Recently, when typing up notes from my journals, I found quotes I captured while watching an Indigo Girls documentary (as one does). It’s full of testimony about how writing and singing allowed them to create — and re-create — themselves.
Emily, one of the Indigo Girls, also talks about the pressures and joys of performing and says this:
I’ve had nights where I was sad, didn’t feel like playing, and by the end of the night I’m just healed, just washed over with that energy of togetherness.
That energy of togetherness. YES.
I’m a loner. Deep, deep, deep in my bones. So the level to which I’ve discovered, nurtured and delighted in writing community has been one of the biggest surprises of my life.
Like… y’all: I’m still writing — inspired! healed! — every damn day because of writing community. Jill Crammond. Sarah Freligh. Woman Words. The Albany open mic scene over the years. The Madwomen in the Attic workshops. Second Best Witches Writing Group. The fairly new but growing Ass in Chair Collective. And others. I’m so grateful.
In art, togetherness really does provide more than camaraderie. It’s energy-giving. It’s momentum-building. It’s cheerleading.
It’s also accountability. For example, after a verrrrrry long break from submitting to journals, I’m back at it. Slowly. Surely. It’s 100% thanks to writing pals who tell me, when I can’t see it myself, that my work is worth making and needs to be out there.
These are the vibes: It’s selfish to hoard your creativity. And of course there’s a YouTube video about that.
Speaking of writing pals, Jill and I put together a DIY writing retreat in the Adirondacks over one weekend in July. As you can see by these photos, it was lovely. 😍
It was also productive! Even though we did plenty of floating on that lake, we also got some first drafts. Perhaps most importantly, we replenished our supplies of confidence and inspiration.
So July was full of togetherness. But it was also full of “me”-ness.
July is my favorite month of the year. Everyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about summer. It’s peak Carolee. Peak sun. Peak heat. Peak JOY.
I offer the following evidence LOL
Progress in the garden ⬇️
Birthday celebrations ⬇️
Annual trip to Cape Cod (with LOTS of reading!) ⬇️
I’ll end here with my notes from July’s creative activities. (Remember, if this kind of thing doesn’t interest you, feel free to skip it.)
JULY 2025 WRITING
- Worked steadily (doggedly!) on revisions of my Gertie manuscript
- Free writes X9
- Typed up poems/free writes from a journal I filled up
JULY 2025 ART-MAKING
- Paused for the month (to focus on my manuscript)
JULY 2025 BLOGGING
- Completed a post re-capping June creative life
- Worked on upcoming posts, including resources listing sonnets, “self portrait” and “how-to” poems
JULY 2025 INSPIRATION & ADMIN
(I could have placed these under their respective art or writing categories, but I’m trying to be honest about if I’m consuming inspiration more than I’m doing the work.)
- Daily Morning Pages
- Summer poetry workshop with the Madwomen in the Attic x1
- Ass in Chair Collective (an online creative co-working space) X3
- DIY writing retreat in the ADKs with Jill Crammond
- Meeting with art mentor Christine Evans
JULY 2025 READING
- The Naomi Letters (poems) by Rachel Mennies (re-read!)
- Larks (poems) by Han VanderHart
- Modern Poetry (poems) by Diane Seuss
- Good Monster (poems) by Diannely Antigua
- Jane: A Murder (hybrid) by Maggie Nelson
- Other Emergencies (fiction) by Sarah Freligh
- The Girl With the Black Lipstick (fiction) by Mary Biddinger
- The Year of the Floor (fiction) by Margaret Atwood
- The God of the Woods (fiction) by Liz Moore
JULY 2025 SUBMISSIONS, PUBLICATIONS & EXHIBITIONS
- Attended the Opening Reception for “Sketchbooks: Working Out Ideas,” at The Sketchbook Gallery of the Jane Street Art Center, Saugerties, NY, to see my painting — “December Afternoon Snow on Ogunquit Beach” — and sketchbook in the exhibit.
- Organized submission notes/deadlines for manuscript contests and open reading periods
- Organized submission notes/deadlines for journals and lit mags
- Submitted poem packets to literary mags X3
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