this post is any indication!

A SmallStack Featured Post

Sawing Basics: My First Try

In this exciting step-by-step episode from The Woodworking Shed, I'm putting theory to the test and finally breaking out the Ryoba for my first-ever saw cuts!

By

Making the Cut

Welcome back to The Woodworking Shed!

This week I’m putting reading into practice! I’m sawing wood.

This is the first true step on my hand tool woodworking journey - So let's hope I don't embarrass myself too much!

I'm going to step through the process from a beginner’s perspective using what I have learned so if you’re a newbie too it can be used as a guide.

Let's go for it!

Join the Woodworking Shed community! Subscribe for free to get the latest projects, tips, and tales from my shed. Let's build something together! 🪚🤝

Subscribe

Got Wood..!?

…Sorry, couldn’t resist!

Not much of a sawing guide with nothing to cut…

I've been working on my shed-to-workshop conversion and recently hit a snag… So I’m sawing with a purpose!

Want to know more about the snag? Check out this post!

The Woodworking Shed

Workshop #4: A Splash of Paint...

New to The Woodworking Shed? Don't worry! I've made a handy index page to find every episode in this series and more…

Read more

a year ago · 4 likes · Daniel Limb

Knowing where to cut…

Let’s talk about cutting lists…

If you’re planning a woodworking project, you should always create one. It helps you plan how much material you need to buy and avoids paying for delivery twice when you've guessed wrong! (That didn’t happen… I promise!)

So what is a cutting list?

It’s exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a list of the cuts that you need to make to prepare the material for the project.

To make one you just need to measure all of the areas you need the material. Better yet if you have a drawing, work it out from there!

Make sure to add a little bit to each measurement to give yourself some leeway - Especially if you plan to plane it down later.

You can see my cutting list for the shed framework pictured (No comments on my handwriting!).

It was quick and easy to do, though I’m not sure how accurate the measurements are - It WAS pretty dark in the shed…

That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Once you have a cutting list you can easily calculate how much material you need by looking at the lengths of wood available to buy and mapping out how to make the most of that material.

Efficiency saves you money here.

Got any tips for an effective cutting list? I want to hear them!

Tools used

Right, tools… 1. Hacksaw, 2. String… hang on… We do things properly around here!

Here's a list of tools used in this episode:

• Ryoba Saw

• Combination Square

• Tape Measure

• Knife

• Pencil

So now we know what to cut, where to cut, and what we need to cut with, the boring stuff is complete…

Let’s get chopping!

Measure Twice… Cut Once…

This is so important - If you measure too short and cut without checking. You either need a seat of the pants redesign or you’ve lost that piece.

Don’t risk it - Measure, then measure again!

I’m measuring out to cut a piece 174cm long, so I’ve marked it out with my tape measure (And then checked it!).

Next up, I’m marking my cut across the material using my combination square. You can use a set square or anything you know has a perfect 90 degree on it.

You should transfer this line down the sides of the piece too. Why? Because that’s how you’ll know if your saw cut has gone off track!

Tip: It’s a good idea to mark the wood on the “waste” side ( Something I forgot to do!). So you know which bit of the wood you want to keep! Pretty handy when sawing down the middle.

Marking out the cut on 3 faces is a beginner-friendly way to visualise the cut you need to make. However, it is optional and can be skipped when you are comfortable with the next step…

What’s your biggest measurement fail? I know you have one… Let’s laugh about it in the comments!

The Knife Wall Technique

Not a wall you want to climb.

The knife wall technique is supposed to help prevent tear-out by scoring the wood fibres ahead of the cut. Essentially, it creates a clean edge by cutting the fibres before they have a chance to tear.

Tear out is where the wood fibres get ripped out rather than cut. It’s what causes those ugly splintery edges and chipped ends… There’s a picture later.

I say that it’s supposed to do that because I’ve never tried it… Until now! The following images are from my first-ever knife wall - You’ll have to wait till later to know if it worked or not!

Let’s give it a try…

Using a knife against my combination square I’m scoring firmly over my pencil line.

Tip: Roll the knife over the edge of the material to transfer the line onto the next face.

This technique needs to be done around all four faces of the material to work properly!

Once that’s done it’s time to make the cut…

Breaking Out The Ryoba

This is exciting… The first outing of my new saw. The Ryoba! The perfect opportunity to make a fool of myself!

I need to make sure I’m using the right side of this double-sided sawing machine. I’m not too sure what will happen if I get it wrong but I’m not willing to find out today!

I’m cutting across the grain here so I need the crosscut teeth. You can see the difference in the picture above. I may have to mark the saw with a Sharpie for quick reference!

Here we go… sawing time…

First, I line up the saw with my knife wall - Hold my breath - And start my cut.

I started out by making a full stroke of the saw keeping the teeth flat across the whole width of the material. I used the tips of my fingers as a saw guide too.

Tip: Saw with your elbow. Lock your wrist. The saw is an extension of your arm not your hand.

After this, I started to angle down. I kept going like this until I’d finished the cut.

Tip: Listen to the saw, the cutting sound changes massively when you’re almost through. This is your cue to slow down and support the material to ensure a clean cut!

I was a little nervous because I had always planned, for better or worse, to make this post using photos from my actual first attempt. This is real.

Regardless, I went straight to the combination square to see how I did. Much to my surprise - It’s SQUARE! At least close enough to be proud of it!

Look at that!

Talk about beginner’s luck…

Join the Woodworking Shed community! Subscribe for free to get the latest projects, tips, and tales from my shed. Let's build something together! 🪚🤝

Cutting Square: Reflections

Let's talk more about cutting things square. See that lovely mirror finish on the saw? It’s your biggest ally.

When you place your saw on the material ready to cut. Just check that reflection. If the mirror effect looks like the wood goes off into infinity in a STRAIGHT line. You’re square.

I’ve added some lines to the action shot below to try and demonstrate this. The reflection looks like a continuation of the wood. and even lines up with the other side past my hand.

This simple trick will really boost your sawing skills. Try it!

Proving The Knife Wall

Right… Knife walls… Do they work?

On my second cut, I skipped it. I went straight from measuring to cutting and here is the result:

A huge chip tore off the end.

I used the exact same cutting technique the only difference was that I didn’t use a knife wall.

I had to try it - Put the technique to the test. I wanted to see if I was wasting my time. And now I know.

Use a knife wall - It works!

Transferring Those Lines

Here’s another great tip I’ve been using…

If you need multiple pieces of the same length, you don’t have to measure all of them. The cut length can simply be transferred onto the next piece and so on.

Here’s how I did it:

I made sure that both pieces were aligned squarely at the end and clamped them together.

Next, I used my knife to transfer the length of the cut piece.

Don’t do this with a pencil! You need to really get into the edge of the material else every transfer will be slightly longer!

Finishing Up

Wow, that was pretty exciting! The first-ever saw cuts from The Woodworking Shed. It was nice to finally pick up some tools and get to work on something woodworking-related.

Now I’m even more excited to start on my workbench! But I need to get the workshop finished first.

It’s a slow road but you know what they say:

…Good things come to those who wait. Blah blah. Get a move on Daniel.

I need to learn how to cut angles next…

What do you think of my first cuts!? Got any top tips to add? Let me know.

About the author

, an engineer by day and an aspiring woodworker by night, started The Woodworking Shed as an outlet for his own creative journey. What began as a personal progress record quickly blossomed into a deep passion for making woodworking accessible to everyone. An unknown interest in writing became intertwined with his craft, making him a true literary lumberjack. He's dedicated to doing the research so you don't have to, inspiring readers to confidently pick up their tools and create.

is a beginner-friendly woodworking community with a focus on traditional hand tools. This blog shares my real-time progress, tool discoveries, and mishaps. It's about making woodworking accessible and experiencing the joy of building something awesome, together.

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by community member . Lindsey writes:

I'm nominating Life, Improvised because it brilliantly captures the art of adapting, problem-solving, and finding creativity in the unexpected. Mary’s post, Creating Something from Something, is a perfect example of how improvisation isn’t just for the stage—it’s a mindset for life. With humor, insight, and a refreshingly honest take on navigating uncertainty, she reminds us that even when we don’t have all the answers, we can always make something meaningful out of what we do have. It’s the kind of piece that leaves you feeling inspired to embrace the mess and magic of figuring it out as you go.

A SmallStack Featured Post

Creating Something from Something

What improvisation teaches us about creating something from something, adaptability, and the messy (and occasionally ridiculous) magic of figuring it out as we go.

By

Improvising involves creating something from nothing and figuring it out as we go. In an improv scene there we are, just people on a stage, sans props or fancy sets, moving the scene along, word by word, moment by moment. Though it might appear that we’re starting from nothing, we’re always really starting from something. Whether it’s a suggestion from the audience in an improv show or it’s an inkling of an idea or an experience that inspires the creation, we’re always starting from somewhere. An improvisation practice just helps us figure out and improve creating from that something, moving the scene forward onstage and off.

