Hi friends,
A couple years ago, after I left Longreads and the company that acquired it (Automattic), I met with a career and life coach to figure out my path forward.
The coach helped me develop a “joyful mission” for myself, which was:
“I make art that inspires other people to make art.”
This simple, aspirational phrase performs some nice acrobatics over my own ego and anxiety (I’ll explain further). I liked it because it’s a mission that’s both bigger than myself, and entirely in my own control.
At the time, I was using the term “art” broadly — I wanted it to be inclusive of my work in journalism, podcasting, and storytelling, but I also wanted to make room for more personal creative expression (eventually, music). It also gave me permission to consider myself an artist, which I’d never allowed myself to do before.
As for the “inspiring other people to make art” part: Like many people, I want to make an impact in my work, and as I looked back on my career I appreciated the moments where something I did or said inspired a friend or colleague to take their own leap.
This phrase did something else for me, too: it gave me permission to suck.
Comedian Maria Bamford said she overcame her anxiety about performing onstage by remembering that even if she’s terrible, she still might inspire someone. They might say, “If *she* can do it, then I certainly can.”
Maria’s outlook unlocked things for me. Even if I make bad art, maybe someone out there will benefit from me sharing it.
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2024: My First-Ever Spotify Wrapped
This is all background to me saying that one of my highlights of 2024 — and perhaps my professional career — was the comments section on this essay I wrote for my friend Sari Botton’s Oldster Magazine, about returning to music. It filled me with so much happiness to see people use my experience as a springboard for their own creative dreams. Art isn’t a one-way conversation — when you release something, people respond, and it comes back to you and the cycle continues.
This year I started releasing my own songs again after a 16-year break. Thank you to everyone who listened and shared. Here are the stats from Spotify. Honestly, I would’ve been happy with 10 streams, but seeing 3k streams for my first song makes me realize that the work can be done, and the time to do it is now.
I also showed up in my own Spotify Wrapped, but the real story of this list is a.) how obsessed I am with Chappell Roan, and b.) how my Spotify Wrapped is a nice memento for a particular moment in my life where I get to drive my teenage kids to school and activities. These are the small moments where my daughters got me into Mitski and Lana Del Rey and “Pink Pony Club.”
Meanwhile, I’m excited to share that my next single is coming in January. I’ll keep you posted when it’s out.
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Reckon True Stories and the Return of Ursa Short Fiction
“Making art that inspires other people to make art” certainly also applies to the podcasts I’ve produced in 2024 with my Ursa Story Company co-founders, authors Dawnie Walton and Deesha Philyaw, along with the brilliant writer Kiese Laymon.
Deesha and Kiese inspired me with their honesty and thoughtfulness in dissecting nonfiction over the summer with Reckon True Stories, and now Dawnie and Deesha are back with Season Three of Ursa Short Fiction, giving us a masterclass on short stories and the business of publishing.
Their latest episodes include a conversation with their own agents on how writers should think about getting published, two outstanding audio short stories — “Telling Stories,” by T.E. Wilderson (performed by Jordan Cobb), and “Snow Bath Season,” by Stacie Denetsosie (performed by Nasheen Sleuth) — and conversations with writer S.A. Cosby and Rion Amilcar Scott.
Kara Cutruzzula’s Marathon Musical & Sophie Said’s New Single
Finally, I want to shout out two other artists who inspire other artists — first, Kara Cutruzzula, who shared some much-needed encouragement and advice this year. We were both New Yorkers working in media (by way of California’s great Central Valley), and she has a must-read newsletter for creative people called Brass Ring Daily.
Now, she’s written a musical! It’s called Marathon, and they just had their first workshop/reading in NYC. I can’t wait to see where she and her team take it.
And Sophie Said is a NYC-based singer, producer, and vocal coach. I discovered her work on TikTok, and I’ve benefited so much from her voice lessons and artist wisdom. She has a new single, called “the world is on fire!” and it’s excellent.
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One of my other favorite things is when people reply to my newsletter, so if you get a chance, say hi. I’m also now on Bluesky if you want to follow me there.
Thank you everyone for reading, listening, and sharing with me this year. I hope you have a restful and peaceful holiday season. See you in 2025.
-Mark