Letter 50: One Year of The Learning Curve

When we reflect

May 25, 2022

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Happy Wednesday and happy ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY to this amazing community of readers!

This month, one year ago, we (Molly & Emily) published our first letter for The Learning Curve. And here we are, one year later, having published 28 unique authors—all women—who have helped this community learn, grow, and contemplate all facets of this “one wild and precious life.”

As you all know, we love Austin Kleon around here, and his post covering his thoughts on publishing is especially apt:

“Writing can save your life. Writing, at its best, is a way of thinking. You put words down on a page to discover who you are and what you think. Writing is an ancient practice that helps you make sense of yourself and the world.
“Publishing is simply the act of making your words public. If you nail a list of demands to the courthouse door, or photocopy a zine and leave copies all over your town, or click ‘publish’ on a blog post, congratulations, you’ve published something.”
Austin Kleon, from this blog post

We are all, thankfully, one year older, wiser, and different than we were just one year ago. We’ve experienced loss, had babies, cooked dozens of meals, traveled near and far, learned new skills, moisturized, read books and articles, and witnessed the world falling apart and repairing itself ten times over.

The passing of time is powerful, and yet understanding our own progress within it requires something of us that can be challenging. I love a good old-fashioned symbol (I, Emily, am a former English teacher after all), and the gardening metaphor seems to ring true for me, now more than ever: our lives are gardens that we must cultivate in order to help them flourish.

I used this quote in the intro to Emily Fleming’s letter last week, but I think it works well here, too.

“We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly—spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.”
Susan L. Taylor

As I reviewed our past year’s letters, I realized that we’ve covered a broad range of topics that fit into even broader themes. Perhaps in our daily lives, we don’t get much true “quiet” time; however, the practice of self-reflection and self-compassion is essential to our growth. And by far this theme of self-growth has been the focus of our letters this year.

So, if you’re interested, we’ve categorized the past year’s letters for you and linked them below.

The very best part of this entire process has been YOU—this community. Your encouragement and willingness to share with us have kept us going and helped us share your stories with a wider audience.

Thank you.

THANK YOU.

And, finally, we have two “announcements,” of sorts.

The first, a question:

Molly and I are contemplating a (small) run of a few items of Learning Curve merch, and we wonder if you might be interested in purchasing a dad hat, a sticker, or even—possibly—a tote?

We will have more information on our Instagram profile tomorrow, including a question box and a lil peek at what we have in mind.

And second:

Starting this Friday (May 27), we are adding a new discussion thread component to our newsletter. Each Friday we will publish one discussion question that links to that week's letter and theme. We are so excited for this new opportunity to interact and converse with each other!

With gratitude,

Molly & Emily

Letter 50: One Year of The Learning Curve

When we reflect

Thank you.

Thank you.

THANK YOU.

Self Growth

Practicing Empathy for Others

Motherhood

Recommendations

Body Positivity

Friendship Series

Discussion about this post