Lately I’ve been reflecting about why I was initially so drawn to improv and why I continue to find it such a potent practice, and though there seems to be hundreds of reasons, many of which I’ve written and shared about over the 10+ years I’ve been improvising, and will continue to write and share about, I want to share about a particular aspect…

Life, Improvised is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

When improvising we’re creating something from seemingly nothing, but actually something and figuring it out as we go.

So, by improvising we improve our ability to create something from something and figure it out as we go.

My work as an entrepreneur, starting at age 14, is a type of improvisational work. I’ve long said and continue to believe – entrepreneurs are improvisers. We’re creating something from something - an idea, an experience, a problem we’ve observed and just can’t not try and solve - and figuring it out as we go. And also we need to adapt to change, build trust among teams, communicate clearly, and make decisions with limited information (all things good entrepreneurs and improvisers must excel at).

For me, as a teenage entrepreneur, the something I started from was a kernel of an idea and a desire to have an Italian treat in my home state where it wasn’t readily available. So, I started from a sugar craving? a creative idea? There was something there to start from and by improvising, saying “yes” to that idea “and” building from there, accepting the gifts like support from my parents, playing the scene I was in, and making new and weird choices along the way, learning from the moments that came up, figuring it out along the way. Starting and building a business is an improvisation.

Entrepreneurs aren’t the only professional improvisers. Anyone who makes something or wants to make something, anything – writing a book, starting a business, launching a new product, searching for a new job, making a movie, writing and sending out holiday cards, cooking dinner, raising kids – you are creating something from something. Whether you have a recipe, a book or class with ‘simple’ steps to do what you set out to do, or a thoughtful plan or not, you’re still tasked with starting from scratch, taking action, and figuring it out as you go.

When it comes to getting better at creating something from something and building a better ability to figure it out as you go, there’s no better practice than improvisation. Where else can you get so many repetitions creating something from seemingly nothing, just something small or slight, figuring it out as you go?!

If you want to get stronger, you go to the gym, regularly. You need to get in multiple reps, multiple sets, over multiple days.

Or, if you’re like me and want to build core strength and use social media less, you do a plank pose almost every day, whilst looking at instagram, because it works to improve both those intentions.

If you want to improve your adaptability, creativity, collaboration, ability to adapt and navigate uncertain and changing situations that are outside of your control, and do so with a sense of humor, you’ve got to get in the reps, and sets, over multiple days. So far, an improvisation practice is the best one I’ve found to get in those reps, and get in the reps for so many skills and abilities all at once.

Here are some ways you can start or continue your improvisation practice:

• Take an improv class at a local improv theatre (keep in mind that a typical improv comedy class likely won’t draw the connection applying improv principles to life and work. Some theatres offer specific classes addressing improvising offstage)

• Apply to take the 6-week virtual How to Handle Anything virtual improv course

• Join me any Monday, at 11 am PT for an improv + writing session

Today actually marked the first day of the Monday Making Improv+Writing Sessions (work in progress name :), during which we spent some time practicing improv to get our brain in creating mode, and then spent time writing (or making, which could mean drawing, crafting, etc). For the time being I’ll be hosting these on Mondays at 11 am PT, for a space to create something you’re working on creating from something, an idea or intention you have, or to write in response to some writing prompts.

During today’s “Improv + Writing” session I shared these reflection inspiring writing prompts:

• What have you created from nothing?

• How did you figure it out as you went? What helped you?

• How might you improvise in what you’re creating this year?

I leave these questions with you in case you’d like to reflect on your journey creating from nothing.

Here’s to a year filled with creating something from something and figuring it out as we go,

☺ Mary

About the author

is a multidisciplinary storyteller whose work spans writing, film, illustration, and entrepreneurship. She’s the author of the forthcoming book How to Handle Anything and host of the podcast by the same name. A University of Michigan graduate and Second City trained improviser, she uses humor and creativity to explore life’s curveballs and help leaders and teams create possibilities. She wrote and directed an award-winning short film, creates whimsical food pun illustrations, and once founded a gelato company. Through her Substack, Life, Improvised, she shares stories and techniques for navigating uncertainty, because life rarely goes as planned.

shares stories, reflections, lessons and techniques about improvising, creativity, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances, because life is an improvisation and we're all writing the script along the way.

Life, Improvised

Stories, reflections, lessons and techniques about improvising, creatively solving problems, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances, because life is an improvisation and we're all writing the script along the way.

By Mary Lemmer

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by Team member . Robin writes:

546 cookbooks is quite the library of recipes! While my own collection pales in comparison, I am well acquainted with the joy of trying out new concoctions, whether they succeed or fail. Elizabeth’s writing reminds me of the joy of exploring cookbooks with those we love, and she included a lovely drink I can’t wait to try.

A SmallStack Featured Post

How to cook a book

and a recipe for our new Sunday Dinner house cocktail

by

At last count, I had 546 cookbooks.

Some are well-loved, recipes highlighted, my scribbled notes on variations, perhaps a smudge or two of a random ingredient. They’re the workhorses in my kitchen, the ones that I go to when I want something good that doesn’t require seeking out odd ingredients or starting three days before I want to eat.

Others are more aspirational—beautiful, evocative, filled with recipes I may never actually make but love to read. I imagine myself in those pristine kitchens, one of a brigade of chefs in white, placing the same tiny flowers on an amuse bouche over and over again.

There’s a healthy assortment of vintage cookbooks, with browning fragile pages, tiny type, a yellowed scent of kitchens long gone. Inscrutable recipes for Jellied Chicken Bouillon, Liver Loaf with Pan Gravy, Mock Terrapin Stew, Aspic Canapés. I see the parties: bridge luncheons and buffet suppers and chafing dishes and cocktails with cigarette ashtrays artfully placed for guests and dressing up because one does for dinner.

Every book on my shelf, old or new, is a journey, a discovery, an adventure, a history lesson, and I the willing student.

The value of a cookbook

Central heating, French rubber goods and cookbooks are three amazing proofs of man's ingenuity in transforming necessity into art, and, of these, cookbooks are perhaps most lastingly delightful.

Serve It Forth, M. F. K. Fisher

In a digital world, thousands of recipes are at our fingertips—you can even find my humble contributions to the list through this newsletter. As the volume grows, I’ve seen more and more debates about the value of cookbooks or even the value of following a recipe, for that matter.

Yet when I think about what a single cookbook represents—the hours of recipe development, the artful photography, the stories behind each dish—I can’t help but think we need cookbooks more than ever before.

And why wouldn’t we? For every recipe there is a tradition of technique, of flavour pairings, of creating something that on paper doesn’t seem to make sense but somehow does: a magical combination that makes a party in your mouth.

How to cook a book

Back in 2009, Rich and I started a tradition. We traveled a lot for work—so much, in fact, that there were long stretches where we wouldn’t see each other for weeks at a time. It would have been easy to drift into a pattern of parallel lives, but instead, we found a way to reconnect: through food. Sunday nights, if we were both in town, we’d cook a meal together. Not just any meal—this wasn’t a casual pasta and wine situation—we’d pick a cookbook, shop for ingredients, and cook an entire meal from that book, start to finish. No substitutions, no shortcuts.

And no switching. No matter the cookbook, that random choice made it the chosen one.

And then, as life does, things shifted. By 2011, the ritual started to fade. We still cooked together, a lot (and these days I think Rich is the better cook) but the practice of choosing a book, shopping for the meal, and making an event of it slipped away.

So as we settle into our new home, learning how to navigate a different kitchen together, bringing back Sunday Dinners felt like the perfect way to kick off the year.

A way to ground ourselves, to carve out time for something meaningful, to reconnect in a way that has nothing to do with work, screens, or schedules.

And of course, it gives me a reason to dive back into those 546 cookbooks.

The beauty of this ritual is that it’s not about perfection. The beautiful crystal and fine china come out. Some meals are triumphs, others are… let’s call them learning experiences. But each Sunday dinner is a reminder of why we started this in the first place: to create something together, to enjoy the process as much as the meal, and to keep finding new ways to connect—one cookbook at a time.

Apéritif Maison Baumanière

serves one

There is a wonderful Relais & Châteaux property at the foot of the ancient mountaintop village of Les Baux in Provence: l’Oustau de Baumanière. This combination hotel, restaurant and spa feels like it has been there forever, situated as it is in the bauxite cliffs.

Back in 2014, we had a glorious New Year’s Day brunch at the fabulous restaurant. I honestly don’t know if we had the apéritif maison, and I might not have even known what it was, if it wasn’t for Simon Hopkinson’s Second Helpings of Roast Chicken, our Sunday cookbook from a few weeks ago.

But the minute we read the description of the hotel’s signature tipple in Hopkinson’s Cocktail chapter, we remembered our wonderful meal and knew that Apéritif Maison Baumanière would become our Sunday Dinner apéritif of choice.

This makes one lovely and refreshing cocktail. I’ve modified it a bit, making it slightly less boozy, but it will still give the evening a definite sparkle.

