The one and only way of doing things

The opposite will also work

Seven, from life

Above: Self portrait

Two things that can both be true at once

I hate everything that is happening in Gaza

I hate seeing my Jewish friends experience anti-Semitism

There’s an OzKidLit auction happening to raise money for kids in Gaza. If you’re a writer/reader, it’s worth a look. My item’s here.

Two that I made

• An insta reel I made on the topic of self-belief and motivation. To save you watching:

Often when people are starting out at something new, they’ll look to people who are hugely successful in that field of endeavour as a source of inspiration.

The idea is they’re showing you what’s possible. But as a source of actual motivation I don’t think it’s that effective.

What’s more effective is to look for people who are attempting the thing you want to do but aren’t actually doing it very well. Because nothing will fill you with a sense of self belief more than seeing someone do the thing you want to do and thinking you can do it better.

• I released the first episode of The Next Step on Wednesday. I know now it’s a podcast about figuring out what to do next in life but ironically, I didn’t know that when I started. That’s the way it works, the clarity comes from doing. You can’t just think your way through.

  The episode features an interview with Jessica Gill, the chief content creator at To Be Magnetic (TBM). TBM’s thing is to help people ‘manifest the life they want.’ I keep tell people it sounds woo woo but it’s less woo woo than you might expect. We talk about neuroscience, so it must be true. Anyway, I’m into all that stuff, maybe you are too? Even if it’s only synchronicity I don’t care, it brings me joy. Show notes here.

Last one, for the writers

If you’re a debut author on the cusp of publication, check out this week’s The Bowerbird by Kate Mildenhall who, along with Charlotte Wood, is the person I’ve learned about being a writer from the most. She says:

Knowing your project is not the same as talking about your project. You’re deep in it, you know your themes, your characters, your plot, you may have been working on it for months or years, the whole project lives and breathes in your head, and yet, someone asks you what you’re working on and you freeze.

‘Oh it’s kind of this thing…’

‘It’s nothing really…’

‘I don’t really know what I’m doing…’

It’s like we are programmed to self-sabotage in these moments. To diminish, mask, shrink - both ourselves and our project. Instead we need to learn how to ‘big ourselves up’. To give our project the respect it deserves.

I love this phrase ‘we need to learn to big ourselves up’.

Go big yourself up! You’re the greatest!

Katherine x

PS Some deeply boring admin probably I am only interested in: I’ve paused paid subscriptions. THANK YOU you to those that pay-subscribed, what a brilliant and generous show of support—you made my day, every single one—but I reckon weirdly, there’s a freedom in not being paid. (As if being paid is some sort of a shackle!!!!)