Ingredients

1 sugar cube, on which you have tapped three drops of Angostura Bitters

½ ounce Cognac

½ ounce Triple Sec or Grand Marnier

5 ounces Champagne or other good quality blanc de blanc

1 thin orange slice (blood oranges are particularly pretty)

1 chilled tulip shaped wine glass

Place the sugar cube at the bottom of the glass. Add the cognac, Triple Sec and top with the Champagne. Add 3–4 ice cubes to the glass and float a thin slice of orange on the surface. Using a long and slender teaspoon, stir everything together. Serve with the spoon, so that you can to gently press the orange juice into the apéritif as you sip.

About the author

grew up on the warmth of her mother’s Italian home cooking and began collecting cookbooks in her twenties—a trove of vintage treasures, contemporary voices, and unexpected finds, now numbering over 500. She started Delicious Bits to create a quiet, nourishing place at the world’s virtual table, where food, memory, and everyday beauty can be savoured slowly. A believer in seasons, senses, full moons, and wearing the perfect red lipstick, Elizabeth invites you to join her cozy corner, where magic is always on the menu.

is a weekly dispatch for open-hearted readers drawn to discovery, reflection, and the shared experience of food. Rooted in memories, cookbooks, and travel, it weaves recipes with musings on life’s impermanent, delicious beauty. A gentle invitation to savour seasons, stories, and everyday magic.

Delicious Bits

Dispatches from an adventuresome globetrotter who likes to discover things, ponder things, cook things, eat things and write about it.

By Elizabeth Pizzinato

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I’d like to tell you a story about stories.

I come from a long line of storytellers. I started writing my own stories in second grade. Shout out to Mrs. Rocky who let me write instead of doing classwork. Maybe you had a similar start.

When I stumbled onto this platform, I met hundreds, maybe thousands of other storytellers like myself, and… I feel like I’m home. This is a space where we can come to tell others about that time we ran into a tree while riding our big brother’s bike. We can talk about the hurdles we faced getting married and figuring out immigration paperwork. We can explore our deeper feelings about parenthood or being marginalized. We can write poems, even when we’re scared to share those things.

The reason I’m here is to tell my stories. I think you’re here to do the same thing. Why? Because stories are powerful.

SmallStack is officially a year old today.

This place started off as a whim, and it grew into a movement. We all showed up together to declare that small is where it’s at, and that we’re proud of caring about the little details. We’re proud to care about each other.

I’m not going to get sidetracked by all the things happening in the US or around the world right now that are terrifying and triggering, but I do think many of us feel numb or frozen in the face of it all. We’re overwhelmed, we’re afraid, and we feel powerless.

Hear me out: You are not powerless. Neither am I.

A year ago, I wrote a note to everyone. I was mad. I was upset about the lack of access and visibility for small writers like me. But I want to back up for a moment and acknowledge that those feelings actually started because there was no category on substack for queer and LGBTQIA2S+ writers to gather under. I came here looking for a sense of belonging, and I could not find it. Believe me, I tried. Lots of us did. And after months of scraping by with grit and determination, I found a few others like me. I voiced my disgruntled feelings, and the response was resounding. We asked for the category we needed, and we were met with silence.

So is it any wonder I felt bitter when the next big name stumbled onto my Notes feed and talked about growing their subscribers over a thousand? They hadn’t done that alone. They had not faced the same barriers I did. They had visibility. They had belonging. They had community.

I created SmallStack not long after that.

Why? Because if you want something done, do it yourself. Make it happen. And, if you look at our Library, you’ll see we did make that category for LGBTQIA2S+ writers, because of course we need it.

Starting SmallStack was a way to give all of us a voice. A place to gather. A community. And I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve become. Mission accomplished. As of today, our Library is hosting 1964 small publications, and an overwhelming majority of those have 500 or fewer subscribers.

We published an incredible series of Guest Posts in 2024 that really set the tone for who we are and what we believe in, and then we began sharing Featured Posts weekly. This Friday will be our 39^th featured post, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of all the incredible listings we have in our Library.

Our Library will always be free to get listed in and use, and I really do hope you do both of those things.

What’s next?

It’s time for us to grow up a little, to shift gears, and to take on the next big thing. I don’t have all the answers worked out today, because this stuff deserves some time and patience and really good brainstorming with the Team of people I trust, but here’s what I’ll say about it right now:

SmallStack is a publishing company.

This is what I originally set out to do, and we’re making it happen. Our first small book is already in the works, and we’re planning on the next one later this year. And when I say publishing company, I mean the kind of publisher who makes real books, the kind you can hold in your hand. Maybe even the kind with your name on them as “author.”

Yes. You.

Our first book, in fact, is a collection of our Guest Posts. I am so very excited to create a tangible dream like this alongside our guest authors, and I hope you’ll celebrate with us when we share more about that soon. To , , , , , , , and , I can’t thank you enough for saying yes to this cool project. We’re genuinely honored to be publishing your words to share with the world.

What does it take to become a publisher? Well, turns out it takes a lot of things, including a very steep learning curve! It also takes time, patience, community, and funding. Many of you have already helped with those things.

As a publisher, SmallStack has to pay for essential stuff like printing costs and distribution of our books. While we’re getting ourselves up and running, your paid subscription or donation of money to SmallStack makes it possible for us to pay those bills.

Subscribe now

Your stories make a difference in this world, and we’re going to be here to help some of you get them published. In print. In a real book that you can hold and be proud of.

If you’re not the kind of person who wants to get published, I’m hoping you are the kind who buys real books from independent publishers and booksellers, especially stories from small writers just getting started.

SmallStack is going to tell everyone some really good stories. And you will be the ones writing them, reading them, and making them real.

Share

What we know right now:

• In order to make all this cool stuff happen, the SmallStack Team is taking a little time off. We’re pausing Featured Posts and SmallTalk threads for the month of June while we evaluate how much we can handle and what’s really vital to this neighborhood.

• During the month of June, which just happens to be Pride month, SmallStack will be promoting the heck out of ! I’m so excited about the things has planned, and I could not be happier to help share and boost those activities. He’s done the heavy lifting, we’re just adding a little glitter.

• We are not currently accepting manuscript or essay submissions to SmallStack. Stay tuned (I don’t know, maybe by subscribing? 😊) so that you know when that kind of thing changes.

Subscribe now

• If you follow my other publication, TransFriend, you might already know that I’m launching a publishing imprint called GenderWild Press. Yeah, you heard me—that’s technically two publishing imprints happening at once. You’re thinking of a word to describe me right now, and I hope it’s “ambitious.” GenderWild Press is a trans and queer publisher of longform books, both fiction and nonfiction. You can find out more about it on TransFriend.

I cannot say enough thank yous to those of you who have chosen to support us with paid subscriptions. Starting a business with zero capital is terrifying, but you all stepped in to make sure I didn’t fall on my face. Thank you. We need that support now more than ever. Websites and email hosting and

printing costs add up quick, and your funding helps us keep access to the Library free for everyone. Similarly, publishing books from new and emerging authors is a leap of faith, and I’m hoping you believe in this mission.

With your paid subscription or donation, you’re saying yes to telling stories that matter.

You’re saying yes to people like me writing our own history so that it cannot be erased. And that’s an immensely powerful thing to do.

SmallStack's Kofi Page

Here’s to a new year for SmallStack, a new chapter in our growth, and to you, our future authors and book lovers. This is only the beginning of our story.

Robin Taylor, SmallStack Founder

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by a community member who writes:

This post is critical of social media, echo chambers, and posting unoriginal and flavorless stories. This is what is needed now. We need to claim the website as about writing or let it regress to social media. If we do the latter, then that is alright but it just changes expectations.

A SmallStack Featured Post

Why Echo Chambers Are Killing Your Creativity

And How to Break Free

By

It comes on slowly, undetected. You’re deep in your usual circles—same industry, same voices, same hot takes recycled over and over. It feels comfortable, even validating. But that comfort is stagnation in disguise.

If you’re serious about growing as a multi-passionate solopreneur, you need to burn down your echo chambers and make room for fresh, unexpected ideas. Because real innovation? It doesn’t come from nodding along with people who think exactly like you.

What’s an Echo Chamber (and Why Should You Care)?

An echo chamber is a closed system of information where the same beliefs, ideas, and opinions get reinforced—and opposing views are filtered out. Think of it as an intellectual greenhouse where only certain plants are allowed to grow. It might feel safe, but it kills your ability to think critically, adapt, and create boldly.

Social media algorithms love trapping you in one. They feed you more of what you already believe, keeping you scrolling, liking, and agreeing—while your world quietly shrinks.

As a multi-passionate, this is dangerous. You thrive on diverse inputs, unexpected connections, and cross-disciplinary insights. When you stay locked in an echo chamber, you’re starving your creativity without even realizing it.

Weak Ties: The Secret Weapon of Innovators

So, how do you break free? Enter Weak Tie Theory—a concept developed by sociologist Dr. Mark Granovetter.

His research found that the speed and novelty of information spread faster between loosely connected people than in tight-knit groups. Translation? The best, most unexpected insights don’t come from your closest friends or industry peers. They come from weak ties—acquaintances, distant colleagues, people outside your bubble.

This is why groundbreaking ideas often come from outside a field rather than within it. Think about:

• Steve Jobs drawing inspiration from calligraphy to shape Apple’s revolutionary typography.

• Elon Musk bringing aerospace engineering principles into electric cars.

• Marie Forleo blending self-help, marketing, and hip-hop influences to create a brand unlike any other.

None of these people stayed in their lane. Neither should you.

How to Smash Your Echo Chambers and Think Differently

Ready to inject fresh ideas into your work? Here’s how to start:

1. Curate Smarter, Not Just More

Algorithms trap you in sameness, so you need to fight back. Take control of your inputs:

• Follow people outside your industry. (If you’re in marketing, read psychology. If you’re in design, study history.)

• Subscribe to newsletters that challenge your thinking, not just confirm it.

• Read books that make you uncomfortable. (If you’re nodding along with every page, you’re not learning—you're just reinforcing what you already believe.)

2. Expand Your Network Intentionally

Weak ties don’t just happen—you need to create them.

• Join communities that have nothing to do with your field. (Art classes, coding groups, improv workshops—whatever sparks curiosity.)

• Have conversations with people you wouldn’t normally talk to. (The barista with a side hustle? The accountant who loves philosophy? Gold mines of fresh perspective.)

• Say yes to random opportunities. (Serendipity is where the magic happens.)

3. Consume Like a Rebel—Then Create Like One

Too many people passively absorb content. Rebels engage with it, challenge it, remix it.

• When you read something, ask: What’s missing? What’s the opposite argument?

• Take ideas from unrelated fields and apply them to your own. (How would a chef approach content strategy? How would a musician structure a business launch?)

• Don’t just consume—make something new. Innovation is born from action, not just inspiration.

Break the Bubble Before It Breaks You

If you’re not actively seeking out diverse inputs, your creativity is already dying. Slowly, quietly, without you noticing.

Echo chambers feel safe, but safety is the enemy of originality. If you want to build something remarkable—whether it’s a business, a creative project, or an unconventional career—you need to break the cycle, challenge the familiar, and get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Because the best ideas? They come from the edges, not the center. Go find them.

RELATED:

Beyond Platitudes

Breaking the Echo Chamber

In my last Curious Patriots video (see below), I encouraged all of us to seek out different perspectives. Still, a thoughtful viewer (friend and former submariner) asked a great follow-up question: How do we find reliable sources outside of our echo chambers…

Read more

a year ago · 1 like · Matt DiGeronimo

My course, Solopreneur Foundations, helps you design a business that works for you. Discover what kind of work energizes and fulfills you, and then build a business around that! Learn more…

About the author

is a strategist and thought partner for creative generalists ready to find and do what works for them. Through JSCREATIVE, she shares tools, insights, and gentle guidance to help curious, multi-passionate thinkers build flexible structures, trust their instincts, and shape work/life rhythms that reflect who they are. Rooted in intellectual exploration—not hustle or hype—her work empowers clients to break from convention and create on their own terms.

is about growth, curiosity, and the courage to carve your own path. It’s a space to explore, experiment, and embrace your multi-passionate nature—letting curiosity guide you to uncover the unique path that’s right for you.

Renaissance Mind by jscreative.ca

Those with a Renaissance Mind don’t limit themselves to one domain, but follow their curiosity, and remain open to wherever their interests may lead.

By Jenn- jscreative

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Nominate a Featured Post!

Time to take out the trash

A lot of things are sent away or replaced to make room for growth. From toys to clothes, from fears to woes, the price of growth is giving up things that used to make you you.

But not all the time

There are some things in life that people are unwilling to part with, even when given the perfect opportunity to throw it away. Retaining these things often don’t stagnate our growth, but instead support and guide it, like a trellis to a flowering vine.

This week we want to hear all about something that you could never give up or throw away. We want to know it’s significance to you, how you came across it, and where it lies in your heart now (or in real life!). This special little something might look like…

• a memory

• a piece of clothing

• a joke

• a relationship

• an activity

Leave a comment

SmallTalk is here for you! This is your space to build relationships, share your thoughts, and grow together. A few reminders to help you get the most out of this space:

• Sharing is caring! Unless otherwise stated, you are always welcome to include a link to a post—by you or someone you admire—to help others find great resources or information. Whether you wrote it or love it, we want to see it!

• Leave a note. Original comments to the thread can also be shared as a note if you click on the little box at the lower left.

• Make new friends. This is a place where beautiful collaborations are born. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, celebrate each others’ wins, and reach out to people you’d like to collaborate with. We’re all supporting each other here.

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by Team member . Erin writes:

A medievalist writing about baseball?! Yes, please. When Patrick Glancy shares his musings on life, he frames them in the way baseball enthusiasts share their favorite stories of past games: with love, analysis, and in the context of the present moment.

A SmallStack Featured Post

Interesting Times

At the intersection of baseball and history.

By

“May you live in interesting times.”

-ancient Chinese curse

The unspoken catch to the above quote is that things are pretty much always interesting on this planet, everything just seems a whole lot worse when you’re experiencing it firsthand instead of reading about it in a book. Of course, that’s not much consolation in the moment. Especially if you have three kids growing up in an increasingly ugly and vicious world, like me.

I read a lot of history, so I know my position isn’t unique. And I write about history too, though I come at it from a very specific angle, at least in this newsletter.* Baseball is an odd thing, in that respect. It’s a child’s game, and it’s very much meant for escapism, whether you’re playing it or watching it, but the real world has a way of intruding. I don’t usually shy away from that. Unless you’re new here, you’re aware I use the game as a way to explore my own personal history and experiences. But it’s different when we’re talking about the big picture.

*I would like to put my medieval history degree to use though, possibly even here on Substack. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know in the comments.

I was reading about the Nika Riots the other day. If you’re unfamiliar with the subject, and unless you’re a student of the Byzantine Empire, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be, let me give you some background info.

Chariot racing was the big sport in the sixth century, and the Byzantines celebrated the best racers the same way we put Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge on pedestals.* The racers aligned themselves with different factions, sort of like NASCAR teams, who identified themselves based on color. In the reign of the Emperor Justinian, who was actually a pretty good leader, the two most prominent factions were the Blues and Greens.

*Or George Brett and Greg Maddux, if you’re my age. Pick whoever applies for you personally, but you get the point.

Except, these factions were not just fanbases. They were basically political parties too. Imagine if Democrats and Republicans each picked a side in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and instead of Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, picture them all as English soccer hooligans, bringing that same kind of psychotic energy to both the ballpark and the statehouse.*

*This is a different kind of psychotic energy than most of the politicians we’ve elected.

The short, Wikipedia version of the story is this. After a dustup between the two sides resulted in murder, members of each faction were arrested and executed. One from each side escaped, however, when the scaffold broke. Justinian commuted their sentences to imprisonment, eager to move on to more important matters, but that wasn’t good enough for either the Blues or Greens.

They wanted the men pardoned, and when Justinian didn’t relent, they went crazy and nearly brought down the city and the government. Thirty-thousand people died.* Justinian nearly fled, before his wife convinced him to take a stand by telling him she wasn’t going anywhere. He called in his best generals from various battlefronts and finally restored order.

*Medieval sources are notorious for exaggerating body counts, but even taking that into account, it's clear that a whole lot of people died in the carnage.

Fortunately, nothing of that magnitude has taken place on a baseball field. The closet we’ve ever come was probably Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979, when White Sox fans got a little overzealous expressing their distaste for the genre. The drunken crowd tore up the field in between games of a doubleheader after a crate of disco records was blown up, resulting in the cancellation of the second game. No one was killed though, and the empire was never in jeopardy. So, not exactly the same thing.

But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Like I said, baseball is not immune to the influences of the outside world, and sometimes they cannot be held at bay. World War II is perhaps the best example of this, when many of the game’s best players put their careers on hold to battle fascism. I don’t like to romanticize war, but I genuinely believe the second World War might be the closest humanity has ever come to fighting the kind of black-and-white war between good and evil you might typically find in a fantasy novel.

The levers behind World War I were a bit more convoluted and less straightforward, but it had a similar effect on baseball. If you don’t know the story of Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander, I recommend you check it out. Maybe I’ll write about it someday. He was one of the greatest pitchers of his era, but his career and personal life were affected by the PTSD he brought home from the trenches, and the alcoholism it fueled.

So, yes, baseball is plenty susceptible to the forces at work in the outside world. But the great thing about it is that it also has the ability to influence the outside world right back. In fact, it has a track record of doing just that, even if baseball, itself, has a tendency overstate its impact and edit the story to make itself look better in retrospect.

I’m thinking of Jackie Robinson, in particular. I’m going to assume everyone knows the gist of the Jackie Robinson story. He was the first black athlete to integrate Major League Baseball, and MLB loves to present itself as a beacon of progressive thought, who set an example for the rest of society.

And there is some truth in that, but it’s also a gross oversimplification. It’s the Wikipedia version of the story. I’m not going to recount the whole story of integration in baseball here. For one thing, this article is more off the cuff than my usual stuff, so I haven’t done the research to have all the details handy. But I know the important parts.

There were many forward thinkers at different levels of the game, and they deserve credit for their actions, but it was not an easy road. Large portions of the baseball world, from the dugouts to the front offices and all the way up to the commissioner’s office did everything in their power to defend the color line. In addition to them, many fans in the stands did their best to make Robinson’s life a living hell. When more black players joined him, they were on the receiving end of equally awful behavior, and the last team to integrate didn’t do so until twelve years after Robinson debuted, when the Red Sox begrudgingly joined the modern world.

MLB deserves a great deal of praise for its role in the civil rights movement, but to listen to them, it sometimes sounds like they’re taking credit for singlehandedly solving racism in America.* I don’t want it to sound like I’m down on them, because they were definitely ahead of the curve, but there are people out there now who will accuse you of hating something if you don’t pretend like it’s always been perfect. To me, that diminishes the sacrifices of the people who worked to make things better, and it’s hard not to get discouraged when I see that mindset gaining steam. It feels like we’re backsliding on so many things.

*In case you live under a rock, they didn’t. Still a lot of work left to do on that one.

Whatever spot you occupy on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree things aren’t great right now. We’re supposed to be entering into the Star Trek-phase of our society, when we finally move past all the petty squabbles and small-minded thinking that has tripped us up for centuries, but it feels like we’re spinning our wheels instead. Speaking of wheels, we don’t even have flying cars yet! What the hell, we were promised flying cars,* and if we had them, we wouldn’t have to worry about spinning our wheels at all.

*If you’re expecting me to accept a Cybertruck as an alternative to flying cars, you are sadly mistaken, my friend.

So what exactly am I trying to say here? Well, that’s a damn good question, and I don’t have a great answer. I really wish I did. Every day, the news is a litany of doom and gloom, interrupted only by finger-pointing and scapegoating. Social media was supposed to bring us closer together, but instead it’s divided us more than ever by giving so many the opportunity to anonymously express the worst of their nature without repercussions. The well is toxic,* and we seem content to continue spreading the poison.

*I’m speaking metaphorically here, not making a point about the environment. That’s a whole other conversation.

When I first started writing as a teenager, I thought I was going to explain the world to everyone, and if they just listened to me, I’d show everyone how to fix everything. Thirty years later, I’m more certain than ever I don’t have answers. I’m not sure anyone does. I could give you some platitude about choosing kindness, and argue it really does make a difference. It would border on cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I absolutely believe it to be true. I’m just not sure it’s enough. Or maybe I’ve become too cynical to believe anyone will give it a shot.

Can baseball do anything to help? It sounds like such a stupid question when I read it aloud, but that doesn’t mean it can’t. Remember when George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game 3 of the World Series in the aftermath of 9/11?

Bush was a polarizing president, and his decisions and policies following the attacks on September 11^th were highly questionable, to say the least, but the entire country was shook at that time. Seeing him stride out to the mound at Yankees Stadium and fire a fastball straight down the pipe was significant. The moment was fleeting, but for a brief period of time, the whole nation was reassured, which was pretty amazing, if you think about it.

Ultimately, how much of a difference did it make? Probably not much, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t matter. We’ve made a lot of mistakes as a people since that pitch, which counteracted most of the good it did. But it did do some good. You can’t deny that.

Now, however, we are actively torpedoing the supposedly sacred principles I was taught to believe this country stood for. To be fair, we have often fallen short of that standard, particularly in the actions of our government. But, we have always paid lip service to those ideals, at least, and I’ve never doubted that most Americans genuinely aspired to them. I’m not so sure anymore. It is especially distressing to see the generation who drilled those fundamentals into our heads reach for weak justifications to casually toss them aside.

This is uncharted territory, and we’re going to need something a whole lot more meaningful than a fastball to get us back on the right track. Frankly, we’re going to need more than baseball itself can supply, but that doesn’t mean it can’t play a role.

As we begin a new season, I will continue to look at baseball as an escape, a three-hour respite from the nastiness coming at me from all directions. But that doesn’t mean I’m tuning out or giving up. For my boys, if for no other reason, I will keep doing everything in my power to make the world a better place, no matter how badly the odds feel stacked against me. They deserve that much, and honestly, so do I. So does everyone.

And if baseball can provide some inspiration or comfort along the way, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Play ball.

Thank you for reading Powder Blue Nostalgia. I may lose some subscribers with this one, and it’s possible I could get whatever the baseball equivalent of “shut up and dribble” is as a response, even though I’ve kept a civil tone and attempted to appeal to the better aspects of our nature. If that’s the case, so be it. Sometimes you have to speak your mind, and sometimes you just need to vent. I suppose this was a little bit of both.* If you’d like to do either, the comments section is all yours.

*That said, don’t expect me to make a habit of this. This isn’t going to become a political blog. If I feel the need to comment more frequently on current events, or even medieval history, I’ll find another avenue. As long as I’m writing it, Powder Blue Nostalgia will always be a baseball newsletter.

About the author

has a degree in medieval history, and it sometimes feels like he’s been writing since the Middle Ages began. He’s published short stories and poems in numerous places, and is currently attempting to sell a crime fiction novel called Boris. Two-and-a-half years ago, he began publishing Powder Blue Nostalgia on Substack, using his lifelong love of baseball to channel the significant events of his own life. Not everyone wants a dose of real life with their baseball coverage, but those who do have made it an extremely rewarding experience for him.

is not your typical baseball history newsletter. Sure, there are some stats and recaps, but it's more about the stories behind them and how they connect to my own experiences, ranging from growing up in the rural Midwest to addiction, divorce, fatherhood, falling in love, etc.

Powder Blue Nostalgia

A weekly newsletter celebrating the highs and lows of life through the lens of baseball history.

By Patrick Glancy

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by community member . Mary writes:

I'm nominating The Hidden Reason You’re Missing Out because it beautifully captures how self-sabotage quietly keeps us from the opportunities we crave, personally and professionally. Lindsey’s honest reflection, combined with her knack for turning personal experiences into universal truths, left me feeling both seen and motivated. It’s the kind of post you can’t help but share with a friend who needs a little nudge toward their own breakthrough.

A SmallStack Featured Post

The Hidden Reason Why You’re Missing Out on Bigger Opportunities

By

Years ago, when my business was taking off so quickly that I could hardly keep up, I did what any overextended entrepreneur would do: I put up a gatekeeper. We created a filtering system of red, yellow, and green light moments to ensure only the right-fit inquiries got through. It worked beautifully… until one day, it didn’t.

Suddenly, my inbox was nearly empty. There was a hole in my net, and, ever the perfectionist, I needed to find it.

This was during my micromanaging heyday, so, I hovered. I listened in on calls. I scrutinized emails. And eventually, I found it.

“I’m doing what you told me,” my gatekeeper said, a little defensively. “It’s a ‘no’ until it’s a ‘yes’.”

Ah. There it was. She was following the script exactly as written, but no customer service manual in the world would suggest treating potential clients as no’s. That’s not how you build relationships…or businesses.

So, we flipped the approach. It’s a yes until it’s a no.

The shift was immediate. The right clients still found their way to me. The wrong fit filtered out naturally. And no one arrived at my desk already rubbed the wrong way by the gatekeeping. It became an adage my husband (who, for those who don’t know, is also my business partner) and I carried into every part of our lives - even parenthood.

I remind myself of it when my kids pitch a messy project for the day—one that, in my default “Department of No” mindset, I would’ve shut down before it had a chance to lift off. But instead, I try to let her ideas breathe. And often? I’m delighted by the outcome (even if it involves a mini-apocalypse in the kitchen).

When we lead with no, we don’t just filter out the bad. We often miss the good, the joy, the little moments that live right on the other side of our gatekeeping.

This is the difference between living in scarcity and living in abundance. And it’s easy to see how this plays out in business, in family life, in relationships. But what about you? Where might you be defaulting to a “no” when a “yes” could open up something better?

The willingness to choose is the work. As I wrote in a past article, the opposite of easy isn’t hard. The opposite of easy is choice (if you haven’t read it, take a look - it goes hand-in-hand with this topic.) And choosing to lead with yes, to let possibility unfold before ruling it out, is one of the simplest, most powerful shifts we can make.

So here’s my challenge to you: Where can you flip the script? Where can you shift from no until yes… to yes until no? I’d love to hear how this shows up in your life in the comments. And if this resonates, share it with a friend who might need the reminder, too.

P.S. If you liked this concept, you’ll love our Built From the Inside Out series, where we explore universal lessons to apply in your personal and professional life. Check out the first post here!

About the author

is a writer, entrepreneur, and former CEO who started after learning the hard way that growth at all costs isn’t real success. She built Jetset World Travel into an Inc. 5000-recognized company, it was stepping back that clarified what kind of life she actually wanted as a mother, writer, and founder. Today, Lindsey writes to help others redefine success for themselves. She’s more interested in depth than scale, impact over optics, and believes growing thoughtfully might just be the bravest kind of expansion.

is for entrepreneurs and high achievers building a life that fits without burning out along the way. Written by a founder-turned-fiction writer, this blog explores how business, travel, and parenting can create more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.

Who Made You The Boss? with Lindsey Sulek

For entrepreneurs and high achievers building a life that fits without burning out along the way. Written by a founder-turned-fiction writer, this blog explores how business, travel, and parenting can create more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.

By Lindsey Epperly Sulek

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Wow, is it really Earth Day already? What a serendipitous time to talk about growth!

Around here, we often reference growth as a mark of pride—something big we accomplish by expanding our audience, publishing our work in new places, or joining larger communities. But growth isn’t always easy or fun (or comfortable).

Today’s SmallTalk is all about growth! Tell us about your growing pains, your growth joys, how you handle stagnation or pauses in growth, or what it really means for you to grow.

Bonus points for plant references from all our plant nerd friends out there!

• If you’ve written a post about growth, please share it with us!

• Tell us a story about growth, the lack of it, or the feelings it elicits.

• We’ll keep comments open through Friday, April 25th.

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by community member . Kate writes:

I do not care one bit about celebrities, yet I race to open each issue of Sad & Famous the moment it arrives in my inbox. Elinor's analysis of the tragic side of fame is sharp, incisive, lyrical, and eloquent. The moment I heard that Britney Spears was publishing a memoir, I got excited for Elinor's eventual review. It felt like the highbrow gossip equivalent of waiting for hours outside a theater for a Lord of the Rings movie premiere. True to form, the review did not disappoint; Elinor's use of gothic literature as a lens on Britney's story is astute, powerful, and heartbreaking.

A SmallStack Featured Post

American Gothic

By

Sad

There have been a lot of takes on the Britney Spears memoir The Woman in Me since it came out last month and I have been reading them all! I want to start by linking three of my favourite essays on the memoir. I’ll also say if you like podcasts or audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of The Woman in Me, read by Michelle Williams. As the style of the book is highly conversational in tone, it works better as an audio piece imo.

Candice Wuehle spoke about the generational trauma in Spears memoir

Kitsch! Camp! Schmaltz! Schlock!

It's Still Britney, Bitch

About midway through The Woman in Me, Britney Spears confesses she felt like a curse was placed on her after her breakup with Justin Timberlake. “Confess” is a dramatic way to describe this moment, but I think that’s what it is. Spears seems to acknowledge that of all the woo stuff she believes in (Kabbalah and aliens, for example), …

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3 years ago · 16 likes · Candice Wuehle

Amanda Montei wrote about Spears identity and struggles as a mother when she was never allowed to be anything but a teenage girl in the public eye

Mad Woman

From Bad Girl to Bad Mother

Britney Spears’s grandmother, Jean, shares a name with my great-grandmother, also a Jean. Living a generation apart, both women suffered at the hands of their husbands. As I write in Touched Out, my great-grandmother died from complications caused by a final at-home abortion, after living for years with an angry alcoholic husband who apparently threw gr…

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3 years ago · 146 likes · 5 comments

I also liked Virginia Sole-Smith discussion of Spears hair as her autonomy and conformity to beauty norms as a condition of her freedom

Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith

They Can't Have Her Hair

Friday Thread: What’s Your Body Rebellion? I was solo last weekend, so I spent my whole Saturday morning listening to Michelle Williams read The Woman In Me while I puttered around the house. (Yes, this part of divorced life does not suck.) When I later mentioned to my parents I’d spent my weekend doing that, they seemed a little puzzled, and I get it. For decades, Britney Spears was not the kind of celebrity we took seriously. She was a tabloid star, a punchline, a mess. And I’ll take the note that our nation’s fixation with her conservatorship has failed to raise awareness about all the disabled and/or mentally ill folks still trapped in conservatorships because they aren’t marketably beautiful white pop stars. But—she’s also a divorced mom of two in her early 40s, who has seen some shit. So I’m gonna root for her…

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3 years ago · 104 likes · 122 comments · Virginia Sole-Smith

I keep returning to how gothic The Woman in Me came across as. Spears, trapped for thirteen years in the conservatorship by her father, threatened with loss of access to her children by her father and ex-husband, forced to work to make money to support them, not allowed to make a single creative choice of her own, unable to date or maintain the friendships she wanted to, controlled down to what she ate (her father only let her eat chicken and vegetables for two straight years), not allowed access to her own money to such an extent that her credit cards would be declined, forcibly institutionalised, isolated, forced on lithium by private doctors outside of any kind of hospital system accountability who were working for her father. All while she lives in a big LA mansion, she’s being drained for life by a vampiric family, a prisoner no one can hear scream because the world at large has decided she’s crazy. She was the mad woman locked in the attic while everyone feasted in the halls below, rich off the dowry she provided.

A friend who read the memoir texted me, “I knew her conservatorship was going to be bad, but I didn’t realise it was going to be this bad.” Her father, a person she said she’d trust less with her well being and finances than a stranger off the street, told her, when the conservatorship was enacted, “I’m Britney Spears now.” I mean, if you wrote that into a novel someone would be like, take it out, it’s too on the nose. All of this echos the life of Spears paternal grandmother, Jean, who her grandfather institutionalised and who was also put on lithium. Jean killed herself on the grave of the child she lost shortly before being committed once she was out of the hospital. Her grandfather went on to institutionalise, I believe, three of his other wives.

I don’t remember what I thought of Spears in the aughties independently of what media coverage was conveying. I loved her music (still do— pure cotton candy pop), and was rapt over any developments with her personal life, it was entertaining— wow, how’d she become such a mess??? I quit smoking by rewarding myself at the end of each week with a trashy magazine covering celeb gossip— mostly Britney, Paris, Lindsay Lohan. I wasn’t particularly disturbed by how these women were treated at the time. I thought it was the price of their fame. I didn’t think about how fame harmed Britney Spears, trapped her, made her vulnerable to people in her life who would use her, I was carried along by the narrative that she was wild, immature, out of control, had lost it. “I don’t remember ever agreeing to be seventeen for the rest of my life,” Britney says in her memoir. I look back and the coverage of her seems insane— did we really criticise her for being “fat” when she released Blackout? Why was there such an attachment to her being virginal, Christian, pure, her “corruption” equalling the downfall of all good girls, when she had never purported to be any of these things? In the memoir she relays that she lost her virginity at 14, as well as the fact that she and Justin Timberlake shared a home together in Miami for several years, something that was never reported on. Instead, she and Justin were presented as two squeaky clean kids who were maybe going to lose their virginity to each other on their wedding night. And then, once their relationship ended, Britney was an unfaithful tramp who broke his heart (definitely not what happened! The Justin stuff revealed in her memoir is widely covered elsewhere).

Of the many devastating parts of this memoir, I’ve found myself reflecting often on the period of time when Britney famously shaved her head. I remember when it happened, the breathless coverage of how she’d sadly, simply, gone insane one day. She was a white trash dummy who ruined her chances with perfect Justin, had two babies with low rent sleaze Kevin Federline and now was a mental case. Too bad, so sad. Of her relationship with Kevin, of his appeal, she says that he would hold her for as long as she wanted to be held. When I heard that, I got it. I would marry that man too. She says to go look at their wedding pics, that you could see that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, that it is shining out of her face.

But Kevin lost interest in her after locking her down with marriage and kids, interested instead in pursuing his own music career, disappearing for long stretches and becoming impossible to get ahold of. They divorced. Of the criticism towards Kevin post-divorce (she recounts the VMAs that year where they showed Kevin in a coffin thrown overboard a ship) Spears says she did not feel supported by this. “He is still the father of my children,” she says. Kevin wanted more money from her post-divorce and things got ugly, with him threatening to take the kids away, at which point she said she felt she was losing her mind. The paparazzi she describes as a zombie horde waiting for her outside of every door. So. She doesn’t know when she will see her children again, the youngest is not even two years old, and locks herself in a bathroom with them and is forcibly separated when Kevin calls the police. It is at this point, bulldozed by Kevin, the paparazzi, recently divorced, with fear of never seeing her children again, she shaves her head. She recalls another mother recently telling her, “if someone tried to stop me from seeing my kids, I’d burn down a city.” She is 26 years old. Instead of being treated with empathy, instead of those she loves trying to help and support her through this, she’ll spend the next 13 years with the legal autonomy of a toddler, continually threatened with loss of access to her children unless she sings, performs, conforms, stays silent, by those same people who were supposed to love her. Those same people who are selling books about her, doing interviews about her, building careers off her labor.

Spears shaving her head makes so much sense. It was an act of self harm, of making her outsides match her insides, of physically showing the world how she felt, her rage, her impotence, her inability to smile through the awful things she was living through, to be someone she was not. It’s the act of someone who has run out of road. Why did we all just gape? Why did it become a Halloween costume? The loneliness of this woman must be so profound. In the memoir Spears addresses her controversial Instagram which many see as proof of her poor mental health, where she posts nudes, among other things. She says she’s an artist and it’s her place to be “weird.” That she was never allowed social media before and that after so many years of everyone photographing her body, she finds freedom in photographing herself, posting what she thinks looks good. I check her Instagram sometimes and I have to admit, sometimes what I see concerns me. But then I also think, who am I? At what point have any of us ever really been able to see this woman?

Famous

I am not a sports person by any stretch of the imagination but I am interested in fame and culture, so I watched Beckham on Netflix, as no one can deny David Beckham as a cultural force. Also, Posh Spice, who I’ve always loved, was a major draw. I was happy, at first, to see she was so prominently featured in it and then gradually troubled.

Beckham is an interesting docuseries that is accessible for the football illiterate among us, explaining Beckham’s athletic prowess in a way that makes you cheer for him and develop affection for the familial camaraderie of sports teams. Beckham himself is affable and a little weird, there is something almost childlike to him and he comes off as an endearing, even humble, man. He and Victoria are clearly devoted to each other, and I did not realise they’d been together since they were about 21. They both say how they didn’t have many close friends or romantic relationships until finding each other. They are also a bit over each other, in an agreeable way any couple who has been together for a decade+ will be familiar with. They like to sass each other with Victoria at one point ribbing David by saying he’d love to take a bath but the water would probably just part for him.

What bothered me was the docuseries implied culpability of Victoria in every one of Beckham’s professional failures. Just this smirking little undertone that maybe a more docile match might have been better for Beckham. Over and over the ground is trod of “why aren’t you a fan of football, Victoria? Why don’t you care more?” and again and again she replies, “I am not into football, I’m into David. I’d support him no matter what he does but no, I am not willing to make football the centre of my life.” It’s endlessly inferred that if Victoria was a good or typical football girlfriend/wife, a jersey chaser, who would happily devote herself to her man and his team with complete subservience to his/its needs, Beckham might have been…what? Even more successful? Lol. I mean, how successful can one person even be? This man is the genetic lottery winner of all genetic lottery winners.

His greatest professional failing, a World Cup disaster, which led to two years of constant harassment and death threats, is heaped upon her because she told Beckham she was pregnant with their first child the night before the match. The hand wringing! Why O why didn’t you wait, Posh, to tell him until the game was over??? It’s like, uhhhh because it’s their life together, because it’s a big deal and she was happy and wanted to share it with him when she found out as anyone would? Are you kidding? Beckahm’s Manchester United coach dislike of Victoria is oft touched upon, that she wasn’t a “football girlfriend” who was willing to sink into the shadows of Manchester United. Does it matter to the docuseries that Beckham himself says that one of the reasons he loves Victoria is that she’s independent, ambitious and not that into football? Not especially. The implication is that she could have been doing more, by being less, to support him better.

Like Britney Spears, it is hard to recall my opinion of Victoria Beckham outside the media portrayal of her at the height of her fame. I clearly remember hearing she was “too posh to push” and scheduled c-sections for all her kids because she didn’t want to gain weight in the final weeks of pregnancy. What an insane thing to think anyone would really do! But that’s what was believed of her at the time. That’s what was reported. She gets an opportunity to address some of this in the docuseries. Like, of course she wasn’t “too posh to push”, and willing to threaten her unborn children’s lives by getting an unnecessary medical procedure, there were medical reasons she needed to deliver that way.

There is one moment in Beckham that will stick with me for a long time, a really frightening inside look at the horror (trauma?) of fame. It’s footage of David and Victoria from inside a car where they are pulling up to some event. David is driving the car, Victoria is in the back with a toddler age Brooklyn, their eldest son. Against all the windows a sea of people presses against the glass, knocking on windows, flashing cameras, crying out for David and Victoria. David has a frozen smile on his face so that anyone looking in will see him appearing appropriately obsequious to their attentions. Through his smile, he is talking to a distressed Brooklyn who is, understandably, very scared by the throngs pressing on the glass. “You’re ok, honey,” he’s saying, “remember, as long as you’re with me and Mummy you’re safe. Mummy’s got you.” Victoria is also trying to assure him that these crowds are not going to harm him, though the faces outside the car look as though they would happily eat all three of them. The car moves at a snail’s pace. Brooklyn whimpers in fear. The tension in the car is high. Eventually, the car slips through a gate and the crowds disappear, David and Victoria shudder in relief, telling Brooklyn what a good job he did. Watching it, I almost had an impulse to laugh, though it wasn’t funny, it was distressing, because why are things like this? Why is this one of the outcomes of our society? I felt a very deep mistake had been made somewhere along the way.

About the author

is a Pushcart Prize nominated American writer living in Scotland. She is also a specialist in material culture with an MSc from the University of Glasgow. She is a home organization consultant and sells stickers.

is a review newsletter covering grief, fame and modes of coping with anything sad or troubling through media and shopping.

Sad & Famous

a monthly newsletter where I talk about celebs, various sad media I consume and stuff I buy

By Elinor Abbott

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by a community member. Our community member writes:

This poem is an ode to the socially anxious and the people who live on the margins of society. I was moved by the vivid imagery and humorous verses - its message is existential and painful yet it also tells a story of hope and the beauty of this world that we as humans can often neglect. By far, one of my favorite poems on Substack - I hope that many more get to experience it :)

A SmallStack Featured Post

I find out that social anxiety exists in heaven

POEM

By

[Note for reader: Intended format may be compromised on mobile version. Desktop version is recommended.]

I find out that social anxiety exists in heaven

as I float forty spirals of cracked marble,
the sky mocking me with echoes of
strangers' voices. Between gates of braided gold,
my college dorm-mate scans bags for
earthly contraband. I ask for reassurance that
I am in the right place. She hands me a food voucher
I'm unsure how to redeem. I tow my suitcase, sewn with
prescription-less bottles, to the holy orchestra.

I. Lobby

The angels perform my high school ringtone, blowing
trumpets made of melted watches and unclaimed bones.
The walls swell with the fluorescent lighting of an endless
waiting room. I expected natural lighting in the afterlife.

A school of souls file ahead of a QR code, scanning
for today's special. All they serve are chocolate chip cookies.
At second glance, all they serve are oatmeal raisin cookies.
The voucher does not cover sales tax. I did not expect sales tax
in the afterlife.

II. Cafeteria

Every cloud is fully occupied, except for one
underneath the waxing moon. A ring of souls sit criss-crossed,
food trays glinting with starlight. I hear them exchange
names, pronouns and Top Three Life Moments.
I settle in the center, within every wrinkle of sight. Their stares
corkscrew through my skin, now lifeless but full of feeling.
They await a name, pronouns and life moments I do not know.
I am homesick for a conversation that never happened,
nostalgic for a planet that was never a home.

III. Deck

My cookie dissolves between my fingers before
it can reach my mouth. Each oat, raisin and grain of dough
trapped in the infinite space between them and me. I pluck
the hanging bits, one by one, and form Earth on my tray.
Islands of sweet grain among an ocean of shriveled fruit.
This world of mine, staring back at me,
now small and harmless.

About the author

is a disgruntled policy student and a lesbian writer who lives at the mercy of her cat, Duchess in Portland, Oregon. Over the past decade, Gabby has served as an organizer on a range of political campaigns on the local and state level. When she's not working, you can find her running around bodies of water or eating breakfast burritos. Her words can be found in Pioneertown, Passengers Journal, West Trade Review and elsewhere.

Think of as a bottomless trough of ruminative slop, if you will. Expect weekly poetry, short stories and essays on queerness, neurodivergence, political satire, cultural hegemony, anxiety, identity crises and ultimately, the discomfort and awkwardness that is being human.

Tinfoil Diaries

did you leave your oven on? tinfoil diaries is a weekly publication - expect poetry, short stories & essays about queerness, anxiety, anti-capitalism, culture and the discomfort that is being human

By gabby

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This past Saturday, April 5, from big cities to small towns, millions of people in America showed up to have their voices heard. Sadly, many prominent news publications buried these protests far from the front page.

Here at SmallStack, we believe in having all small voices heard loud and clear. Telling our stories makes all the difference in people feeling less alone and less isolated, especially now. By creating a space for our community to connect and celebrate our collective actions we hope to inspire you to tell your story and share in the stories of others.

If you wrote a post about a protest from this week, we would love for you to share a link to it here. We’ll be keeping this SmallTalk open longer than usual—more protests and community action are planned for April 19, which means there may be additional posts you’d like to share over the next few days.

Please note that our community thrives on kindness and generosity. Hate speech, bullying, racism, bigotry, intolerance, queermisia, xenomisia, ableism, or abuse of any member will not be tolerated.

• Share a recent post you’ve written about the April 5 nationwide protests.

• You can even share a link to a note you wrote!

• This SmallTalk will remain open until Friday, April 18th.

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SmallTalk is here for you! This is your space to build relationships, share your thoughts, and grow together. A few reminders to help you get the most out of this space:

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• Make new friends. This is a place where beautiful collaborations are born. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, celebrate each others’ wins, and reach out to people you’d like to collaborate with. We’re all supporting each other here.

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Today’s Featured Post is by , author of , and was selected by community member . Rachel writes:

As someone who believes in the power of community and connection, this post by Tim Dawkins reinforces how our local, immediate positive actions can make a difference around us. In a world often painted in a negative light, I also love that he writes positively, encouraging us to create the world we want to live in. He provides good food for thought.

A SmallStack Featured Post

Tending to the Sidewalk

46th Edition - February 2, 2025 - Controlling what we can, recognizing our power, and making connections

By

When you live in a small town or city in the U.S. and own property, you’re typically responsible for keeping the section of public sidewalk (or pavement, if you’re reading this from the UK) clear of debris. This is especially important in northern climates during the winter, when snow and ice pose a slip-and-fall risk for passersby.

It’s one of those unspoken social contracts—a quiet agreement that even though the sidewalk belongs to the public, it’s still our responsibility to maintain our little section of it. We can’t control whether someone else down the street clears theirs. We can’t guarantee that every sidewalk will be safe to walk on. But we do what we can with the space that’s ours. I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot lately—not just in terms of literal sidewalks, but in a broader sense of how we show up in the world.

In a time when everything feels overwhelming—when global and domestic issues loom large, when division feels inescapable, when the weight of the world can make us feel powerless—it’s easy to wonder what difference we can actually make. Maybe the answer isn’t as complicated as we think. Maybe it starts with something as simple as keeping our own side of the street clean. This idea has been sitting with me for a while, but one particular experience keeps bringing it back into focus.

The Stranger Who Became a Friend

In the summer of 2015, I found myself in a tiny rural village in the Puglia region of southern Italy called Speziale. We were in the middle of a two-week trip—our second visit to the country—and getting ready to celebrate my wife Amy’s birthday at a trattoria called Il Cortiletto.

As Americans accustomed to 6:00 PM dinners, we had booked the absolute earliest reservation—8:00 PM. Naturally, we arrived way too soon, driven by my travel anxiety that convinces me we’ll always be late. With nothing else to do, we wandered into the only other open spot in this town of fewer than 500 people—a combination bar-café/convenience store. After resisting a pre-dinner slice of pizza, we stepped outside to sit and pass the time.

That’s when we met Firas.

He was sitting nearby, and when he heard us speaking English, he called out to us—excited, since English speakers were rare in this part of Italy. We quickly learned he was from Beirut, Lebanon, spending the summer with his Italian friends, soaking up the slow rhythm of life in the countryside.

We got to talking—about travel, about culture, about how sometimes the best part of being somewhere new isn’t the sights, but the people you meet along the way. He told us about the hoops he had to jump through just to get a visa to visit Italy, which reminded us of all the things we take for granted as Americans.

It was a simple, unexpected conversation with someone from a part of the world I’d had little experience with. And it could have been skipped entirely had any of us chosen to stay in our own bubbles. But we didn’t. And because of that, a small but meaningful connection was made.

Of course, we were still starving, so as 8:00 approached, we said our goodbyes and walked to the restaurant. As we left, I felt a pang of regret for not exchanging contact information. He seemed like such a genuinely kind person. But I figured it was just one of those passing travel moments that I’d recall fondly down the road.

That evening, I posted about the encounter on social media, reflecting on how these small moments—where we meet people we never would have otherwise—are often the most rewarding part of travel. I included a photo I had snapped of Firas mid-conversation. And that, I assumed, was the end of the story.

The Ripple Effect of Connection

Six months later, I got a notification on that same social media app. It was Firas.

"Tim… a friend of mine saw your post… I really can’t describe my feelings… thank you… it was just beautiful. Glad to have found you here, and hope you’ll make it to Beirut sometime… or Istanbul, where I am currently. Regards to your family… and let’s keep in touch."

It turns out his Italian friends had been scrolling through the hashtag #Speziale on the same social media platform when they came across the picture I had posted of him. And just like that, a fleeting moment of connection had become something more lasting.

Nearly a decade later, we still check in on each other. We like each other’s posts, send the occasional message, and in these small ways, remind each other that we haven’t forgotten that moment in a small town a world away. Will we ever see each other again? Probably not. But that doesn’t seem to matter.

I think about this often—the way a seemingly insignificant conversation on a warm summer evening turned into something that still lingers. It reinforces something I believe now more than ever: We don’t have to change the entire world. But we do have a responsibility to take care of our small piece of it.

What can we control?

The world is overwhelming. Lately, weeks feel like months. There’s no getting around that. The issues we’re facing—division, misinformation, emerging authoritarianism, systemic injustice—are massive. They aren’t problems any one of us can solve alone. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have power.

Our power is in the small, daily choices, in the things that we can control:

• Being honest and ethical in our decisions, even when those in power are not.

• Treating others with kindness, even when it’s not easy.

• Showing up for people who need us—whether they’re a lifelong friend or a stranger we may never see again.

• Choosing connection over indifference.

Choosing connection over indifference.

Choosing connection.

I think we sometimes convince ourselves that in a society where clicks, views, and likes seem to matter more than much else, only grand gestures make a difference. But what if the real impact happens in the small, everyday choices? What if we make the world better not by trying to fix everything, but by making sure our small corner of it is a place where kindness, honesty, and connection thrive?

Firas and I spent maybe 30 minutes talking that night in Speziale. We didn’t solve any global problems. We didn’t know we’d still be in touch years later. But we chose to engage. And that mattered—for us, in that moment.

Focus on the Sidewalks

So here’s my challenge—to you, and to myself:

Tend to your part of the sidewalk. Keep it clear, safe, and open—not just for yourself, but for others who may be passing through. Because the world doesn’t change in grand moments. It changes in the spaces between us—the small kindnesses, the unexpected conversations, the decision to be present instead of indifferent. And if we all do that, if we all care for the space that’s ours, maybe—just maybe—the world begins to shift. One small act at a time.

Until next time, stay hydrated and take good care.

Tim

What I’m Thankful For

I was on a podcast! Seriously, this was such a fun way for me to kick off the new year. I completely forgot to include a link in last week’s post, but I was honored to be invited to talk with writer and international educator Daniel Puzzo on his January 23rd, 2025 video podcast episode about New Year’s resolutions (or lack thereof). It has been one of my goals for quite some time to be invited to participate in someone else’s podcast. I’m so thankful that Daniel was willing to entertain my ramblings on this topic. It turns out that, for the most part, I’m easily pleased. All you have to do is offer an opportunity for me to talk at you with a microphone in front of my face. Check it out below!

Teacher by Trade; Mentor by Mistake

To hell with resolutions: it's a Beyond Our Walls podcast

How are your New Year’s Resolutions going…

Listen now

a year ago · 9 likes · 17 comments · Daniel Puzzo and Tim Dawkins

What I’m Reading

• Gregory Garretson hit it out of the park once again last week when he wrote about travel and the power of talking to strangers. How could I not include it with this weeks writing?

• Speaking of Tina Hedin, the piece Gregory mentioned in his post is another great, on-theme piece from one of my favorite newsletter authors. There are connections waiting to be made all around us, and some of them may be life-changing. You’ll never know unless you are willing to be seen and see others.

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Looking for More Ways to Discover Meaningful Writing?

One of the joys of writing this newsletter is discovering incredible articles and perspectives that inspire deeper thought, like the pieces I’ve shared above. If you're looking to enrich your own reading life, here are two tools I personally use to find fresh, thought-provoking content:

1. The Sample: Think of this as your daily dose of serendipity. The Sample sends a curated newsletter recommendation directly to your inbox, tailored to your interests and reading habits. It’s how I’ve stumbled upon some of the most unique and impactful writing I’ve shared here. If you’re curious about discovering new voices and expanding your reading list, this is a fantastic place to start. (And yes, I use it myself!)

2. Refind: Where The Sample feels serendipitous, Refind is like having a personal researcher. Every day, it delivers tailored links based on my own preferences. I find a lot of the articles I include in this newsletter through Refind, from thought-provoking essays to emerging trends in education, leadership, and mental health. It's a great way to stay curious and informed.

And if you enjoy the work I do here on Beyond Our Walls and want an easy way to support it, you can now buy me a coffee, also known as writing fuel, at buymeacoffee.com/beyondourwalls or scan the QR code below. And if that’s not your thing (which is TOTALLY OK), simply click the heart at the bottom of the post and/or leave me a comment. I love knowing what you are taking away from my ramblings!

About the author

is an Upstate New York-based public educator, writer, and podcaster exploring leadership, culture, and the human experience. A first-born, deep feeling, rule follower, he has long used writing to process the world around him. Since launching Beyond Our Walls in March 2022, he aims to challenge conventional thinking on resilience, community, and tension between individualism and common good. Blending personal reflection with broader cultural insights, his work sparks conversations on how we lead, connect, and find purpose. Drawing from personal experience and world travel, he invites readers to question assumptions, embrace nuance, and build meaningful relationships.

is a weekly newsletter/bi-weekly podcast with reflections, stories, and thoughts on empathy, bravery, resilience, emotional intelligence, and intentional living. Join educational leader in exploring how small acts of vulnerability can make lasting connections.

Beyond Our Walls

Welcome to Beyond Our Walls, a weekly newsletter/bi-weekly podcast with reflections, stories, and insights on empathy, resilience, bravery, & intentional living. Join educational leader Tim Dawkins in exploring how small moments make lasting connections.

By Tim Dawkins

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